I could hear them laughing from the stairs before I even made it to the third step. It was 11pm and I had been at the bar all day, thinking. I hadn’t seen or spoken to her since this morning. I can’t say that I wasn’t hurt by the fact that she hadn’t even texted me. I gave her space that I assumed she wanted and let her spend the day with him. It didn’t stop me from feeling…fuck…I don’t even know. Frustrated, maybe?

I opened the door and what I saw nearly knocked me on my ass. Ysabelle was laying on the love seat with her head on Devon’s lap as he caressed her hair.

What the fuck?

They were laughing and didn’t even realize that I had walked into the room. There were two empty bottles of wine on the coffee table, and both of their glasses were nearly empty. I couldn’t help but take in the familiarity of the way they looked at each other. When she stumbled on her words and his fingers grazed the side of her cheek, I nearly lost my shit.

I slammed the door shut.

They both jumped, looking over at me. “Heeeyyy,” she addressed with glossy eyes and flushed cheeks.

She was drunk.

“Hi?” I questioned.

“Where have you been all day?”

“Running your bar.”

She lazily smiled, not picking up on my irritated tone.

“Kid,” he chimed in, leaning her forward and putting her arm around his neck to help her up. “I think you need to go to bed.”

I was over to them in three strides and shoved him in the chest. “I got her,” I warned and he nodded, releasing his hold on her.

She leaned upward, placing her hand on his chest for balance and gazed at him. “I’m so happy you’re here. I missed you so much.” Her arms went around his neck, putting all her weight on him and his arms instinctively went around her. “I love you, Devon.”

His eyes locked with my manic glare.

“What would I do without you?” she whispered, loud enough for us both to hear and then kissed the side of his neck.

Never tearing his neutral gaze from mine, he kissed the top of her head. “I love you, too,” he repeated. 

I roughly grabbed on to her arm and jerked her to me, cradling her like a baby and carrying her into our bedroom, kicking the door closed behind me.

She inhaled my scent and half moaned “Sebastian” as I gently laid her on the bed and she spread out like a cat. I walked into the bathroom and grabbed three Ibuprofen from the cabinet.

I reached for her and sat her up. “Ysa, you have to take this.”

She half-opened her beautiful eyes and smiled at me. I never wanted to yell at her more than I wanted to in that moment. It wasn’t the time; I would have to wait. I placed the pills in her mouth and helped her take a sip from the bottled water that was on the nightstand. She was already half asleep when I started taking off her clothes. I left her in her panties and scooted her on her side of the bed, laying her on her pillow and covering her with the sheet. She groaned, displeased, and rolled over to my side, grabbing my pillow and sighing in contentment.

I sat back on the armchair and rubbed my temples, in an effort to calm the migraine that was forming, to no avail. I watched her sleep for a few minutes before a sound from the living room reminded me of the reason she was in this state in the first place. I took one more look at her, kissed her on the forehead, and walked out into the living room. He was cleaning up their mess of alcohol and food and paused when he heard me close the bedroom door.

“What the fuck are you still doing here?” I demanded, trying to keep my composure. I wanted nothing more than to beat the fuck out of him.

Mine.

He wiped his hands on the dishrag, threw it on the counter, and walked in my direction, stopping a few feet in front of me.

“Ysabelle invited me. That’s why I’m here, and I’m not leaving until she tells me to go.” He shook his head. “I’m not leaving.”

“Who the fuck do you think you are? You think I’m fucking stupid? You don’t think I see the way you look at her, how given the chance, you find a way to touch her?” I snickered and stepped in front of him until we were mere inches apart. “But guess what, motherfucker, she’s mine. And I will destroy anyone who tries to take her away from me. Do you understand? I get this nice guy act you have going on and I’m sure it gets you lots of pussy. I don’t give a flying fuck whom you are to her, you come in between us and I will take you the fuck out.” I roughly pushed him, but he didn’t lose his footing, he was expecting it.

“Now, I’m going to ask you this one fucking time, and trust me, I’ll know if you’re lying.”

He held his head higher, not cowering. I balled my fists.

“Have you ever fucked her?”

“No,” he responded with no hesitation.

“Do you want to?”

He paused. “No.”

“Liar,” I stated through gritted teeth. “You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

“It doesn’t matter…she loves you,” he informed, not missing a beat. “She spent the entire day talking about you. I’m here as her friend. I’ve been in her life longer than anyone, especially you. I’ve seen her at her worst and I’ve seen her at her best. But unlike you, I’ve never fucked her over. I know who you are, Sebastian. Don’t try to play the nobleman act with me. Now…let me remind you that just because I haven’t been inside her, doesn’t mean I don’t know her in more ways than you do.”

My fist connected with his jaw before he even got the last word out. He stammered a little, but caught himself on the coffee table. 

I cocked my head to the side. “You want to try that again?” I threatened.

He raised an eyebrow and rubbed at his jawline, backing away from me. I cracked my neck as soon as he left my sight, but he quickly reemerged with his duffle bag and his sleeping son in his arms.

Fuck.

I immediately felt like a bastard, I completely forgot about the kid.

“Let Ysabelle know that something came up and I had to go back to Miami. I’ll call her tomorrow afternoon,” he informed and left.

And that was that…

There was nothing left to say.