Page 18 of The Sweetest Devotion

Jadyn’s dark eyebrows teetered down as her brown features appeared confused. “Oh, yeah, you had that engagement announcement and party tonight.” Suddenly, she lit up, her eyes tripling in size as she looked at my body and back at my face. “You fucked him, didn’t you?”

Disgust bubbled in my belly at the thought. Wrinkling my nose, I quickly shot down that idea. “God, no. I took off. I ditched my phone and I ran out of there. I blew a tire on the way here and had to get a mechanic to tow me in.”

Jadyn assessed me for damages as she again was perplexed. “So what happened?”

I sighed, lifting my gaze to the ceiling, searching for CliffsNotes on what I’d done this evening. “The mechanic brought me back to the shop…and one thing led to another and we…you know.”

Jadyn blinked. “Damn.”

“Yeah,” I let out. I’d never been so brazen before in my life. I’d had a couple of meaningless hookups in college, but even then I’d known the guys. And then Gaius happened and I was all things monogamy with him. What happened with Keith was so unlike me, but I didn’t regret it. He wasgood.

“This calls for wine!” Jadyn announced as she rushed to her feet to grab a bottle.

I gagged. “Ugh, pass.”

“Girl, grow up already,” Jadyn said as she often did of my not drinking. I didn’t care for wine, beer, liquor, or anything alcoholic. It just wasn’t my taste. Occasionally, I’d celebrate an accomplishment with champagne if out at brunch or a party, but at home in my penthouse, I kept it simple with water and my beloved white cranberry-peach juice.

When I’d officially turned twenty-one and was vocal about my distaste for alcohol, my father made it a point to provide sparkling grape juice in champagne flutes at all the parties or dinners he and his company hosted, in my honor.

My mood sank. I did not want to think about him.

Jadyn came back from her kitchen holding a bottle of wine tucked under her arm, a wineglass in one hand, and a bottle of water in the other for me.

I accepted the water and watched as she went about pouring some of her wine.

“Please tell me it was worth it,” Jadyn said as she gathered her glass.

It was complicated and messy, due to my fiancé, but God, I’d never had an orgasm like that. Everyone in my life, from the time I was a little girl, treated me like a princess, delicate and fragile. Keith had done no such thing. He’d taken me brusquely. When he came, he’d grabbed a fistful of my hair, tilting my head back as his teeth grazed my neck. I shattered beneath him and thought nothing of him stepping all over the pieces.

He hadn’t treated me like a lady, but like a good and hard fuck—and I liked it.

“That was probably the best I’ve ever had,” I admitted.

“And you sure he had a job? The best dick I ever had was unemployed, but then again, he had somethin’ to prove and was also hobosexual.”

I was trying to be serious, but leave it to Jadyn to make me laugh. “Girl.”

She threw a hand out in an innocent gesture. “Just sayin’. It look like he broke you off something good.”

He had.

That dick tapped my soul.

I was still in my Valentino dress, wearing another man’s ring, making the whole encounter dirty and illicit. I regretted nothing. “Sogood.”

Jadyn chuckled. “Did you at least get his name? Or did you just pounce on him as soon as y’all pulled into the garage?”

“Keith,” I spoke up.Keith Avery. A man with three first names, sexy tattoos, and a handsome face that had briefly broke out into the cutest smile when he’d laughed.

“Now that you’ve had a taste of the Heights, you ain’t never going back to them pencil pushers in the Hills.”

It all happened so fast, leaving me wondering if this was just a one-night stand, or if there was potential. I mean, I wouldn’t have minded having another go at it with Keith.

Ifthe circumstances were different.

I uncapped my water and took a hearty swig as my shoulders sagged. “Right, because now I have to go and face my maker.”

Jadyn frowned. She reached out and squeezed my shoulder. “Right, your ‘fiancé.’ Was he weird? Was he the reason you ran off, besides the obvious?”

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