Page 31 of Dev

The sun is bright and already scorching when we step outside onto the balcony, and I notice the woman who had her lips wrapped around his cock last night down in the yard talking with a bunch of other girls. Each one of them throws me a filthy look, which I ignore as I follow Dev down the stairs and into the parking lot.

“Are we taking the bike?” I ask after looking down at my phone and seeing the eighteen missed calls I have from Mom.I’ve always wondered what it would be like to ride the back of a motorcycle, clinging on tight to that solid body of his.

“Absolutely not!” Dev’s harsh tone knocks me out of my daydream as he opens the passenger door of one of the three black vans that are parked up in a row facing the gates.

A guy, even bigger than Dev, rides through them and parks up beside the row of bikes lined up beside the arch. He nods his head at him as he climbs off his saddle, and once I’m settled in the passenger seat, Dev slams the door shut and heads across the yard to talk to him.

I sit waiting until they finish their conversation, and when Dev jumps into the driver's seat, I remain silent as he pulls out of the gates.

That silence becomes even more deafening as we get closer to home. I know that if I don’t say something now, I’m gonna regret it later when I’m alone. I just don’t know what it is I want to say.

“I’m lonely.” The words blurt out pitifully as he pulls the van to a stop outside the gates to my house. “I don’t feel like anyone understands me. I know I broke up with him, but Corey was my best friend. Now he’s gone, I’m…I just feel so alone. Last night with the girls, I…it felt nice.” I bite my lip to stop myself from rambling.

“You're young, I’m sure you’ll make plenty of new friends,” Dev assures me, resting his huge forearms over the top of the wheel and staring out of the windshield.

“You know, Corey would hate you blaming yourself for what happened. He loved you so much.”

“Yeah, and he loved you, too. So heed my warnin’ and stay the fuck away from me and the club.” My breath catches in my throat as he leans across me, and when he pops the door handle to open it, I sigh disappointedly as I slide out the seat.

“Goodbye, Dev.” I smile at him sadly, and he barely gives me a chance to close the door before he screeches off.

I turn around, looking at the gates and preparing to face the music. My parents are gonna be furious that I’ve been out all night without telling them where I was…again. A lecture is the last thing I need right now, but I know for a fact I've got one coming. I step up to the intercom to press the button, and when the gates start to open, I look up at the CCTV camera on top of the pillar and smile, knowing that I’m already being watched.

I make my journey up the driveway as slowly as possible, giving me time to prepare, and when I reach the door, Greg opens it for me, lowering his head and trying his best not to make eye contact.

“On a scale from one to ten, how mad are they?” I ask, mentally preparing myself.

“Your father's a solid nine, your mom…off the charts,” he whispers me a warning, stepping aside so I can enter.

Both my parents are standing beside my dad's office door, and I can tell by the look on their faces that they’re holding back.

“Hi.” I smile at them both sheepishly, knowing how worried they would have been about me. I may have snuck out before, but never for the entire night. Corey’s death is turning me into a person I don’t even recognize.

“Hi…HI?!” Mom loses her cool. “You can’t just stroll in through the door with a ‘hi’, young lady. Me and your father have been up all night, worried sick.”

“Julie.” Dad takes her hand and tries to calm her down.

“No, Frank, I’m not tiptoeing around the issue anymore. She needs to understand what damage she’s doing.” Mom pulls her hand free. “We accepted your relationship with that boy because he couldn’t help where he came from. He had a bright future, he studied hard, and he was a good influence on you. What we willnotaccept is you sneaking out of the house to hang around with those brutish outlaws.Thento have them drop you off like somecheap whore for all the neighbors to see–” She grabs hold of the banister to steady herself.

“Julie.” Dad intervenes, moving closer to place his hands on her shoulders, but once again, she shrugs him off.

“Do you know how hard your father has had to work to get us where we are, what we’ve had to sacrifice? I’m not going to let you ruin all that.” Her face is so close to mine, I can smell the alcohol on her breath, and I stare back at her, judgingly. Mom acts like she’s so perfect, when really, behind all the makeup and the fake smiles, she’s a mess.

“You don’t like the way I’m acting right now, fine. I’ll leave.”

“Sweetheart, there's no need for that. Come on, let's all sit down and talk about this,” Father suggests as I start heading up the stairs.

“You’re not going anywhere. I forbid it!” Mom yells, chasing after me and yanking me by my hair. I spin around and automatically slap her face, causing us both to stare at each other in shock.

“Frank?” Mom turns her attention to Dad as she touches her hand to the cheek I just slapped.

“Go to your room, sweetheart. We’ll discuss this later.” Dad looks at me, and I quickly scurry away.

“Are youseriouslygoing to let her get away with that?!” I hear Mom scream at him. “You need to take some fucking control, Frank, this situation is getting out of hand.”

I slam my door once I get to my room, gripping the collar of the dress I’m wearing and inhaling the scent that still lingers on the fabric. It’s a reminder that, despite what Dev tells me and himself, he likes us being close just as much as I do.

Dad wakes me up a few hours later, and when I see him sitting on the edge of my bed with a concerned look on his face, I know I’m about to get that lecture I avoided earlier.

---