Page 103 of Confessions of a Virgin on a Dating App
I kissed his cheek, but it didn’t erase the melancholy look from his face. His gaze fell to his lap again, and he suddenly felt very distant.
“If they knew…” He ran his thumb over his scars again. “They wouldn’t want me anywhere near you.”
“Dev…”
“Or if they knew I was divorced.”
“You know I don’t care about any of those things.” I kissed his cheek again. “And they don’t make you a bad person.”
“I tell myself that all the time. But sometimes…” He sniffled and ran a palm over his face. “I feel like my life has been this deep, dark pit. I keep crawling out, over and over again, but every time I see the surface and I feel like everything is going to be okay… someone pushes me back down again.”
“Devin…”
“It’s hard. I’m getting tired of it.”
“I know.” I ran my hand across his scalp, his soft black hair falling through my fingers. “But you know what? Fuck them. Push back. Because good people, the ones who love you and care about you and want you to succeed, won’t judge you foryour past. Everyone has skeletons in their closet, no matter how small.”
I forced a smile, rubbing my thumb across his cheek. “Hell, sometimes I feel like I have a whole graveyard in there.”
That elicited a small chuckle from Devin, which made my heavy heart lighten.
“Thank you, Avie.”
He pulled me in for a long, deep kiss, and it nearly made a tear fall from my eye.
He always made me feel better. And I was glad I could do the same for him.
I pulled my lips away and spent a moment losing myself in those multicolored irises, until muffled shouts from the kitchen pulled me back to reality.
“They’re fighting,” I grumbled, and Devin gave an uncomfortable sigh.
“Here,” I hopped up from his lap. “I’ll be right back.”
“What are you doing?” Devin asked as I approached my bedroom door.
I exhaled sharply, dread overtaking my body at what I was about to do.
“I’m going to go confront therealproblem.”
The arguing ceased as soon as I opened the door.
I stepped hesitantly toward the kitchen table, with my parents’ fiery gazes making me feel like a prey animal. My mom looked exasperated, and my dad looked pissed. Exactly the way I had left them.
Once I made my way back to the table, I glowered right back at them.
Especially my father.
“Iwant you to leave,” I hissed.
My father raised a bushy eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. It’s my house. Get out.”
“You donottalk to your father that way, young—”
“No, you do not talk tomethat way,” I retorted, cutting him off. “And do not call me ‘young lady.’ I am almost twenty-seven years old. I am an adult. Treat me like one.”
“Absolutely not,” he growled. “Your behavior over the past five years had been nothing but childish and defiant. You had your whole future set up for you, Avie—”
