New life

AlastairJenna was the newly appointed manager, and from the moment Anna introduced her, I knew she was going to be trouble.She was beautiful in that polished, corporate way that spoke of expensive skincare routines and personal trainers. Smart too, from what I could tell in the brief conversation we had during her introduction. Anna had seemed pleased with herself for bringing in someone with Jenna's credentials, someone who could "elevate the artistic vision of the studio," as she'd put it.I wasn't really interested in either of them, specifically because I felt guilty about what I was doing to Anna. Every time I looked at her, I saw the woman who was planning her wedding to a man I couldn't stop thinking about, a man whose hands I could still feel on my skin even days later. So I tried not to associate myself with them any more than professionally necessary.But unfortunately, Jenna took a liking to me from her very first day. She would smile at me in a way that lingered too lon

Fake it till you learn it

Alastair"Sorry about that," I said, looking up into a pair of striking blue eyes.The guy was tall and well-dressed in that effortless way that suggested good breeding and better money. Handsome too, with the kind of symmetrical features that belonged in magazines. He smiled as he accepted his books back, and I noticed he had perfect teeth."No harm done," he said, extending a hand. "I'm Willow."A captivating name for a captivating person. "Alastair." His smile widened. "Nice to meet you.”Lily appeared at my elbow, clearly impressed. "Willow's on the football team," she informed me in a stage whisper. "He's very popular."I laughed to myself as we parted ways. Yes, Willow was handsome, objectively attractive in all the ways that mattered. But Luciano was more handsome, with his dark sophistication and dangerous charm. And Kyren...I paused in the middle of the hallway, students flowing around me like water around a stone. Kyren was drop-dead beautiful, beautiful in a way that made

Uncomfortable situation

AlastairI almost scoffed out loud when I heard it. It took a while for my brain to process the words.I didn't believe a word Anna was saying. The way she described Kyren, like he was some kind of sex god who lived to please her, felt like performance art designed for her audience. But even knowing it was probably exaggerated, even telling myself that people always embellished their intimate lives when talking to friends, I felt physically ill at the mere thought of Kyren with someone else.The images crashed through my mind unbidden: Kyren's hands on Anna's skin, his mouth against her neck, the same whispered endearments he'd breathed against my ear in that motel room. I gripped my wine glass so tightly I was surprised it didn't shatter.Anna continued talking, her cheeks flushed with wine and the attention of her friends. "He's so attentive," she said, gesturing with her hands in a way that made the other women lean in closer. "Like, he pays attention to every little sound I make

Little to no choice

KyrenShit! Shit! Shit!Seeing Alastair sitting in the backseat of my car wasn't what I wanted. Not tonight, not when my emotions were already scraped raw from watching him through that studio window, not when every breath felt like swallowing glass. His presence filled the space behind me like smoke, impossible to ignore, making the air thick and hard to breathe."Where do you live?" I asked, catching his eyes in the rearview mirror and immediately regretting it. Those green eyes held something different tonight, something that looked almost like resignation. It made my chest tight with panic.He gave me an address in a voice that was carefully neutral, professionally distant. Like we were strangers. I drove through the city streets on autopilot, hyperaware of every movement in the backseat, every shift in Alastair's breathing. Anna was being her usual charming self, engaging him in conversation about the party, about his work, about anything that popped into her head. Her kindne

Alle Kapitel von The Devil You Made Me: Kapitel 71 – Kapitel 74

New life

Fake it till you learn it

Uncomfortable situation

Little to no choice