“Besides playing with our feelings and toying with us?”Hellion asked coldly.
“For the sake of brevity, let’s go with yes.What, besides that?”
“Irishen.”
“I’m not sleeping with him either,” Wave said evenly.Part of her was hurting, another part was telling hertold you so.She had let herself imagine it could be different this time.That they could be the exception to the rule.
And they were right.She hadn’t committed to anyoneof them.She had committed to all three of them.She hadn’t looked at another male… except that she had.Wave closed her eyes and took a long breath before opening them again and facing the two of them.
“Okay.You’re right,” she said.
“What?”Marc roared.Hellion just seethed silently at her.
“You’re right,” Wave repeated.She faced Hellion.“I’m interested in him.”Before he could explode on her, Wave turned to Marc.“And I’m not sleeping with Salis.But I could be sleeping with someone else.”
A blast of fiery wind hit her so hard it threw her across the room.Wave didn’t even try to push back or pull up an external shield.She didn’t want to fight, and at some level, she felt like she deserved their anger and pain, no matter how misplaced their reasoning was.
Besides, they weren’t really trying to injure her.If she had managed the shielding Marc had tried to teach her, none of this would even bruise her.As it stood, well, she had gone through worse, so she let Hellion and Marc both blast her against the back wall as long as they wanted and then fell to the floor.
“What the fuck is going on in here?”Jarred roared from the doorway, and then he rushed over.“Wayla, are you all right?”
Wave coughed a couple of times and shrugged as she pushed herself up into a sitting position.“I’m fine.They were just making a point about the importance of shielding.I should really learn that shit, huh?”
Her joke fell into deaf ears and, after making sure she was, in fact, in one piece, Marc turned and marched out of the room.Hellion threw one more quelling look at her and followed suit.
Wave just stretched back to the floor.What was there to say?They weren’t right on point, but she was lying and hiding things from them.It was wrong that she had led them on like this for so long.
If only she could tell them the truth, but the look on Hellion’s face told Wave what would be the result of that discussion.Wave shuddered and closed her eyes for a second.Things could always be worse.
Chapter 41 – Jarred
JarredcarriedWaylaupstairsand into his room.She was uncharacteristically silent and biting her lip.After a moment, she sighed.
“Well, it was bound to blow up in my face at some point.”
“What was?”
“My delusions about being able to have a relationship.Even a fake one.”
Jarred froze just as he was about to set her down on the bed.That sounded bad.That sounded final.Not like a little dust-up downstairs, but like she was over it.
“Wayla,” he hesitated.She turned her face up to meet his gaze and smiled sadly.
“Jarred,” she replied.
“What are you saying?”
Wayla closed her eyes and when she opened them again, the look in her eyes was calm, cold, and detached.Jarred had never seen her look like that.
“I’m saying they were right.”
“Fuck no,” he snarled.
“Yes, Jarred.I’m exactly what they said I am.”
“And what is that,” he snarled.“Say it.”
“I’m a liar,” Wayla said easily, “unreliable and a cheater.I don’t know who Hellion thinks sent me, but he’s not wrong about Risha.Being with me is causing strife with the rest of you.I’m the weak link in the chain.”
