Accidental Forever: Fake Romance Box Set

by Hazel Parker

  “That’s an understatement,” she muttered, and Andy nodded sympathetically.

  “Would you like to walk me through it?” he asked, and Abby did. She told him about Trevor showing up to her work and then about the fight, even the parts that Devon himself hadn’t seen that well because he’d been in the middle of it. It did, admittedly, sound like it had looked worse than it had been, and he could understand why Abby had gotten so upset about it. Andy took notes the whole time, nodding along to her story and writing with more intensity and attention than he’d ever paid her before. He’d been nice to them the whole time, but now he actually appeared interested. Perhaps it was just because he was now able to take some action whereas before, his hands had been tied.

  “So,” Devon started in the silence that occurred after Andy had finished writing, “do you think that he’s going to be out of Abby’s hair for good? Is this enough to be another strike?”

  “Well, nothing is official yet,” Andy said, clearly confident but not wanting to make promises that he couldn’t keep, “but if he’s found guilty of the assault and battery charges that we’re taking him out of here on, then he’ll probably go to jail for a bit. If nothing else, this is enough to count as your third strike, so you’ll likely be granted the restraining order as soon as you apply for it, Miss Miller.”

  Abby blinked in confusion. “Third?” she echoed. “I thought this was only the second.”

  “Our tech guys were able to trace the account that messaged you online back to Trevor’s IP address, and given your history with him, we’re able to count that as a threat against you. No matter what happens now, at least he’s not your problem anymore.”

  Abby laughed, a relieved, hopeful sound that was different than anything he’d ever heard from her before. Sure, he’d made her laugh, but this was so light, so happy; he felt as if he was able to watch the burden lift from her shoulders with every little hiccup of air that fueled her giggling.

  “That’s amazing,” Abby said, standing to hug Andy, who looked a little uncomfortable but didn’t say anything about it. “Thank you so much. I seriously can’t ever repay you for all you’ve done.”

  Andy shook his head bashfully. “We’re just doing our jobs,” he deflected. Abby wasn’t having any of that, though, Devon could tell. She’d definitely find a way to thank them, probably with a card or a gift basket, knowing Abby.

  “Well,” Andy continued, standing from the dining room chair where he’d sat to write at the table, “unless you’ve got something else to add to your statement, I think we’re good here. I’m more than ready to take this guy off your hands for you.” Devon couldn’t agree more.

  “I think that’s all we’ve got for you,” he said, looking to Abby for confirmation and standing to walk Andy to the door when she nodded. He told them once more to call if they thought of anything else that needed to be said and they agreed. Devon shut the door behind the officer and turned to Abby grinning, frozen corn now half-thawed in his hands.

  “How does it feel to know that he’s going to jail?” Devon asked. He was genuinely curious—Abby had been close to Trevor, at one time, and he’d understand if she had some complicated emotions about it. That didn’t appear to be the case.

  “I couldn’t be more relieved,” she said, crossing to face Devon once more as he leaned easily against the door frame.

  She reached up to touch his bruise lightly, smiling when he no longer flinched at the contact—it didn’t hurt nearly as much as it had before he’d iced it.

  “It doesn’t feel real,” she admitted.

  “I’m sure it’ll set in soon,” he reassured her. “For now, just be glad that everything is okay. This is probably the first time you’ve been able to feel safe in months, right? Enjoy that.” Abby closed her eyes, taking a meditative breath in before standing once more.

  “I like it,” she decided. That was probably an understatement if the smile on her face was anything to go by.

  “Glad to hear it,” Devon chuckled. “You’re a free woman now, Abby Miller. You can do whatever you want.” Abby looked at him pointedly, a mischievous smile playing at her lips.

  “Anything,” she repeated with a playful intonation. He wanted her, and he knew that she wanted him back, but this…this had to stop. He couldn’t keep playing this game with her, sleeping with her and then feeling like it had been a violation of boundaries the next morning and never knowing where he stood with her. He was a man, not a sordid secret to hide or to tell.

  “Abby, we need to talk about something,” he decided firmly. She sobered, the playful smirk dying on her lips.

  “About what?” He sighed. He wanted nothing more than to indulge the excitement and adrenaline-fueled passion that she clearly wanted to share with him, but in his heart, he knew that it wasn’t right.

  “Well, for starters, where I’m going to live now that Trevor is out of the picture,” he began. She waved her hands dismissively.

  “Oh, don’t be ridiculous,” she brushed him off. “Of course you’re welcome to stay with me.”

  “Okay, but for how long?” he asked. “My apartment could take months before it’s livable again, and I don’t want to live in this kind of chaos all the time.”

  Abby took a step away from him. “Chaos?”

  “I never know where I stand with you, Abby,” he admitted. “One minute, you’re all over me, and the next, you won’t even talk to me. Do you know how confusing that is?”

  Abby hesitated. “I…I didn’t think you cared, Devon,” she admitted.

  “Why wouldn’t I care?”

  “I mean, you’re kind of milking the cow without having to buy it, right? Isn’t that what all guys want?” Devon almost laughed out loud; he would have if it weren’t so sad to hear her talk that way about herself.

  “Maybe some guys,” he said, “but most of us are pretty good people, I think. I’m not here because I want your body or something. I think you’re great, and I’ve had a good time living with you.” Abby wrung her hands together for a long moment.

  “Well, maybe you…shouldn’t live with me anymore,” she said, effectively derailing the conversation so far that he wasn’t even sure how to recover.

  “I’m sorry?” he asked. “You just said that you didn’t mind.”

  “Why would you even want to live with me?” she asked, sounding suddenly upset. When he looked closely at her, he could see tears starting to form in her eyes. “I keep messing everything up.”

  “You’re going through a confusing time right now,” Devon tried to say, tried to give her an excuse to take her words back and change her mind. It didn’t work.

  “Yeah,” she agreed, “and you’re not making things any less complicated. It’s so soon after my breakup with Trevor, and I’m not in a stable place, I don’t think. I’m just having all these feelings—”

  “What kinds of feelings?” he asked.

  “Not ones that I want to talk about with you,” she snapped. He could see her growing more agitated with each passing second, so he decided to back off.

  “I can’t help if you don’t let me in,” he reminded her, “but I get it if you don’t want to talk to me. Just…call me if you do, I guess.”

  Abby didn’t stop him as he left the apartment. He knew that there was only one place that he could go that had any chance of fixing their problems, and there was a good chance that the owner of that apartment wouldn’t even let him inside to talk, but he had to try. Devon got in his truck and headed for Chandra’s place.

  Chapter Fifteen: Abby

  After the police left, Abby wasn’t sure where Devon had hurried off to. They’d been in the middle of a pretty intense conversation, both before they’d gotten into it with Trevor and before the cops had talked to them, and though she was admittedly dreading it a little, she knew that she had to face this head-on, too, and talk things through with Devon. In the silence of her apartment with Devon gone, Trevor in custody, and Chandra still not speaking to her, Abby f
elt, for the first time ever, truly alone. It wasn’t exactly loneliness—it was a little lighter than that. She felt as though she could handle herself for the first time in her life, and that was empowering. Being alone in her one-bedroom apartment felt almost right, after everything that had happened, and though she hated to admit it, she thought that perhaps it would be good for her to spend some time like this.

  She brewed herself a cup of tea and sat down on the couch to watch some television. The drawback to being alone, of course, was that it could be boring, but at this point, boredom was a welcome change of pace from the constant chaos that had been her life for the past several months. Abby flipped through channels for several minutes before finally finding a cooking show that she could watch mindlessly while she sat meditatively in her self-sufficiency, but just as she settled into the couch with a blanket and her mug of tea, her phone began to vibrate in her pocket. Feeling dread begin to bloom in the pit of her stomach, Abby reached to answer it, not even bothering to check the caller ID, knowing that it was most likely the police calling to ask her for a little more information since Andy had told her that they might be in touch.

  “Hello?”

  “Abby,” Chandra’s voice came through the other line, sounding irritable but not angry. Abby nearly dropped her phone.

  “Oh my god,” she breathed, “Chandra. Hey. What’s—is everything—how are you—?” she fumbled, unable to find a question that felt fitting for the situation. Luckily, Chandra always had her own plan, and it didn’t matter what Abby said.

  “Devon came over and told me everything.” she said. That’s where Devon had gone? To Chandra’s?

  “Oh…okay,” Abby said uncertainly. “What did he say exactly?”

  “Enough,” she said vaguely. “He told me about Trevor. Are you okay?” She sounded reluctant even to express concern, but that filled Abby with a new sense of hope that perhaps Devon had been right about the fact that Chandra loved her more than she was angry at her. No matter what she did wrong, Chandra would always be worried about her safety before anything else.

  “I don’t know,” she admitted. Part of her wanted to cry, but she ended up laughing, instead. “It’s over, Chandra. All this madness. The whole circus that has been my life for the past few months is finally going to calm down.”

  Chandra was quiet for a minute. Abby wasn’t sure whether that was an invitation to elaborate or a sign that Chandra just flat didn’t care, but she decided to continue, anyway.

  “I lied to you before, and not just about the fact that I slept with your brother. I did that, and I’m sorry.” She paused. “Maybe I’m not sorry that it happened, but I’m sorry that I hurt you. I really like Devon, Chandra. I know that you hate that and that you’d never want anything to become of it, so I can promise you that it won’t. I’ll tell him he has to find a new place to live and I’ll never talk to him again if that’s what you need me to do.”

  “Abby,” Chandra argued.

  “No, seriously,” Abby cut her off. “Everything’s been about me lately, but I care about your feelings, too. You’re my best friend, and I love you. Even if it means giving up the person I’m pretty sure is my dream guy, I’ll do it.” She laughed a little self-pityingly. “It’s not like he feels the same way about me, anyway, right?”

  Chandra sighed on the other end of the phone. “Can you shut the hell up for one minute and let me talk?” Abby closed her mouth with an audible click of her teeth. “Okay, listen to me. I hate that you slept with my brother. I mean, I really hate it. It makes my skin crawl and I think it’s so, so gross.”

  “I know, and I won’t—”

  “But if I’d known that you felt that way about him, I wouldn’t have reacted the way I did.”

  Abby was silent for another long moment. “You wouldn’t have?”

  “Of course not,” Chandra chastised. “You’re a grown woman, Abby, and he’s an adult, too. You two can make your own choices. We’re not in high school anymore. I just wish you’d told me. I’m mad that you lied about it.” Before Abby could argue, Chandra cut her off once more. “I understand why you did it, though. I want you to be happy. You deserve that. And even though my brother is a huge dork, he’s a good guy, and I know that he’ll treat you with respect. You deserve that.”

  Abby rolled her eyes. “You’re talking about this like it’s going to be a thing,” she reminded her. “It’s not. I might be falling for Devon, but it’s not like he feels the same way.” Chandra laughed lightly, her anger not forgotten entirely but manageable.

  “I think you should ask him yourself,” she said simply. “Tell him what you just told me.”

  “I could never!” Abby squawked. “It’s way too embarrassing!”

  “You’re the bravest person I know, kid. After what you’ve been through, there’s nothing you can’t do. This is going to be a piece of cake. Just take a leap of faith. Take a chance.”

  “My leaps of faith always backfire,” Abby warned, but Chandra just hummed noncommittally.

  “Trust me. Just do it.” Without even giving Abby a chance to argue again, Chandra hung up the phone, leaving Abby sitting in her living room apprehensive for several moments before there was a knock at the door. Reluctantly, Abby pulled herself up from the couch and opened it to reveal Devon standing in the doorway, his hair ruffled from the icy wind, and his leather jacket zipped up to his chin.

  “Abby,” Devon began, looking a little nervous himself like he’d had just as productive a conversation with his sister as Abby had. This could go one of two ways, she knew. Either he’d tell her that he had feelings for her or, more likely, he’d apologize for taking advantage and promise to move out, effectively eliminating her chances to tell him how she really felt. That would be the easy, more comfortable route, Abby knew. It would take a long time, but she’d eventually get over him. Eventually, she’d learn to accept that she would just have to settle for whatever man that she ended up with because she’d never meet someone quite like Devon ever again. It wouldn’t be so bad, and up until this moment, all Abby’s life had been about avoiding the worst-case scenario rather than trying to win the best.

  A leap of faith: she heard the words repeating in her head. She had a lot to lose and even more to gain. She took a slow step toward him, reaching up for his face and pulling him in close just like all the other times that they’d been in this exact situation.

  “Before you say anything,” Abby said, stopping just short of a kiss, “I need to tell you something.” Devon nodded, his eyebrows knitting together in concern. “I know it’s kind of soon and that it’s messy and you might want to move out even faster than you would have otherwise, but I have to say it.”

  “Tell me,” he commanded gently, looking deeply into her eyes. Her breath shuddered on its way in and out.

  “I’m in love with you,” she admitted. “You don’t need to tell me how bad an idea that is, or that you don’t feel that way about me; I know, I just—”

  Devon interrupted her train of thought by kissing her with such force and passion that she stumbled back into her apartment a little, just enough to allow him inside. He kicked the door shut behind him and entangled his fingers in her hair, his thumbs resting against either side of her face with urgency. She allowed herself to melt into the kiss like no other that she’d ever had. She wasn’t afraid of him, and she wasn’t afraid of anyone watching. They had Chandra’s blessing. Things couldn’t get any more perfect than they already were, so she leaned in and kissed him back with everything she had, summoning all the feelings that she’d been repressing since the day she met Devon and knew that she couldn’t have him.

  The kiss itself began tender, much more loving than passionate. However, with her hungry hands within striking distance of Devon’s strong, chiseled body, Abby couldn’t help but allow more animalistic instincts to dominate. She tore his coat off quickly, tossing it to the floor and stepping over it to get to the couch, but they didn’t quite make it, as Devon pressed her
up against the wall next to it, instead, kissing her heavily and desperately. He began to undo the buttons of her shirt using his teeth. Abby was sure that a few of them were popping off in their haste, but she didn’t care—it was just another obstacle standing in the way of her having Devon, and there had been so many of those lately that she couldn’t care less what he had to do to get to her, so long as he got his way with her at the end. She’d trusted so innocently, so naively in the past, but this, she realized, felt so right not because it was a leap of faith, but because it was the safest bet she’d ever taken. Devon was so strong, so overpowering, but the moment that she told him to stop, she knew that he would. She was in control entirely, and she wanted to relinquish it absolutely, giving him the reigns to decide what would happen next. She felt safe in the danger of it all, knowing that she couldn’t possibly get more vulnerable physically or emotionally, but that he wouldn’t do anything to harm her.