#17

Since basketball isthe only team my university is good at, game nights are always the best time to see and be seen, and it"s why I"ve never tried watching one...until now.

"I promise you"ll have fun," Paola says.

"I"m sure I will." That"s a lie, of course, but Paola has been trying to cheer me up for weeks, and I know I"ve been driving her crazy with my refusal to tell her why I"ve been acting all empty and heartbroken all this time.

The arena is already filled to the rafters when our tickets are scanned and we"re cleared to enter, and both sides of the crowd are busy hyping themselves up by cheering and booing against each other nonstop.

I"m not sure how Paola"s managed to score us seats that are right behind the players" bench, but one thing I do know is that this is a sure way of asking for trouble. This has always been where Tara and her friends are seated, and those girls won"t take kindly to losing their "spot" to someone like me.

"Hello, Sheena."

I can feel myself paling as the Devil comes out of nowhere to take the seat next to mine. I"ve tried so, so hard to forget him, and I think that"s why he seems so much more gorgeous than I remembered. He really is beautiful, and just looking at him makes me feel so, so stupid, to actually assume that we had something going on.

"May we talk?"

I remember how I used to love the way he sounds so courteous all the time, but all it reminds me now is how he asked me to please step out of his car, and how his face hadn"t changed at all even when I know...I know he saw me already crying, and it hadn"t stopped him from leaving me.

"Sheena..."

Just hearing him say my name kills me, but when I rise to my feet, he"s just as quick at tugging me back, and I end up falling straight onto his lap.

Why won"t Lady Luck ever side with me? Why?

I try getting up, but this only has his arms tightening around me.

"Will you let me go?" I hiss under my breath.

"Not until you hear me out," he says tautly.

"Don"t you have other girls—-"

"It wasn"t real," he grates out. "What you saw in the photos, me partying with other women and acting like I have a harem at my disposal...I set it all up so you"d leave me alone."

Don"t cry, Sheena. Don"t cry.

"I wanted to make you forget me...because I couldn"t make myself forget you. That"s why I never replied to your messages or answered your calls. I knew if I risked hearing your voice or seeing you just once...I"d never be able to stay away from you."

He"s saying all of the things I want to hear, but I can"t let myself believe him just like that.

"I thought it was better for you that I stay away—-"

"You mean it"s better for you," I choke out. "You said it yourself, remember? Someone like you shouldn"t be with someone like me—-"

"I still think that—-" The Devil whitens when he sees me flinch. "You can"t possibly..."

"Why are you here when you still think that?" I ask painfully. "If you think you"re too good for me—-"

"God, Sheena." The Devil cups my face. "Are you fucking serious?"

"You were the one who said—-"

"You misunderstood," he says fiercely. "A devil like me shouldn"t be with an angel like you. That"s what I meant, and that"s still how I fucking feel. Someone good and pure like you should never be with someone like me—-"

I can only shake my head. "Why would you think that?"

"Do you really have to ask?" the Devil asks hoarsely. "You know who I turn into in the cover of darkness. You know about the things I"ve done, the things I"m capable of doing—-"

"And what have you done exactly?" I ask jerkily. "You"re the man who taught me p-pleasure. The man who gave me pretty things to wear a-and turned my room into a h-haven. You"re the man who saved me...aren"t you?"

I know I could"ve made this a lot harder for him, and he would"ve let me. I know I could"ve asked him to beg me on his knees, and he would have. I know I could"ve asked for the moon and stars, and he would"ve killed himself trying to reach them just to earn my forgiveness.

I know I deserve to make him pay, but after everything that"s happened and seeing how Aaron could lose his life in a snap—-

"Can you please just tell me what I want to hear?"

The Devil sucks his breath in, and tears start falling down my cheeks.

"You"re supposed to make me beg," he says rawly.

I shake my head at him. "That"s still not what I want to hear."

"I don"t deserve this—-"

"Just say them, please."

"Can I—-" His fingers visibly shake as he slowly traces my lips. "—-show you instead?"

The Devil slowly lowers his head, but just as his lips are about to touch mine, someone"s started screeching right in front of us, and I could"ve cried as the Devil swiftly pulls away.

"Let go of me! Don"t you know who I am?"

The Devil"s lips curve when he sees my dismay. "We"ll continue this later," he promises. "But for now..."

I snap back to reality as soon as I see Tara being held back by the Devil"s bodyguards in front of us.

"Déjà vu," I whisper without thinking, and the words have Tara looking at me in hatred even as the Devil besides me laughs.

"I suppose you can call it that," he murmurs, "although we"ve just gotten started."

My eyes widen, and I look at him in horror. He can"t possibly mean he"ll still have Tara killed—-

The Devil bends his head back down so he can whisper into my ear. "You took too long to decide what her punishment will be, so I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands."

What does that even mean?

Is he or is he not going to kill her?

The Devil rises gracefully to his feet, and my feelings seesaw between worry and jealousy when I see him bend his head, and it"s Tara"s turn to hear the Devil whisper into her ear.

Don"t be shallow, Sheena!

The Devil steps back from Tara just as another one of his bodyguards comes forward with a cup of iced coffee in his hand.

Déjà vu, I can"t help thinking again.

And it does feel exactly like that...when Tara has everyone gasping as she abruptly takes the cup of iced coffee from the bodyguard...before splashing its contents on her own face.

Everyone in the arena gasps, myself included, and but I don"t have the chance to feel bad with the Devil already taking my hand in his.

"It"s time," he says softly.

My heart skips a beat, but just like it always is when I"m with this man, I"m not sure if I"m afraid or excited or both. "Time for what?"

"To give yourself to the Devil."