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Bad. No good. Ugly.

Everything I touch crumbles.

Rolling up my sleeves, I do what I haven’t done in months, feeling myself slam back into my body as the pain of burning flesh acts as an anchor.

It’s not enough.

I’ll never be enough.

Chapter eleven

Ahard slap on my ass jolts me awake, bright light stabbing at my eyes as the curtains are yanked open.

“Fuck, what the hell, man?” I groan, squinting up at the two blurry shapes towering above me. My lashes feel crusty, and when I blink, there’s a strange tightness around my eyes—like I’ve been crying. That can’t be right.

Taylor’s voice cuts through the room like a jackhammer to my pounding head. “Well, this is a side of Devon I never wanted to see.”

Hissing at the ache in my limbs, I push myself up slowly, every muscle protesting like I just ran a marathon. The hotel room wavers into focus, revealing a scene that makes me want to groan louder. My mouth tastes like something died in it, and my breath probably smells worse.

I shiver as the AC hits my bare legs, realizing I’m in nothing but boxer briefs and a long-sleeve shirt. Blinking again, I take in Taylor and Matty, standing at the foot of the bed with their arms crossed. Tay smirks in amusement, but Matty’s face is a storm of emotions—disgust? Anger? Annoyance? It’s impossible to tell with the room spinning every time I move.

“Which one of you smacked my ass?” I rasp, my throat raw like I’ve been screaming all night.

Devon grumbles to my right. “It’s too fuckin’ early for this shit.”

He’s sprawled out beside me, completely fucking naked, with an inked arm thrown over my lap.

Ah. So that’s why my throat hurts.

Glancing up at Matty, the strained look on his face only grows, and I can’t deny the sick sense of satisfaction that it brings me.

This could have been you, asshole.

“Uh, what the hell is that?” Taylor asks, eyes bugging out as he points to Dev’s butt, and I groan as I lean over to see what the fuck he’s talking about. Everything hurts.

Despite that, a choked laugh escapes my throat when I spot the words inked onto Devon’s supple ass cheek.

Xed Was Here.

“Duuuude.” I give him a shove, making him grunt. “My name is tattooed on your ass. What the fuck happened last night?”

“Huh?” He leans up, blinking slowly over his shoulder before flopping back down with a shrug like it’s no big deal. “Don’t remember.”

Fuck. Me, either.

“Oh?” Matty drawls, an edge to his tone that has my attention snapping to those flashing blue eyes. “You mean you don’t remember getting shit-faced, opening a tab for everyone at the strip club under my name, and then climbing onstage to dance with the girls? Or getting us kicked out after starting a fight with the bouncers? You don’t remember that?”

I flinch at the way his voice steadily rises, as does Taylor, but Devon just rolls onto his back and stretches, giving everyone a view of his junk.

“Nope,” he yawns, “doesn’t ring a bell.”

I jab him with my elbow before dropping my head into my hands. Okay, I may have taken things too far. I hadn’t meant to completely wreck Matty’s bachelor party, just...ruin it a little.

In all honesty, I don’t remember most of that. There are flashes here and there of Arya giving Devon a lap dance. A giant pair of tits in my face—which, what the fuck? The quarterback, Tyson, getting into it with me for some reason. How hard I avoided Matty the entire night.

The rest is blissfully blank.

“Xed, can I talk to you for a minute?” Matt flicks a glance at Dev’s naked form before settling his gaze on me, jaw feathering at the corners. “Alone?”