Page 40 of One Love


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“Why didn’t you tell me I look horrifying?” I cry out as I glare at him.

He takes a deep breath before he pulls my body into his and envelops me in his arms, supporting my rapid emotions. “You’re as beautiful as always, Devin.”

“I’m not fucking beautiful, Sebastian.” The tears burn my cheeks as they pour from my eyes. “I’m a fucking mess. Look at what she’s done to me. All of the burns on my chest and neck are going to scar.”Hiccup.“I’m going to be scarred by her forever.”

“They make ointments and creams to help with scarring, princess.” He tries to soothe me. “It’s going to be okay. We haven’t seen them yet, so don’t panic. The doctor said most of the acid was absorbed by your clothing.”

My waterworks slow, and I pull back to stare up at him, surely looking even more of a mess. “My hair. It’s completely ruined. It’s going to take forever to grow back. It took me years to grow it this long. I’m going to have to cut it all off. I can’t go in public looking like this. I look like the Wicked Witch of the West right now.”

Crystal knows how to pack a punch. She may not have succeeded in her original goal, but she still won, didn’t she? Yes, I’m alive and my face isn’t entirely burned off, but she still made her mark. She made sure to scar me, on the outside and the inside.

“The hair is an easy fix,” Sebastian says, placing a kiss on my forehead. “We’ll go to a salon and get you a new cut. I know any style will look great on you. It’s you who is beautiful, not your hair.”

I gape at him wide eyed because while the suggestion is sweet, he obviously wasn’t listening a minute ago. “I can't go out in public looking like this.” My tone comes out a tad harsher than I’d like it to be, but honestly, my head is a mess—that isn’t an excuse, but it’s all I have to go on.

Sebastian slides his arms around my waist and pulls us up from the floor. He picks me up and plops my ass on the marble countertop in his bathroom in one fluid motion.

“Look at me,” he commands. “I know you’re hurting right now, but I want you to listen to me when I tell you I love you no matter what your hair or skin looks like, Devin. You’re beautiful on the inside, and that’s what matters to me. Hell, who you are inside is the reason I fell in love with you. You’re a fucking lioness, princess. You don’t take shit from anyone. You keep the walls surrounding your heart high, but when someone is lucky enough to break one of them down, they get to see the beautiful, kind, amazing woman behind the beautiful outside. Crystal willnevertake that from you. Do you hear me? Crazy hair, burns—hell, you could lose all your teeth, none of that changes a damn thing for me, Devin.”

I stare at Sebastian in awe, my words stuck in the back of my throat.

This man—this wonderful man who always has the right words—is the best thing in my life. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve him, but I’m going to thank my lucky stars for the rest of my life. He isn’t some playboy only looking for a good time.

Sebastian Brooks is a real man, one who isn’t going to run when his girlfriend needs him the most. No, he’s going to be the one who puts me back together again—scars, singed hair, and all.

He gently wipes the tears from my face. “How about we go into the kitchen and have some breakfast, and you let me worry about fixing your hair for the time being, all right?”

“Okay,” I whisper.

He kisses my cheek. “I’ll give you a few minutes to yourself.”

I’m amazed at how well he knows what I need. I close the door behind him and turn back to my reflection. I wince at how awful I look, so I start opening the drawers of the vanity, knowing I have to have left a hair tie here somewhere.

Even though I may not understand what led Crystal to do what she did, I do know Sebastian’s partly right. I can’t let her take everything from me. Finally finding a hair tie in the bottom drawer, I pull back the mess on my head that rivals Medusa’s and secure it in a low ponytail. I grab my pink toothbrush from the holder, thankful that Sebastian didn’t toss it in the trash, and scrub away the film coating my teeth.

The bandages draw my attention the moment I look back into the mirror. I have no clue what they look like underneath, and that makes it worse. There are always ways to fix that kind of stuff, but still. It’s insane and scary to think I have acid burns on my body.

The smell of bacon wafting from the kitchen practically calls my name.

I take one last look in the mirror before I head out to join Sebastian before he comes back looking for me.

This is as good as it’s going to get for the moment.

* * *

“Knock, knock,”Madison says as she opens the door to Sebastian’s penthouse.

She flits across the foyer as if it’s just another Saturday. Only the bandages on her hands, which match the ones on my body, give away the fact it’s not and she, too, was hurt by Crystal last night.

Seeing her now makes all of the horror from yesterday rush back through my mind.

“Hey, Lauren,” Sebastian greets the woman standing beside Madison as she removes her coat. “Thank you for making a house call.”

“Anytime, Sebastian. You know I’d do just about anything for your family.”

After breakfast, Sebastian made a few calls. First to Madison for Lauren’s number and then to the woman herself. I didn’t know Madison’s long-time best friend is a renowned hair stylist in the city. She was more than happy to come over to fix my messy mop.

Sebastian looks over at me and gestures toward Lauren. “Devin, meet my nonbiological sister, Lauren.”