Defile Novel – My heart fell right out of my chest at the sight of my boyfriend copulating with a blonde woman. A jagged gasp scraped its way down my throat as I stood, frozen in place. That last little piece inside of me, the one that had been hanging on for dear life these past two years, died in that moment. He’d taken it all and destroyed it. Destroyed us. Destroyed me. It wasn’t until I was in the back of a cab heading for the airport I’d left only an hour earlier that I finally broke down.
Tatum Twenty-two yearsold I’d never been moremiserable in all my life. After our fight, Declan hadn’t come home for two days. Then he’d flown off for the first leg of Civil Corruption’s World tour. That had been two weeks ago. I missed him so much it was like a piece of my soul had died. He’d called and apologized from the airport, begging me to meet him there, but I’d held firm. I wasn’t going. I was going to try and live a life that didn’t center around all things Declan Forrester.
We made up as much as two people could from such a distance. There had been a few phone calls and texts since then, but with the time difference and his insanely busy schedule, keeping in contact had been nearly impossible. No longer able to take it, I’d bitten the bullet and bought a one-way ticket to Australia where they were currently playing. By the time I landed—well past two in the morning, Australia’s time—their show was long over. Jet lag was going to be a bimbo, and the thought of navigating a foreign place all by myself scared the absolute out of me, but I’d do it for him. Because it was Declan and me forever. When the cab I’d taken from the airport pulled up in front of the hotel, I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
I made it. I paid the driver and climbed from the back seat, hooking my small carry-on over my shoulder before heading inside. It wasn’t until I reached the front desk in the lobby that I realized my crucial mistake. I’d always been with them when we checked in, so I never really paid attention to the lengths the band’s team went to in order to maintain their privacy. “Uh, hi. Yeah. I’m Tatum Valentine, here to see Declan Forrester.” The woman behind the desk stared me down like I was nothing but a groupie or rocker bimbo. “I’m sorry, there’s no one by that name checked in.” God, I was so tired that even my bones were weary. I just wanted to get to Declan, then get to the closest bed. “Look, I know you have to say that. But I’m not a groupie, I swear. I’m his girlfriend. We live together.” “Funny,” she said in a way that told me she didn’t find anything about our exchange the slightest bit funny. “You’re the third woman today to claim such a thing.”
“Yeah, but I’m actually telling the truth. Look.” I pulled my phone from my purse and scrolled through the photos until I reached a selfie I’d taken of me with Declan. “See?” “I’m sorry, ma’am, but that proves nothing other than you’ve met him before. And as I already said, there is no one here by that name.” “Forget this. I’ll just call him myself,” I grumbled as I stomped away from the counter over to the seating area. Flopping down on one of the cushy chairs, I hit his number and held the phone to my ear. It rang and rang before eventually going to voicemail. I tried it again to the same result. Anxiety started to churn in my belly as I scrolled down to Mason’s contact and hit Call. I beginning to worry that I’d get voicemail again when his deep voice finally rumbled through the line. “’Lo?” “Mace?” I collapsed into the chair in relief. “Tate? That you?” “Yeah, it is. Sorry for calling so late, but I’m in the lobby.”
I got silence for a few seconds, then “The lobby where?” Rolling my eyes to the ceiling, I answered, “The lobby of your building, jackass. I came to surprise Deck, but he’s not answering his phone, and the bimbo at the front desk won’t tell me what room he’s in. Could you come down and get me?” A distinctive rustling sound came through the phone, like he was putting his clothes on. “Yeah, just hang tight, babe. I’ll be right down.” “Okay, thanks again. I’m sorry if I woke you up.” “You didn’t.” I paused for a second before my nose scrunched up. “Oh, gross, Mace! You answered the phone when you were having copulation?” My squeaked question was followed by his bark of laughter. “You really want me to answer that question, or you want me to finish tucking my genitalia in my pants and come get you?” “Gah! Just… stop talking and come get me!”
I hung up on another laugh and waited patiently for my friend to appear. A few minutes later, an elevator dinged and Mason came strutting through the doors, his hair and clothes rumpled from his recent activity. Ignoring the fact that this man, who was like a brother to me, had just been having copulation less than five minutes before, I stood and wrapped him in a hug. When I pulled away, he led me back to the elevator, calling to the lady at the front desk over his shoulder. “Yo. Future reference, she’s with the band. You let her go wherever she wants to go.” The woman blanched, and I couldn’t help but turn my head and stick my tongue out. What could I say? It had been a bad couple of weeks. “Is Deck asleep or something? Is that why he didn’t answer? ” I asked once we were safely tucked inside the elevator. Mason lifted his arm and began rubbing along the back of his neck.
The air around us shifted at his discomfort, and that sinking feeling I’d been experiencing in the pit of my stomach lately roared back to life. “Uh, no. Some of the guys from our opening band are having a party in their room. I think you might find him hanging out there.” I tried my hardest not to let my dread get the best of me as I asked, “Same floor as you guys?” “Two below.” At his answer, I reached over and hit the button to let me off two floors before Mason’s. It wasn’t hard to figure out which room the party was in, the music so loud the fixtures on the walls were rattling. “You want me to take your bag back to his room?” Mace asked, holding the doors open with his hand. Smiling as genuinely as I could muster, considering how bad I was feeling, I told him, “Nah, I got it. I’m just gonna grab Deck and head back up in a few minutes anyway.”
He nodded, leaning forward to place a smooching on my cheek. “All right, sweetheart. See you in a few.” Then he was gone, leaving me to navigate the hallway on shaky legs. That women’s intuition my mother told me about was currently sounding an alarm inside my brain. I spotted the open hotel room door and began squeezing through the crush of people filling it. I wasn’t sure who the opening band was for this tour, but whoever they were, they must’ve been good, because they weren’t put up in just any regular room. This was a suite. And while the space was definitely huge, the crowd was so thick it was suffocating. Standing on my tiptoes, I searched every square inch of the main room for Declan, coming up empty. “Hey,” I called over the blaring music to a guy I recognized as part of Civil Corruption’s road crew. “You seen Declan?”
I knew he recognized me when the guy’s eyes bulged out of his skull, and he knew exactly who I was. “Uh, n-no… I, um, I haven’t seen him. I think maybe he’s in his room, crashed for the night. You should check there,” he stammered uncontrollably, casting nervous glances toward the hallway. Lying bimbo. With a glare furious enough to peel the paint off the walls, I shoved past the bimbo and started down the hall at a fast clip. “Hey, no! Don’t go down there! I told you he’s not here!” The first door I threw open housed a group of men and women who looked like they were engaging in a freaking orgy. Declan was nowhere to be seen, so I slammed the door shut and moved to the next one. No Declan behind door number two.
With the third door, I hit pay dirt. And I’d have given absolutely everything I owned to have never witnessed what was taking place in that room. “Oh yeah. Baby. Your cherry’s so tight.” My heart fell right out of my chest at the sight of Declan copulating with a blonde woman. A jagged gasp scraped its way down my throat as I stood, frozen in place. A second woman, a brunette as wearing nothing as the day she was born, sauntered up behind him as he took the blonde from behind. She lifted a handheld mirror with two lines of coke up to Declan’s face, and he snorted them both, never once breaking rhythm.
Once he’d finished shoving the powder up his nose, he turned his head, grabbed the brunette by the hair, and yanked her down viciously, sealing his mouth with hers as another moan ripped from his chest. I knew that moan. I’d heard that moan countless times. Then, sure enough, he jerked his face away and came, long and loud into the blonde on her knees in front of him. That last little piece inside of me, the one that had been hanging on for dear life these past two years, died in that moment. There was nothing left. He’d taken it all and destroyed it. Destroyed us. Destroyed me. I wasn’t sure how I managed to function, let alone move, after that, but I somehow managed to make it out of that room and out of the hotel in one piece. It wasn’t until I was in the back of a cab heading for the airport I’d left only an hour earlier that I finally broke down.