Alexandrite

Tessa sent up a hasty prayer for forgiveness as she slipped on the dress Mama had bought her in exchange for a promise not to marry Al. She’d never really had any intention of marrying Al, but she couldn’t explain that to Mama. He might have been an arrogant prick, as Mama had said more than once, but he would be the lesser of two evils once Mama figured out where Tessa had run off to.

Mama wasn’t going to like Devan at all, wouldn’t matter that she was gorgeous in a wounded sort of way. Devan had skin like porcelain, so smooth and soft. Her eyes were the sort of green that was deep and dark but could look a bit blue or even purple, depending on the light, like alexandrite. She had a small, hesitant smile, as if the concept of happiness was foreign to her.

Devan was a runner, with a long, sleek body that hummed like an instrument under Tessa’s fingers. She taught a high school journalism class; Tessa was convinced all of her students, boys and girls, were enamored with her. She had thick, long dark hair when they met that night at the bar. It was soft like silk, and Tessa had lost herself in it later that night when it had fallen around her face like a curtain. Devan had since cut it off, and Tessa nearly cried.

She was a mystery to Tessa, one that would surely break her heart in the end. But she was as drawn to Devan as she’d ever been to any guy she’d dated. After that first night with her, which she’d chalked up to too much tequila, Al could do no right. She had still worn his ring, the one Mama had nearly fainted over, but she had known even then that she couldn’t marry him.

It hadn’t taken Mama all that much to talk her out of those wedding plans. A sexy black sheath with a hefty price on it and a pair of black stilettos. Mama had been visibly relieved that afternoon when they left the boutique. Tessa had felt a pang of guilt, knowing her mother would disapprove of the relationship she had developed with another woman. The hardest part of all of this was that Mama would have liked Devan, if Tessa wasn’t involved with her. There wasn’t much of anything to dislike about Devan. She was witty and well-spoken. She could hold her own in a conversation about Nascar and eat up a room full of scholars in a conversation about Russian literature.

Tessa hooked her necklace and checked her look in the mirror. Devan loved to see the diamond pendant nestled between her breasts. A swift flame of desire licked low in her belly at the thought of Devan’s gorgeous eyes and long, slender fingers roaming over her skin. She dabbed a tiny bit of perfume behind her ears and stopped once again to look in the mirror. Loving Devan was going to burn her, she knew. It was a bit of a gamble as to how long it would last, but she knew without a doubt that it would be a messy break up and a long road back to happiness.

But life should be about the journey, she told herself again as she left her apartment. Devan was a detour, one with a scenic overlook. The view was so gorgeous the fall would be well worth it.

#necklace #pendant #breakups #relationships #risk #loveislove