Eleanor regretted the very wish to have an off campus housing. She didn't want to live with any traces of her past in her current life. But nothing could be done now. Cancelling a lease was easier said than done. And even if she could, she wouldn't. Because she didn't make herself strong in every way to run away from situations like before. She would face whatever came her way. And it wouldn't be any difficult since she had nothing left in her for Devon.

The presence of her housemates behind her caused Eleanor to turn away from the window of her room to look at them.

"Devon is so damn hot! I got wet dreams last night because of him," Briona commented.

"Hey! Stay away from my future husband," Heather frowned at her.

"Bro, puh-lease," Briona drawled. "I can make gorgeous babies with him."

"It is only I who can make the most stunning babies with him," Heather declared proudly.

Eleanor rolled her eyes at that.

"Hey man, where are you off to?" the girls called out to her as she was exiting the room.

"Gotta grab something for breakfast. At least one of us should keep sanity alive," ridiculed Eleanor.

"I'm coming too but lemme put on my favourite lipstick first! Devon shouldn't see me without it," said Heather gleefully.

"I'll put on mascara before I go downstairs to have a word with Devon," said Briona.

Eleanor rolled her eyes in annoyance at their stupidity.

***

"I feel so happy that I don't live with kids," Preston said as he plopped down on a stool at the kitchen counter for a breakfast of hot dogs with his friends. "I'm able to talk freely about sex all the time without worrying about having to censor myself should any kid hear me out. "

Oh God, there he goes, Nathan mumbled under his breath, pretending at once to read a business magazine he had carried along.

Devon too got the inkling that something bad was on it's way straight from Preston's mouth. So he grabbed his phone and made himself appear busy.

But all of this didn't, in any way, demotivate Preston to speak what was on his mind. He went about it anyway.

"So just last night I was reading a news article in the ' Health and You ' column which mentioned the findings of a recently conducted research, " Preston explained conversationally, " Now I totally forgot to read the name of the institute that carried out this research thrice to remember the name but who cares, it's their report that matters anyway. So according to the report, a man can live two years longer if he has 350 orgasms in a year. Isn't it what you call wonderful?!!?"

An absolute silence followed that declaration, the kind that could make you chew your hair off in frustration.

Devon couldn't believe he just heard what he just heard.

As for Nathan, he was repeating ' This too shall pass..' over and over again in his head.

"Then what has a man got to do if he wants to live four years longer?"

Nathan shot Devon an icy glare through his rectangular glasses for uttering that. Devon gave a 'Just asking' look in return.

"It's simple Math, dude! Can't you find that out for yourself?" cried Preston. "If a man requires 350 orgasms in a year to live two years longer then he would require double, which is 700 orgasms in one year to live four years longer!"

"That's dirty math which wasn't a part of my school curriculum," remarked Devon cheekily.

"Hold on a sec there!" Nathan spoke, narrowing his eyes at Preston. "Why does everything boil down to that three letter word for you?! Various kinds of sport like swimming, running, yoga or even....even martial arts can help you stay fitter and live for more number of years."

Preston didn't like that. It was evident by the frown that had itched on his face. "Why would you want to delight yourself with just chocolate pastries when you can have the entire jumbo chocolate cake?"

Nathan appeared deeply outraged hearing that. "I can't fucking believe you just compared a jumbo chocolate cake to the thing that a guy and a girl do naked on the bed!!!"

"You mean Sex?" offered Preston with a drawl. "Saying the word alone is so much better than how you described it."

"Okay, I've officially lost all my love for jumbo chocolate cake. Thank you very much," Nathan gave him a grudging look.

"No problem, man," snickered Preston.

The two boys continued to bicker. Devon, who was totally fed up, randomly glanced towards the East Wing and saw Eleanor coming down the stairs in red hot palazzo pants and an off shoulder top. Her dark wavy black hair cascaded down her shoulders adding to her sex appeal.

Eleanor spotted Devon gawking at her. There was so much of want and need in his imploring eyes for her. But her empty gazes refused to acknowledge his burning feelings and she looked away from him.

Devon, pained by her apathetic attitude, lowered his gazes.

"Did you have breakfast?"

The loud and bold voice echoed in the hall which made heads turn. Preston and Nathan stopped bickering as they grew aware of a girl who was stood at the door step of the villa with a trolley bag. Eleanor too looked towards the entrance at the new arrival who had straight long gorgeous red hair, seductive grey eyes and a tall stunning figure. She was wearing denim shorts and a risqué top with a plunging neck line that showed a lot of her sexy cleavage and hugged her body in the most provocative way.

Her question was aimed at Devon just like her confident gazes. She made no attempts to hide that she desired him.

Another girl??!!, thought Nathan in extreme disappointment, why can't all of these girls disappear from this place....except, maybe, Eleanor....

"She is the seventh tenant??" Briona whispered in dismay, appearing at Eleanor's shoulder at the stairs. "Dude, if she lives here then Devon will not look at us even one bit."

"I know right," Heather whispered dimly. "She has looks like those of a Vogue model. We've no chance with Devon with her being around."

Eleanor felt a certain kind of anger grip her insides seeing the new girl checking out Devon. She gripped the staircase railings hard....

"I wish I hadn't 'cause I feel like puking now," Devon said bluntly referring to her.

The girl was unaffected. "Funny that even after I just had a good breakfast, I feel really hungry and thirsty now that I'm here," she said in a seductive tone. "So I was wondering if we can have something together?"

Devon chuckled dryly, rising to his feet. "I would pass 'cause I'm sure I'd hate the menu you would bring to the table."

The girl smirked, starting to walk towards him sashaying her hips. "Our tastes could be same, you mustn't form opinions this fast. We've just met."

"On the contrary, I come across people like you every other day. So I know how bad it is," dissed Devon before walking off.

Preston's jaw dropped. Is Devon fucking blind to reject such a bombshell??!!

On the other hand, the two girls by Eleanor's side were cheering.

"Devon snubbed her and how," remarked Briona, impressed.

"I knew he would. Because he likes me obviously," beamed Heather.

"That's such a poorly built idea!" taunted Briona. "He likes me 'cause I'm more of his type than you."

Eleanor climbed back upstairs to her room. The events she had just witnessed left her unsettled. I know very well that I'm over Devon. So it's ridiculous of me to have problems with someone else hitting on him!

She was leaving for work when Devon came in her way in the passage. His ardent stares irked her.

"Leave me way," she said bitterly.

"I love you, Eleanor. I can't do without you," he said, his orbs turning a shade darker with passion and pain.

Eleanor ignored that tried to walk past him but his outstretched hand blocked her.

Devon spoke again in a thick hoarse voice. "I want a place in your heart, Eleanor. And in your bed too."

That shocked her. She looked up at him, their faces close. "Don't you fucking dare touch me!" she glared at him fiercely.

"You can do much better than verbally warning me," he countered. "Why wouldn't you punch me?"

"Because, unlike you, I regard the beautiful times we've spent together," she shot back. "If I hurt you, there wouldn't be any difference between you and me. And I don't cheat like you."

And she walked away wounding Devon with her words. He was writhing in anger, pain and frustration when the redhead approached him at the parking space where he was stood leaning against his car.

"The pool here is amazing. I'm thinking of getting a bikini wax done. What do you think?" she asked suggestively, moving a hand over her body.

Devon clenched his fists tight hearing that. "I think you work much better than sleeping pills in putting people to sleep."

The girl smirked, loving the hot challenge that he was. "Carmen here," she introduced herself.

"And my name is 'I don't care a damn'," he said acidly before getting into the car and zooming off.

Devon was like that ferocious injured lion with a broken heart breathing in his chest. He drove recklessly on the roads on his way to work which got him into big trouble with the traffic cops. He reached office late and was an absolute terror to all. Everybody feared his explosive temper that day. He tried calling and texting Eleanor but she wasn't responding. That got him mad. Very mad.

Later that evening, after returning from work, Eleanor was sat on a couch in the hall doing an assignment for college. Devon came there as well and sat staring at her longingly from a good distance away. She grew aware of his presence but couldn't be bothered about it.

She was completely into her work which disheartened him 'cause it meant he didn't matter to her at all. She didn't know how desperate he was for her. She didn't know about the infinite untamed feelings that she had aroused in him. She had no clue how much he wanted to hide her from the world and make love to her under the shadows of heaven and sin....

Devon rose to his feet instantly as she closed her laptop and prepared to leave.

"Eleanor, please." He approached her but she stood like a stone not sparing me a glance. "I'm not lying. Believe me, give me one chance to love you and I'll never hurt you again," he added, every pore of his existence flaming in need of her.

"When a music CD player gets stuck on just one line, it's called a corrupt. Same is the case with you, Devon." She made the cruel comparison in a detached tone.

Devon was about to speak---

"We're back with all the groceries finally done." Preston appeared at the doorstep with Heather and Briona, their arms full of brown bags.

"And Devon," added Preston, while walking across the hall to the kitchen counter. "Sorry man, I didn't get any condoms you wanted to fuck five chicks this weeks."

That shocked Eleanor. Devon was left stunned too hearing that. He was about to retort heatedly....

"Chill, man. Just kidding," interrupted the elder guy with a laugh. "When you can shock the shit out of people on a daily basis, I can try sometimes too."

Devon still bore a deep grudge on his face. He hated the very fact that she had to hear something like that about him when he was trying so hard to win her back. To add to that Eleanor just walked away in a huff.

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