The Fallen Ones (Holloway University #1)

22. Jace

Chapter 22

Jace

“ A dams, get it together,” Coach Higgins shouted at me for missing a catch.

“Sorry, Coach” I called back across the field.

I was fucking up my throws. Too short. Too long. My entire game was shit. My mind wasn’t there and it was easily noticeable to my teammates, but more importantly to my coach. I really didn’t need to be distracted when I had a big game against Chi State coming up on Saturday.

“Bring it in!” Coach Higgins called out.

I bought some time to collect my thoughts by tying my laces. I knew I’d be catching shit over my performance today. I really wasn’t in the mood– I couldn’t afford to lose my temper.

“What’s going on with you, Adams?” Coach Higgins asked as I approached.

“Personal stuff,” I mumbled, my mind on Lily and everything that went with it.

“We’ve got a big game on Thursday. You need to shake off whatever is bothering you and focus on the game. Scouts from all the big teams are going to be there, and I’ve told them to watch out for our star player.” He patted my back. “Personal stuff stays in our personal lives. There’s no room for it on the field. Get your shit together.”

I sighed and nodded, knowing that if I didn’t get my shit together I could kiss goodbye to making it to the big leagues. I’d worked so hard to get my grades up in classes and make it this far on the football team. I was the captain. The quarterback. I had to perform. I knew the only way to ease my mind was to convince Caleb to stick to our pact and somehow get him to agree to repeat our night with Lily.

“I know. I’m sorry about today. I’ll work harder to focus tomorrow,” I replied.

“Jace, Jace!” The sound of girls calling my name cut into my conversion with coach Higgins. I glanced up and hoped that Lily would be among them, but she wasn’t.

I missed her watching me train from the bleachers.

Instead, staring down at me was Jessica Meyers and her friends. They’d started to gather and watch our every practice. I was certain those bitches never went to class. The fact Coach let them watch astounded me. He’d only chuckled and said they were harmless and might actually encourage us to work our asses off. Pretty girls in short skirts always did.

Not for me though. Not anymore. There was only one pretty girl I wanted.

I didn’t offer them so much as a smile or a nod. Other girls didn’t exist in my world. I wasn’t interested in anyone other than my Lily Pad, especially after my night with her.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Adams. Go get changed.” Coach Higgins patted me on my back again and sent me on my way.

I was soon at Giano’s waiting at the back in a booth for Caleb and Damien. Whether Caleb would actually show was my main concern. I knew Damien would. He couldn’t wait to have Lily again, but Caleb had put major doubts in my mind. I was so unsure if he’d go through with it a second time. It filled me with anxiety. It also pissed me off that I needed him just so I could have my girl again.

I looked down at the time on my phone. They were both already thirty minutes late.

What the fuck?

I caught a glimpse of what looked like Damien approaching. He broke through the patrons and strode forward.

“Where’s Watts?” he asked, looking around the diner.

“No idea. I’ve been sitting here waiting for the pair of you for the past half hour,” I replied and took a drink of the beer I’d ordered.

“He best not bail on us.”

“Are you guys ordering any food?” one of the waiters asked.

“Pepperoni pizza, extra cheese,” Damien replied.

“Nothing for me,” I added.

“Small, medium, or large?” the waiter asked Damien.

“Medium. Oh, and a side of fries.”

“No gym?” I asked when the waiter left. Damien was always in the gym. And if he wasn’t, rumor had it he was banging out some random chick on campus. I couldn’t cast stones though. I was the same way before I’d met Lily.

“I’m taking a break. I burned a lot of calories off recently and I intend to burn even more soon.” He let out a low chuckle at the innuendo.

I shook my head in reply. I knew exactly what he meant.

Out of nowhere Caleb appeared and dropped down onto the seat beside me.

“About time, Watts. What took you so long?” Damien asked, clearly trying to reignite their earlier bickering.

I shook my head and addressed Damien. “Like you’re one to talk. You were both late.” I knew I needed to defend Caleb and keep the tension low between the two of them. Plus, I was already worried Caleb was having second thoughts. Keeping the peace was important because the last damn thing we needed was Caleb bailing and telling Lily.

I’d hate to kill him.

The thought should have frightened me, but I knew how much she meant to me and exactly what I was willing to do to keep her as mine. Or in this case, ours.

“You’re lucky I turned up at all,” Caleb answered, glaring at Damien.

He was clearly still pissed at him.

“You want Lily again just as much as the two of us. Stop fucking lying to yourself.” Damien huffed.

“I could walk out of here and have Lily to myself if I wanted.” Caleb’s reply sent a wave of anger surging through me, but I remained calm.

“Like fuck you could. We made an agreement.” Damien answered for the both of us.

“Here’s your pizza guys. Enjoy.” The waiter interrupted and slid the pizza onto the table.

Damien and Caleb engaged in another stare down before I sighed.

“Enough. I think we can all safely say we want her. Would I be going out on a limb here if I said we’d like to keep her? For all of us?” The words were bitter on my tongue, but I’d take her however I could have her, even if it meant with these two pricks.

Caleb’s leg bounced as he stared down at his clasped hands on the table.

He cleared his throat. “How? She’d know how fucked we are. Pretty sure she might be horrified to learn it was us and we’d trick her. Think she’d want to stick around for that?” He shook his head and blew out a breath.

“You’re right.” I frowned, hating that he was. I knew Lily. She’d be pissed.

“So what do we do if we want to make it more permanent?” Caleb looked over at me. “And can we make it permanent? We can barely stand each other now. Imagine sharing her for-forever? Because I don’t want anyone else but her. Are you guys willing to do this for the long game?”

I glanced to Damien. He pulled a slice of pizza off the pan before he looked to Caleb.

“Want to share?” He winked at Caleb as he devoured an entire slice of pizza.

Caleb gave him the finger.

“I thought you two were cool and it was me and Damien who had issues. Fuck me.” I expressed my annoyance at the pair of them. “We all enjoyed Halloween, right?” I looked back and forth across the table as they both sat growling at one another. “We need to figure this shit out. She wants more. I know I do. I’m willing to let things go as long as we agree she’s ours. We can figure out a way to make it a permanent thing.”

“Yeah, she was a sweet ride,” Damien replied and then demolished another slice.

“Why do you have to talk about her like that? She wasn’t just a sweet ride. She’s Lily. I thought you actually gave a shit about her. I was hoping that night meant something to you. This was a fucking mistake.” Caleb gave Damien a disgusted look and made to push his way out of the booth.

Damien and his big fucking mouth.

I grabbed hold of Caleb’s arm and stopped him from leaving. “We do care about her. You know that. All of us."

“Doesn’t seem like he does.” He nodded toward Damien.

“I don’t do feelings. But, yes. She matters,” Damien finally gave Caleb what he wanted to hear.

“What happened with Jenna?” Caleb demanded. He clearly didn’t trust Damien even after he had kept our night with Lily secret.

“Sit, man. Let’s talk this out,” I said, gesturing for Caleb to take his seat again. He did, his glare still fixed on Damien as he waited for an answer.

“If you’d have listened earlier you’d know.” Damien grinned, which only added to the building tension between the three of us.

“Quit with the bullshit, and answer the question.” Caleb slapped his palm down hard on the table. It shook the table and knocked over a salt shaker, spilling tiny shards across the table.

Damien ate another slice of pizza, and deliberately smacked his lips together loudly, forcing Caleb to wait for him to answer.

He swallowed. “She did some homework for me. Big deal. It doesn’t mean I’m fucking the girl. I actually haven’t entertained a single female since Lily.” He wiped his mouth on a napkin and grinned. “So we doing this again for her or are you going to keep playing twenty questions instead?”

Caleb narrowed his eyes at Damien.

“Seriously, Caleb. It’s Lily. I want her too,” Damien said, his cocky attitude melting away, giving way to someone who genuinely looked and sounded like he did give a damn. “I had a lot of fun with her. If we can find a permanent fix, then yes. I’m in.”

I exhaled a sigh of relief.

“You told us she said she wanted more.” I reminded Caleb of our earlier conversation at the football field.

“Yeah. She does,” he replied, tearing his gaze away from Damien to glance at me.

“So let’s make it happen.” Damien said before I could respond.

“I want this. If I got through sharing my girl with you two once, I can do it again.” I admitted. “So yeah. I want it too. And I can keep doing it as long as we’re all on the same page.”

“ Our girl.” Damien corrected me.

“Right. Our girl.” I raked my fingers through my hair. “There’s a party next Saturday. We need to get her there.” I turned to Caleb. “You can ask her to come.”

He swallowed hard. “Where is it?”

“At Cameron Wilson’s place.”

“I hate that guy. He’s a prick,” Damien said with a grimace.

“He’s better looking than you, of course you hate him.” Caleb jabbed at Damien.

“I really fucking think not. He’s just a rich mama’s boy. Did you see the white suit he wore at Satan’s Hollow? He’s lame as fuck.” Damien snorted and grabbed another slice of pizza.

“Can we just agree to get Lily to the party?” I interrupted, tired of their childish bickering. If I thought me and Damien were bad, it was nothing compared to him and Caleb. The pair was driving me insane tonight.

“Hello, boys,” a familiar voice hit my ears. I looked up to see it was Lily’s friend Olivia with Cameron Wilson.

Fuck.

“Hey, Olivia.” Caleb acknowledged her with a nod, his body tensing.

“Fuck you, Damien.” I snarled and pushed myself away from the booth. “Just make sure you pay your debt.”

Damien frowned at me for a moment. Caleb tensed further. I widened my eyes at Damien, needing him to catch onto what I was doing.

It was like a light bulb went off inside his head. We were enemies. Hanging out and having pizza wasn’t something we ever did. I could already see the questions rolling through Olivia’s head as she tried to figure out why the three of us were together.

I slid out of the booth and continued to glare.

“I, uh, don’t have time for this. You guys going to pay me for those papers I wrote or not?” Caleb added a standard scholarship kid response. I internally rolled my eyes. Damien paid for work to be done, but I’d never do that. I liked to earn my grades.

“Sure,” Damien replied. “As soon as Jace goes and fucks himself.”

“You’re an asshole. Fuck you,” I snarled at him. “Stay out of my way or I swear to god, Damien, I’ll end you.”

“I look forward to it.” Damien got to his feet and tossed a hundred dollar bill at Caleb. “Thanks for the hard work.”

I kept the glare fixed on my face as Damien strode away, taking his fries with him. I sighed and shook my head and looked back to Olivia who was watching with raised brows.

“Your turn. I need paid,” Caleb said.

I snorted and dug into my pocket and pulled out my wallet. I tossed a hundred at him and backed away from the table.

“Remember our deal,” I said.

Caleb nodded wordlessly and took the two hundred bucks off the table and stuffed it into his pocket.

“Olivia. Always a pleasure. Cameron.” I nodded at them and went outside to my Range Rover which I’d parked close to the diner doors.

As I climbed inside and went to start the engine my phone buzzed.

Damien: Make sure Lily is at that party.

Caleb: Olivia just told me she’s already invited her.

Damien: Remind her. Make it happen.

Jace: If Olivia is going to be there, Lily will be there. She has a way with getting Lily to do what she wants.

Damien: Yeah, but she’ll know you’re going to be there and might not want to see your face. I know I wouldn’t.

Jace: Stop being a dick.

Caleb: I’ll remind her, but we need to be more careful. I’m worried Olivia might have found that situation weird.

Damien: She was too wrapped up in Cameron white-suit Wilson to care. Stop being such a sensitive bitch and make sure Lily is at that fucking party. Our cover story was fine. By the way, I want my money back.

Jace: Caleb’s right. We don’t know what Lily’s told Olivia about that night.

Damien: Guess we’ll find out at the party. Caleb, my money?

Caleb: Nah. Think I’ll keep it. Thanks, douches.

I sighed and darkened my screen. I sure as shit hoped Olivia didn’t suspect anything. But maybe Lily hadn’t told her friend about her night with the three of us.

As long as Caleb managed to play it off well enough that Olivia bought our role playing, we should be fine. We’d definitely paid for his performance.

I’d had time to think since the party and I’d realized how very much in love with Lily I truly was.

I needed to be with her again, and I wouldn’t let anyone get in the way.

I just prayed when the time came to come out with it to her, she’d already in too deep to tell us no.