The Fallen Ones (Holloway University #1)

24. Damien

Chapter 24

Damien

“ W hat the fuck is the matter with you.” I kicked Caleb’s foot as I made to walk around him to sit on the couch in my living room. He’d been moping around for the better part of the week, making me think he was depressed or some shit.

“Nothing,” he grumbled, taking the joint I handed to him and inhaling a deep drag before coughing. He handed it back to me while Jace did something on his phone, ignoring us.

“Don’t lie. You’re always Mr. Positivity and Sunshine. What’s your deal, princess?” I pressed. I hadn’t seen him around Lily all week. It was weird.

“Fuck off, Damien,” he snapped, looking at me with a sour expression.

“I will once you tell me what has your fucking panties in a twist.”

He sighed and grabbed the bottle off whiskey on the coffee table I’d brought over and took a long drink from the bottle.

“We have glasses,” I muttered, eyeing him as he wiped his mouth.

Jace put his phone down and stared at Caleb. “Caleb, what’s going on with you? Damien is right. You’re being a bit of a downer this last week.”

Caleb scoffed and drank more. I reached out and snagged the bottle away from him and placed it on the table. Caleb always had his shit together. His behavior was concerning. It was unlike the little shithead I’d gotten to know over the last few weeks. Even in our group messages he was barely talking.

“Man, start talking,” I said, tiring on the morose bullshit.

He rubbed his eyes and sat back on the couch and was silent for several long beats before he finally spoke.

“Lily kissed me.”

I shot a look to Jace who sat forward in his chair, his brows crinkled.

“What?” Jace asked.

“When?” I added, my irritation nearing the surface. Whenever I’d seen Lily and had tried to engage her in conversation this week, she’d brushed me off, not even giving into my typical teasing. Usually, she’d snap back, but this time she just sighed and walked away, leaving me with shit to do about it.

“Few days ago. I went to her place to hang out.”

“So she, what? Just went in and kissed you?” Jace demanded.

I glowered at Caleb, hating he was the one who was so close with her. That he had the fucking opportunities I didn’t even though it should be me since I was her fucking brother.

Well, former brother, but I still considered her my little sister and that wasn’t ever going to change.

“Did you fuck her?” I asked, my voice trembling with my barely controlled anger.

“No, I didn’t fuck her. If I’d have fucked her, I’d have said I did. Instead, I said she kissed me,” Caleb slung back at me.

“Wait.” Jace held his hand up. “She kissed you? Did you kiss her back?”

Caleb gave Jace a sour look before looking away and focusing on some ugly picture of flowers we had hanging on the wall.

“Lily kissed you and you did nothing?” I let out a laugh, relief pouring through me.

“I’m confused,” Jace said. “Has something changed and you don’t want her now?”

“Nothing has fucking changed for me.” A muscle thrummed along Caleb’s jaw. “But she told me I was gross basically. And kissing me was like kissing a sibling. I didn’t kiss her back because I was trying to figure out if I should. Fuck me for thinking about you assholes during it."

“She clearly needs me to unmask myself and show her what kissing a sibling is really like,” I said, chuckling softly. “And that’s nice that you thought of us while she was kissing you. If you want to suck my cock, just get on your knees for me, pretty boy. I’ll give you what you want.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Caleb mumbled. “She’s not into me like that, and I’m sure as not fuck into you. I thought she wanted me. We’ve shared moments before that suggested she was into it. Now that she’s made the move, she’s realized she’s not. I grossed her out. It’s over.”

“It’s not over,” I said at the same time Jace did.

“Is active listening not something you’re good at?” Caleb glared at me. “I just fucking told you she called it gross. She’s not interested. Listen to the fucking topic sentence, dick.”

“I did listen and all I heard was you bitching. She clearly didn’t think it was gross when you were balls deep in her pussy that night we had her. I’d say she’s just nervous.” I rolled my eyes at Caleb.

“I agree,” Jace said. “We know she enjoyed being with you.”

“Yeah, well, if she finds out she’ll be disgusted. I’m not going to do that to her.” He stared down at his lap. “I’m out. You two can have her. I don’t want to ruin my friendship with her and disgust her further. If you guys decide to unmask yourselves, I’ll never tell her I was the third if you promise not to. And if you never unmask, then I’m fine with that too. The secret will go with me to the grave.”

“So you’re just giving up?” Jace stared incredulously at Caleb.

I studied Caleb to see how sad the guy really was. Her saying that to him had really upset him. Had she said that to me, I’d have held her down and fucked her so hard she’d know exactly how good it could be having her brother’s cock embedded into her fucking soul. I mean, I’d done it before, but this time she’d know it was me.

“I am,” Caleb said softly. “I’m done.”

I ground my teeth at his answer. I may not like that I was sharing my sister with these fucks, but I also knew how much I’d enjoyed that night sharing her with them too. It was a battle I was currently fighting.

“You’re not,” I said firmly. “It’ll fuck everything up. You’re in. We’ll see her at the party Saturday?—”

“How?” Caleb demanded, looking at me. “Huh? We just going to wear masks there too? Is that it? Walk around like a trio of freaks?”

I chuckled at him before reaching over to the edge of the couch and pulling out a bag.

“Matter of fact, we are.” I reached into the bag and pulled out black beanies. I handed Caleb and Jace each one.

“You can’t possibly think we can wear these to a party.” Jace shook his head. “We going to be beanie bitches now?”

“We’re the Fallen Ones. We’ve fallen for her,” I said fiercely. “We’ve fallen from our morals. Our integrity. We’ve fallen so fucking far and we’re still falling. These beanies with our masks symbolize how far we’re willing to go. To the death.” I looked at Caleb and Jace in turn. “I say we go unmasked. We act like we know nothing. Then, when she’s alone, when she’s leaving, when she wanders away, we strike. If she runs, we chase. If she screams, we make her scream louder. If she begs us to stop, we only fuck her harder. We can make this work. She’ll be so obsessed with us it won’t fucking matter if she’s grossed out by kissing Caleb or fucking a sibling. Once we decide to come clean, if we ever do, she’ll not make us leave. We’ll haunt her fucking dreams. I say we do this. Each time we catch her alone, we strike. We work our way so far beneath her skin she’ll never want to escape us.” I sat back and lit another joint and took a drag. “Trust me. It’ll work.”

“The Fallen Ones,” Jace murmured.

I nodded.

Caleb turned the beanie over in his hands and sighed.

“I-I can’t. I’m out.” He got to his feet, leaving the beanie on the couch. I was fast and grabbed it before pressing it to his chest as I rose to my feet.

“Don’t bow out just yet. Think it through. We’ll see you this weekend…. brother, ” I said in a low, fierce growl.

Caleb stared me down for a moment, not taking the beanie back.

“If you want her, fucking take her,” I continued, staring into his eyes. “This is your chance, Caleb. Don’t let it go. Me and Jace fucking her while you sit alone wishing you were there with us….Regrets are for pussies. Are you a pussy?”

That muscle popped along his jaw again before he snatched the beanie away from me and stormed out of the house with it.

“He’s losing it,” Jace said as the front door slammed closed.

I grabbed the bottle of whisky and took a deep drink before wiping my mouth.

“Good. He’ll finally fit in with us.”

Jace smirked at me and settled back in his seat.

“You staying?” I asked, raising my brows at him in surprise. We’d not hung out just the two of us since we were teens.

“Looks like it… brother .” He grinned and held his hand out for the booze.

I chuckled, shaking my head, and handed it to him.

“I still fucking hate you,” I said, our eyes locked.

“Feeling is mutual.”

I watched him drink from the bottle before he smacked his lips.

“So what are we doing?” I asked.

“Winging it,” he answered. “So shut the fuck up and drink.”

I took the bottle from him, smiling.

I could drink to that.