Page 35 of The Fallen Ones

“Looking good, pretty boy,” I said and ruffled my hands through Jace’s blond hair as he entered the house. I knew he hated it, but it was also something we'd do to one another back in our friendship days.

“Dick,” he replied and combed his fingers through his hair.

“Here's the masks. I brought robes in case you guys wanted to cover up. I wasn't sure exactly what look we were going for,you know, since you were both too busy arguing all the time instead.” Caleb sat skeleton masks on the coffee table.

“You found skeleton masks?” I eyed the masks. The mouth area was exposed, so they’d really be perfect for the night.

“Yeah. Spotted them in a costume shop. Seemed pretty perfect.” Caleb took a seat on the couch.

“I’ve got black body paint,” I answered, continuing to eye the masks. “We can help each other put it on. It’ll cover my tats. I don’t want to wear a shirt.”

“Don’t get off while caressing this perfect body now, Fletcher,” Jace goaded me, silently agreeing to the body paint.

“You wish,” I muttered sourly. “By the way, that was a dick move you pulled yesterday, Adams.” Jace being a sneaky prick and kissing Lily had really pissed me off. I wasn’t the sort of guy who just sat back and didn’t say what I thought. This time would be no exception.

“Fuck off with the jealousy. It's not like I haven't kissed her before,” Jace bit back and grinned, displaying his perfectly straight, white teeth.

“Who said I didn't kiss her before you?” I taunted him. I'd never told him about my encounter with Lily but now seemed as good a time as ever.

“I call bullshit.” Jace furrowed his brows and scrunched his nose. I could tell he was considering the possibility.

“Believe me. Don’t believe me. I couldn’t give a shit. Just know I was her first kiss, pretty boy.”

“She’d have told me, or at least mentioned it to Caleb. Right, Caleb?” Jace said in a tone lacking his usual cocky confidence.

“Can we just get ready?” Caleb replied. “And to answer your question, she’s never mentioned it.”

Jace shot me a glare, letting me know he didn’t believe me. It didn’t matter. I knew it happened and so did Lily. His belief in it or not wouldn’t change anything.

“How was Lily last night?” Jace looked to Caleb for answers. The concern in his voice rose to desperation. "I hope she had a good evening. I mean, I know she enjoyed our kiss. Did she say anything about it?"

“Not much,” Caleb replied.

“Face it, Adams. Lily kissed you because I wasn't there. That's the only reason,” I said.

“Like fuck is it. Lily still harbors feelings for me, you jealous prick.” Jace threw his shirt off revealing perfectly defined abs and football player pecs and tossed it onto the table.

“Paint yourself, dick,” I hit back and tossed a sponge at him.

“I’ll paint Jace, you paint me.” Caleb came up with a solution to avoid any more conflict between Jace and I.

“Fine,” I replied and grabbed a sponge before I dipped it into the tub of black paint and began working on my own arms.

“We’re supposed to be painting each other.” Caleb shook his head.

“We can do our arms ourselves. Then you can paint pretty boy’s back. I’ll do yours. You’ll do mine. Fuck, if I trust Jace not to stab me in the back again.” I threw the sponge at Caleb leaving a splatter of black paint in the center of his chest.

“Whatever, Damien. The sooner tonight is over with the better. I’m so over your shit.” Jace pushed my arm out of the way and dipped his sponge into the paint.

“Watch you don’t ruin this masterpiece.” I taunted.

“You two are going to fuck everything up. You need to get along tonight. Lily isn’t stupid. She’ll sense if something is wrong.” Caleb stood in the space between us both and gave us a knowing look.

“You’re right. Tonight we’re cool, but after tonight, Jace can go right back to hell.” I agreed, but made sure Jace knew he wasn’t forgiven for all the shit that went down between us in the past.

“Brothers?” Caleb asked sticking out his fist.

“Tonight only,” Jace replied, throwing his fist forward into the triangle we’d formed with our bodies.

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