Page 5 of The Fallen Ones

“Yeah, it’s where all the rich dicks hang out. The elite pricks who control this campus. I’ve never been invited,” he said sourly. “I’m sure you’re aware. You’re one of them, aren’t you?”

I ignored his jab. While I wasn’t hanging my hat at Satan’s Hollow, I was still in the know and held in pretty high regardwith just as much power as they held. “I was planning on taking Lily this year, you know since she was my girlfriend and all.”

“I heard that weird shit goes down in there. I don’t think that’s her vibe. Plus, she kicked your ass to the curb.”

“It’s not, but I need you to make it her vibe. I had something special planned for her.” The lie came out easily. I’d rectify it later, knowing full well I could make it happen. “I got us a room just for the two of us, but now it looks like it’ll be a room for three.”

“Three?” He laughed. “What are you even talking about?”

“I’m talking about a paradise I’m willing to share if you help me get her there. It’s a party where we get to hook up with anyone who gets the same key as us. Everyone is masked. No one know who anyone is. You get her there, and I will ensure she gets the key to our room. Then, we fuck her.” Fuck, those words were hard for me to say.

“You want me to convince her to attend a party where she’d fuck you? You think she’s going to just give you the one thing you want because you have me drag her to some elite house party?” He snorted at me. “You’re fucking nuts, Adams.”

I ground my teeth for a moment. “I’m not nuts. Your job is to convince her to let this insane virginity thing go. To get past all this shit in her head. To get her to just fucking relax about it. She listens to you. I know she does.” I shook my head, that familiar desperation rising in my chest again. “I love her, Caleb, and I know you do too. Once she lets go, I know things will change. She can have us both if she wants. No one will know who we are. It’s mandatory masks at the party. We keep them on. We fuck her. We make her realize how good it can be. Then she’ll come to us. For us.With us.If she doesn’t enjoy it and want more, then she never has to know it was us. We walk, both getting a chance at what we want. I’ll even pay you if that’s what it takes?—”

“I don’t want your money,” he snapped, getting to his feet and pacing the small space. I watched him move, his body tense.

“Then what do you want?”

He stopped and tugged at his dark hair for a moment before finally looking to me. “I want her. If I do this and she decides she wants me, you back off. I get her.”

“And if she wants us both?” I challenged. I wasn’t the sort of guy who was willing to share, but this was dire. I wanted her no matter what I had to do to have her. There was an old saying. Keep your friends close but your enemies closer. Caleb was my enemy if he wanted my girl too. By sharing, it could save us both a lot of this fucking heartache I was experiencing.

“Then you know I’d give her whatever she wanted.”

I got to my feet. “So we have a deal?”

He was quiet for a moment before visibly swallowing again.

“Caleb?”

He let out a sigh and looked down at his feet before locking eyes with me.

“We have a deal.”

Chapter 3

Caleb

Aweek after Lily and Jace’s breakup, and I was still beating myself up over the deal I’d made with Jace.

The fact was, I’d always been in love with Lily.

It wasn’t a realization, like I’d woken one day and BAM. Love. This was something longer. A small, smoldering fire which grew with each passing day until it engulfed every facet of my being. By the time I realized how far I’d fallen, it was too late. The damage was done. I couldn’t go back to that place I’d been when we were kids and everything was just so innocent. Now, it was simply…fire. A raging one at that.

But one-sided as far as I could tell. My side.

She never knew any of this. I’d never been brave enough to voice that part of my heart to her. Lily didn’t fuck around. If she wanted something, she went for it. Intimacy was something she vowed away after seeing her mom tumble and fall too many times. I told myself that part of her didn’t exist. Maybe it made it easier on me. I wasn’t quite sure how, but it’s what I told myself.

There were those moments though. The tiny ones I tried to ignore. The way she’d smile at me. Look at me. Touch me. She knew I’d give her the entire world if she asked. Those little things meant something to me. They brought me hope that maybe…

Fuck.

The deal I’d made with Jace flashed though my mind, dragging me away from my thoughts on Lily. I couldn’t shake the feeling the deal was a huge mistake. Even considering it could ruin my friendship with Lily. It was a fucked up idea. Share her? With fucking Jace? God, I’d lost my damn mind.

I’d seen the way Jace looked at her too. The way his possessiveness flared bright hot whenever he was around her. Jace was dangerous, volatile, and not just because of his reign on campus. It wasn’t only because of his status, his money, his talent on the football field. It was the look in his eyes. The wildness. The darkness. With Lily and him broken up, that darkness was growing as was evident by his proposal to me. Fuck me though, I’d agreed, so what did that say about me?

It bothered me that Lily saw him in a different light. He had her just like he had everyone else. But I knew what sort of guy he was. The fact I was good with sharing her with him made this even more fucked up.

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