Page 6 of The Fallen Ones

Maybe my obsession had grown to a sickness. She was my cure though, that much I was certain.

I sighed and leaned against my kitchen counter in my tiny place off the Holloway campus. The university I attended wasn’t because it was my dream school. I went here because it was hers and leaving her wasn’t an option.

Images of Lily flooded my mind. Her laugh, the way her dark hair tumbled around her as she moved with such grace. Her pretty gray eyes and the way they sparked when she was happy. What I wouldn’t give to make them light up for the rest of our lives. She was my best friend and had been since we were just kids. The line had become blurred for me, but I’d never crossed it. Risking our friendship wasn’t what I wanted, yet here I was. Doing exactly that anyway.

My memory of the deal with Jace kept plaguing me. Him calling me out. Letting me know he knew and he was willing to fuck me over to make his dreams come true. If his dreams came through, so would mine, so why was I doubting any of it?

This was my chance. I had to take it.

I shoved off the counter and slammed my fist into a wall. The violence didn’t do shit for my mood. All it succeeded in doing was busting open my knuckles. Despite how much I wanted this war I was fighting in my head and heart to be over, it continued to march on, making me question my own motives right along with Jace’s.

Backing out wasn’t an option. It didn’t matter if it was morally wrong to pursue her this way. If I backed out, game over for me. Knowing what I knew of Jace, he’d probably hire on someone to just kill me for fucking everything up. Based on the look in his eyes, he may even do it himself.

I scrubbed my hands down my face, my warm breath on my palms as I groaned into them. Why did I let all this shit snowball into this? Why didn’t I just drag her against my body and kiss the sweetness from her lips the moment I saw her again after she told me her and Jace were over?

Now I had to convince her to go to Satan’s Hollow for this fucking themed masked party. I’d heard the rumors on this event. It was a purely hook-up thing. Drugs. Booze. Sex with someone you don’t get the name of or ever see their face. How the fuck was this going to work if we wanted to keep her? Jace definitely hadn’t worked out the details enough on it.

If we got to keep her though…she’d learn of what I’d done to get her. Would she hate me then even though I only wanted to love her? I could lose her regardless.

But I’d get to fuck her. Taste her. Kiss her. Bury myself deep inside her small body.

I paced between my kitchen and living, warring with myself. It was my chance. I had to take it and hope I came out on top.

Letting out a groan, I collapsed onto my old couch and stared up at the chipping white paint on the ceiling. This tiny house was falling apart and busted. It reminded me of my current situation. One strong wind could send it all tumbling over, and Jace’s plan was the wind to my old house that barely held on.

The buzzing of my phone had me reaching for it. Lily’s name brightened the screen, and I hesitated for a moment before answering. I shouldn’t be answering a phone call from her when my head was so fucked, but sue me. I needed to hear her voice.

“Lil bit,” I rumbled into the phone, using my nickname for her. I’d given it to her when we were kids because she’d always been so small compared to me. I was over a foot taller than her and twice her size.

“Caleb, hey. Do you have a minute?”

“I have all the time in the world for you,” I answered immediately, wincing at how fucking desperate I sounded. If she noticed, she didn’t act like it.

“Do you maybe want to hang out tonight? I-I just need to get away for awhile. I thought maybe you and some pizza would be a good distraction. Maybe even a movie?”

I pictured her twisting a length of her dark hair and biting that plump bottom lip of hers. She always did that when she was nervous or thinking. It drove me wild and made me want to make her scream just so I could see what other sexy little things she hid from prying eyes.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’m good for that. I’ll meet you over at your place, OK? Give me twenty?”

“OK.” Her breath of relief made my heart jump in my chest. I was always who she ran to when she needed someone. The thought both elated me and made me hate myself just a little bit more because of what I’d agreed to do.

“See you soon,” I said, getting to my feet.

“Soon,” she repeated before disconnecting the call.

We stood at Giano’s,waiting for our pie to come out of the oven. We’d gotten it to go so we could head back to her place and watch something from her streaming app.

“How are you, Lil bit?” I asked, taking in how sad she looked.

She shrugged her shoulders and offered me a quick smile that didn’t reach her intriguing gray eyes.

“Confused, I guess. Seeing Jace getting numbers and flirting wasn’t exactly the highlight of my week.”

I ground my teeth for a moment before speaking, having heard the rumors he was hanging out with Jessica Meyers. “It doesn’t matter, Lil. You ended it, right?”

She nodded, visibly swallowing. “You’re right. I did. I just…” She let out a sigh and shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“I’m here if you want to talk.” I wrapped my hand over hers. “Breakups are hard. Believe me, I’ve been through enough of them.”

---