Page 37 of The Puck Chase

“The dude is weird,” Alexander responds causally, and my head whips around so fast, I’m not sure how I don’t pull a fucking muscle.

“Don’t be a dick, Reign,” I snap, as more anger than I thought possible rushes to the surface toward my best friend, and both his and Nova’s eyes widen in surprise at me coming to Daemon’s defense.

Before either of them can respond, a familiar lethal voice licks up the base of my spine. “Yeah, don’t be a dick, Reign,” Daemon breathes, his tone dark and wicked, and when I turn and meet his eyes, I find his stare is almost black, and his mask almost completely blank. Yet still, I note the grinding of his jaw and the stiffness in his shoulders.

Hallie has her arm linked with his, but I barely take any notice, as Daemon leads her down the aisle in a dark fitted suit that molds to his body like a second skin. His usual black messy hair is both styled and slicked back, and I can see the peak of tattoos coming up from his collar and out from his wrists.Fuck.He looks like the Devil himself sent to make me sin, and it’s at this moment I finally admit to myself something I have been denying for weeks.

I have a crush on Daemon Forbes.

Fuck.

That thought is stillthe only one in my mind a couple of hours later. We all came back to Josh’s house to toast his wedding, and Daemon somehow ended up on the sofa right next to me, with his body pressed into my side, and I can’t focus on anything buthim. How the fuck am I supposed to just sit here and relax when he is right there? When I can feel his body next to mine, and I know how good his lips taste? Granted, it doesn’t feel as good as when he slammed me into that wall, and rocked his cock into mine until we both came, but fuck, it still lights me up inside.

Alexander makes drink after drink, and I inhale every single one and its leftovers, in an attempt to try and forget about my current predicament, but with every drink I fall deeper into Daemon’s abyss. The heat of his body against mine is addictive, and the scent of his cologne is intoxicating, all of it making me desperate for another taste of him, and it sparks an idea in my mind.

“Okay, next game, truth or dare,” I slur, winking at Hallie to stop myself from looking at Daemon, but to my dismay, Daemon instantly jumps to his feet and leaves the room, heading straight for the stairs.

What the fuck? Why is he leaving?

A thought that isn’t allowed to linger, as both my best friends shout in unison, “No!”

Peters glances around us in confusion, as his new wife begins to blush furiously. “Why can’t we play truth or dare?” he asks, and I force myself to smile, even as a bitter taste coats the back of my tongue.

“Oh, I’m glad you asked, Joshy Boy, because the last time I played truth or dare I got to kiss your new wife there,” I drag out, pointing my finger at Hallie as if in fond memory, but the truth of the matter is, the only thing I remember about that night has just stormed upstairs.

I swear I can still feel the phantom touch of his lips, yet I stare Josh down, praying for his anger, needing the fight for some reason. Yet all he does is smile, as he leans back and puts his arm around his wife. “And tonight will be the last time you ever speak of it, because I will break your jaw if you bring that upagain,” he warns darkly, and I roll my eyes as Hallie jumps to her feet, but my attention is still drawn upstairs to where Daemon just exited.

Which means I don’t focus on the rest of the group as it starts to dissipate, nor do I hear Alexander pleading with Josh to let us stay, but to my surprise he agrees. Which is how I find myself swallowing down four more of my goalies' ridiculously-named cocktails, talking back and forth about anything and everything, until he eventually passes out and I am left alone with my thoughts.

It’s past midnight now, and the entire house is dark and quiet, with the exception of Alexander snoring softly from his spot on the chair, yet still I can’t sleep. I’m lying on the sofa I shared with Daemon earlier. He’s all I can fucking think about, and I don’t know why. I have a crush on him, so what? It’s not a big deal. It shouldn’t be keeping me awake, and I know I should go home, that I should just slip out into the night and rush across the street to the safety of my own room, but I can’t make myself move. I want him, I want him more than I have ever wanted anyone, a feeling so unfamiliar that it keeps me awake at night. It doesn’t matter the amount of alcohol coursing through my veins right now, no, the only thing that matters is my need for my fucking teammate.

Maybe I should go up to his room, corner him there so we can talk this out once and for all. Before that thought can even take flight, there is a creek at the top of the stairs. My eyes snap across the room in the dark, watching, waiting with bated breath, as Daemon appears at the bottom of the stairs, moving quietly into the kitchen. His eyes don’t even touch the living room, and it’s only now that I realize that he doesn’t know I’m here, he doesn’t know that Josh said Alexander and I could stay.

An adrenaline rush like I have never known pulses inside of me, as I silently slip off the sofa and stalk my way into thekitchen. The fridge door is opened, blocking his view of me, and I’m ready to alert him of my presence when all of a sudden, he huffs.

“You know, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t turn around or pick up my phone and it wasn’t fucking you bothering me,” he sighs, pulling out a bottle of water, before closing the fridge, and turning to face me fully.

The suit he was wearing is long gone, replaced with a black, baggy t-shirt and some shorts, and his styled hair is now messy again, as if he has been running his hands through it. I drink in the sight of him as his eyes dance between me and the living room, no doubt taking in Alexander passed out on the chair, and wondering why the fuck we are still here.

“Peters said we could crash here,” I say by way of explanation, answering his unspoken question, and his stare only hardens, his eyes never leaving mine. “You ran away from me again,” I add quietly, almost tasting the animosity rolling off of him in waves.

“I have no interest in watching you kiss someone else,” he finally snaps, and if I’m not mistaken, he sounds a little jealous.

My smirk is instant, as I take a step towards him and drop my voice even lower. “The only person I truly wanted to kiss was you,” I admit boldly, and his eyes search mine for the lie, but they won’t find it.

Yet still, I’m not surprised when he pushes past me, discards the bottle of water on the island and reaches for a bottle of whiskey instead. “You don’t have to lie to me, Gray, I have no feelings you should consider sparing,” he responds, pouring himself a shot of whiskey, before grabbing a second glass and doing the same for me, sliding it onto the counter beside me.

“Oh you don’t have to worry about that, I didn’t think you had the capability to feel anything anyway,” I muse, taking the glass he offers me and knocking it back for some liquid courage.“Although you did make me feel plenty of things on Halloween,” I add, watching his pupils dilate as they take me in, and I once again move towards him, causing his stare to drop down my body so he can take in my proximity. “So much so that I’ve spent the last month checking out every guy I see, just to see if I feel anything. Hell, I even got fucking Alexander to kiss me.”

At my words his eyes snap back to mine, and they darken ever so slightly. “And how was it?” he asks, a dangerous edge to his voice now, and it has my cock hardening in my pants.

“Honestly, I’m not sure how the cocky prick gets so many girls,” I reply truthfully, and a smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth.

“I could say the same to you,” he breathes, finally knocking back his shot of whiskey, while staring at me over the rim of the glass.

“That’s okay, it seems I have different tastes these days anyway,” I start, taking the glass from him and pouring him another drink, before handing it back, our fingers grazing slightly as I do so. “In fact, I recently discovered something about myself.”

Daemon eyes the drink in his hand, before meeting my stare head on in a challenge of some sort. “Is it that you're an asshole? Because if so, I’m afraid I already knew that,” he responds, and now it’s my turn to smirk.

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