Page 6 of Pretty When He Bleeds

He doesn’t flinch, doesn’t react save for the small smirk on his face. “No worries,” he says, brushing imaginary dust from his leather jacket.

“I didn’t see you there,” I say, clenching my jaw.

“Clearly,” he says, his green eyes raking up and down my body in a way that makes my skin crawl. “You look like you’ve had a rough day.”

I huff out a laugh, feeling uncomfortable as fuck. “Yeah, well. First day and all.”

He steps closer to me, just enough to make me feel claustrophobic. “And here I thought you were invincible, Hotshot,” he says with a grin, the old condescending nickname grating on my nerves. “I guess eventheRoman Bishop has his limits.”

The way he says my name feels like an insult and I take a step back from him. The fucker is trying to get under my skin and it’s working.

“Everyone has their limits, Damon,” I say while casually sidestepping him. “Was there something you wanted or can I head to class?”

He doesn’t answer me, so I turn my back on him and start to walk, but then his voice stops me cold. “Do you ever think about him?”

My hands curl into fists and my heart starts beating faster. “What?”

“My brother,” he says, but I can’t look at him. “Do you ever think about him?”

“Every damn day,” I murmur before walking away from him.

My last class passes in a wave of static. I don’t hear a damn thing, I don’t retain a damn thing. The only words going through my mind are the ones in Damon’s question.

Do you ever think about him?

How do you stop thinking about the other half of your soul? How can you erase the memories you either want to forget or always want to remember? They say your first love always sticks with you, and that’s exactly what Caleb was before I failed him.

By the time I get home, my head is pounding again and all I want to do is crash, but the house is buzzing with noise. Killian yelling at Thorn over a video game. Luca, Julian and Eli arguing about their football stats. Someone, probably Damien, is blasting music upstairs.

I’m crawling out of my fucking skin.

I head to the kitchen and grab a Gatorade, finishing it halfway before leaning against the counter, my head resting against the top cupboards.

Killian walks in a few minutes later, his hair a mess and his face red from yelling. “You still look like shit, brother. Eat something,” he says before pulling a soda from the fridge and eyeing me. “What happened?”

Fuck, I hate how well he knows me. Even if I were to lie, he’d know. I sigh and run a hand through my hair. “Just ran into someone I didn’t expect.”

He narrows his eyes. “Who?”

“Damon Ward.”

Recognition flashes across his face and he visibly winces. “Fuck, he’s back? What did he want?”

“Yeah, he’s back and I don’t know yet.”

“Do you think he knows?”

My entire body immediately locks up at the thought. Caleb and I were careful, no one would have known about anything. “I honestly don’t fucking know.”

“Fuck,” Killian says, running a hand through his hair. “This isn’t good, Roman.”

“You think I don’t know that?” I ask, my voice rising. “He asked me if I ever thought about Caleb, Kill. If he doesn’t know anything, he damn well fucking suspects something.”

He rubs his hands over his face and he takes a breath. “Alright, chill. We can’t jump to shit. But if you want to know why he’s really back, maybe you should just ask him?”

I can’t help but laugh at that. “Yeah, because that will go down well.‘Hey, Damon, did you know Caleb and I were in a secret relationship for three fucking years before he decided to kill himself?’He would be fucking thrilled to know about the shit we got up to in that house.”

Killian leans back against the counter and crosses his arms over his chest. “Alright, maybe don’t phrase it that way, smartass. But you can’t sit around and wait for him to make the first move. If he’s here to fuck with you, then you need to figure out how to fuck with him right back.”

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