“It must be that.” Logan looks at Jason’s limp body, pulling his mouth into an upside-down smile before he too eyes me.
“There’s something majorly wrong with that guy, and I want you to stay away from him,” Ren orders me in a shrill voice, still angry after getting manhandled, his eyes are so full of hate that it scares me. I want to tell him that he can’t tell me what to do but my voice hasn’t returned yet.
“Maybe you’re the one she must stay away from!” Jackson hisses at Ren, staring at him with a stern face. For some reason, Jackson despises my boyfriend. Is he my boyfriend? We haven’t made it official yet. Ug, it doesn’t matter.
“And if I catch you ordering my sister like that again … ” he doesn’t finish his sentence, but his eyes clearly show that whatever he didn’t say is not something good.
Ren swallows hard and doesn’t say anything back.
“He’s freaking hot.” Enrique looks at the beauty in his arms as if he didn’t know she could actually speak.
“Peops, you hear this ….” Enrique says mockingly. The girl looks up at Enrique’s teasing eyes and pouts her lips for a kiss.
“Jealous?” Enrique gives her a little peck but doesn’t answer. If she knew my brother, she would know that Enrique never EVER gets jealous of a girl. None of them do.
“She’s right, he for sure is one of the best-looking men out there.” Kiara agrees with the redhead, “But he’s just as dysfunctional as the rest of you,” she continues glancing at Logan as if he’s going to disapprove, but Logan only pouts his mouth.
“He’s the type your mom warned you to stay away from, but you just can’t do it, and then he shatters your heart into millions of pieces.” Isn’t that the truth?
“Exactly!” Kiara agrees again. “Damn, girl, you might not be as dumb as I thought.” The redhead frowns.
“Thanks,” she says, “I think.”
“What do you think, Sis, is he handsome?” Jackson, like always, must stir the pot even if it’s empty. All eyes move towards me and my mouth feels drier than a cactus in the desert and I swallow hard.
Anger gets hold of me. He’s a freaking pain.
“Who the fudge cares!”
Jackson smiles eerily as a serial killer would at his victim, but I don’t give a hooting hell at this moment. I’m mad – mostly at myself for being so weak – and a lot at Damion for making me feel that way.
I take big strides towards the bar before anybody thinks to ask some more questions. Like – why am I so worked up over my little brother’s stupid bloody friend? That right there is a VERY very good question. Another one would be – why does the gland in my brain dispense a whole cocktail of hormones only when he’s around?
The asshole enjoys making me suffer, getting under my skin, and making me angry on purpose. Gmf, telling me I don’t know what I’m doing! Hell, excuse me for not being a total slut who jumps every dick I see. Not that I’ve actually seen one for real.
I order a drink, trying to calm myself down. Ren pulls me into his arms and I rest my head on his strong chest. Maybe I should give him a chance. At least he’s not a psychotic, unfeeling, heartless maniac like certain other people. Sociopath – I’m sure he pulls girls’ hearts out for fun, squashes them, and buries them in his backyard while chipping another mark on his bedpost – cause that is what Damion is, a freaking sociopathic serial heart killer.
“I need you to stay away from that man.” Ren strokes my hair, but the anger inside me doesn’t subside.
“Is that an order?” I snap.
“You don’t know him,” he hisses. Oh, I think I know him well enough.
“He’s not right in the head.” True. But I still don’t like being told what to do.
“I guess you don’t know about the curse?” His voice drops. I push him away and look into his eyes.
“My curse?” He avoids looking at me as if he’s embarrassed. “Do you believe it?”
“No!” he answers quickly. “It’s not a curse. Jason told me. Damion started it to make sure no guy ever came near you. Apparently, you were … and still are … off-limits to everyone.”
Damion did WHAT?! I can’t frickin believe what I’m hearing! He is the reason for my awkward social life, my non-existent love life, why guys walked circles around me … and he dares to tell me that I don’t know what I’m doing!!!
Who’s freaking fault is THAT then?!
“Damion is the curse?” I ask, more to myself.
“Well, yeah. But don’t worry, I’m not scared of him,” Ren answers patiently.
“You should be,” I say without thinking. Ren pulls a strange face.
I see Damion leaning against the wall, arms folded, sexy as hell, looking at us. The brunette is clinging to his arm once more, but it’s as if he doesn’t even register she’s there.
Enrique walks up without his girl and pulls Chloe from Damion. She tries to hang on, but my brother is relentless. What the hell is going on? Why are all the boys dragging Chloe around like that?
Ren follows my gaze and also looks at Damion, who winks with a wide grin. I ignore his deceptively boyish smile – knowing full well that there’s nothing boyish about him – and go back to being mad.
“Are you in love with him?”
“No!” I answer way too quickly, and Ren turns his head back to look at me, a deep frown on his face. “I hate him,” I state to explain. But I also want him. Or rather … my body and stupid gland want him. Not my mind … or my heart.
Damion pushes that delicious body away from the wall and then he’s gone.
Ren whispers that he needs to go check on Jason and weaves through the crowd. I take a deep breath … and another.
Date = 5 September
Place = San Francisco (Uncle John’s house)
POV – Melaena
Not for one moment have I suspected him to be the cause of my curse.
Why did Damion do that? Why mess up my life all the time? I swear he’s frozen on the inside … cause no one with a warm heart can be that cruel.
I need to get to the bottom of this. He needs to explain.
My phone vibrates and I look at the screen in anticipation, hoping just for a second that it’s Damion, before realizing that he doesn’t even have my number. I want to tell him exactly what I think of his threats. Who the fuck does he think he is? I frown when I see a message from an unknown number. I swipe the screen.