NINE
O pening my eyes, I look around my trashed bedroom and huff, annoyed. Of course, because of a temper tantrum my room is a mess. Pulling myself out of bed, I clean up the mess I made the previous night.
"Damon!" Ace yells through the door. Quickly fixing up my room as best as I possibly can, I open the bedroom door and face my friend. "Happy birthday!" Ace grins, tossing me a bottle of beer.
Grinning, I pop open the cap and take a swig. Pulling out my phone from my pocket, I frown when I notice I slept through the entire day. It's seven p.m. and I just woke up. "What are we doing?" I smirk, following Ace down the stairs. When I hit the bottom step, I notice the full raging party going on.
My eyes search the crowd for Damien till I spot him dancing while Sabrina Castle grinds her ass on him. I take another sip from my bottle of beer and grab the first girl I see. I go for a breast grab, only to stop myself when I notice it's Paris. Glaring at her, I shove her aside and head for the open kitchen.
That just ruined it because, of course, it was her. "Where the hell is Sam?" I question, looking around the room.
Ace smirks and downs his beer. "He went out to get your gift." He chuckles, and I can only imagine how terrible it's gonna be if they sent Sam to retrieve it.
I shake my head and take another sip of my beer. "That can't be good," I mutter. I scan the crowd till my eyes find a familiar brunette dancing with my teammate, Elliot. Smirking, I walk across the floor till I'm standing next to the two.
"May I?" I ask Elliot with a grin. He smirks at me before he takes my beer. I grab her hips and pull her to me until she's grinding against the zipper of my jeans. "Mary, you look stunning." I smirk, running my lips across her neck. She bats her eyelashes up at me, and we continue to dance until the door swings open and Sam comes strutting in with a bottle of rum in his hand.
"Happy Birthday, Damon! I was gonna buy you an escort, but I settled for something I knew you'd appreciate," he yells through the room. The entire crowd bursts into fits of laughter, me included.
"He can fuck mine." Sam indicates to Mary, who grins from beside me. I eye her before my eyes find Sam again. Fucking Sam, I laugh as I stare at the grin on his lips. I'm more than happy with the bottle of rum—the escort would have been too much.
"Just put it in my bedroom, I'm not sharing." I laugh.
Sam smiles at me before Ruby and Danny walk in with extras—some handcuffs and a bottle of champagne, to be exact. I laugh again as all three of them walk upstairs into my bedroom. The party rages back to normal the moment the boys disappear. Mary starts grinding on the zipper of my jeans again. Grinning, I grip onto her hips and spin her toward me.
Mary crashes her lips into mine, her fingers finding my hair as her tongue tangles with mine. The door swings open a second time, but I ignore it as my tongue wrestles with Mary's, lost in the kiss. Everything comes to a stop when Xander's body comes crashing into mine. My eyes find Hanna's as she stares at me with hurt in her eyes.
What the fuck is she doing here?
Mary watches the two of us before she looks at Hanna. "You don't get to fucking cry," I snarl at her as the tears spill from her eyes. Hanna's eyes go from hurt to angry as she watches me. "You told me no, so you don't get to fucking cry about it when I was pushed to the damn side lines." I seethe, my lip pulled back in a snarl as I watch her. Hanna glares at me with the full force of her green eyes.
Good. Get angry, Cinderella.
"I— You…" she stutters.
I smile at her before I pull Mary by the hand out of the crowd. "That's what I fucking thought," I growl, walking into the kitchen with Mary beside me.
"Who is she to you?" Mary asks, turning to face me. My face goes blank as I stare at her. "Yeah, I'll be going. I don't need petty bitch drama." She pulls from my grip and heads to the front door.
I roll my eyes. Fucking women think they are the center of my attention, but I don't do that kind of weakness. I just want a tight little pussy to fuck, and I’ll forget all their names.
Grabbing a beer, I down it before moving through the kitchen toward Damien and Sabrina. "Who fucking invited her?" I bark. My brother watches me, then looks away, keeping his arm around Sabby's waist. Rolling my eyes, I pop open another beer and take a swig, leaning against the counter. Hanna slowly makes her way toward me before she stops.
"I was wrong. I don't want you to stay away from me. I don't have to push people away, I just do. I'll only tell you this once," she says softly, playing with her hands.
Setting down my beer, I watch her for a couple minutes, admiring her courage and beauty as she stands there in a similar outfit to the second day of university.
In the end, this woman is still not good for me; I’ll still end up getting her killed. But at that moment I didn't care. I don't care because I'm not the type who thinks about the consequences till after I do the deed.
I can't stop myself as I grab her hips and press my lips to hers. Her lips move with mine like they were made for each other. I flick my tongue over her bottom lip, asking for access, and she quickly grants it as our tongues tangle together in rhythm. I can't stop kissing her now that I've started.
Her taste, her smell, her everything… I'm just pulled in, and she intoxicates me every time her tongue rolls over mine. Groaning into her mouth, I pull her closer, attacking her lips with mine until we're both breathless. I gently pull away, watching her eyes carefully. "I need you, too," I whisper in her hair. I need her, but not in the way she thinks.
Hanna's face turns red when she notices all the eyes on us. My eyes find Damien, and I see the smirk plastered across his lips as he watches me with Hanna.
The beautiful brunette covers her face with her hands. I wrap my arms around her and pull her against my chest, pressing my lips to her head. "It's my fucking birthday. If I wanted people to stare, I'd go sit in the cafeteria in UOP!" I yell. The crowd turns away from me and goes back to partying as I stare down at Hanna a second time.
"We can go hide in my room," I whisper in Hanna's ear. She looks up at me, her face less red, and she nods slowly. Taking her hand, I lead her upstairs into my bedroom and close the door behind us. Hanna squeals when she notices the cat on my bed and rushes forward, scooping it up with a cute smile on her lips.
"What's her name?" she asked me.
I stare at my cat for a few seconds. "Her name is Whisper," I reply with a smile. Hanna grins at me before she sets my cat down and flops on my king-sized bed, and I crawl into bed next to her. "Why did you act like that in the hospital yesterday?"
Hanna looks up at me as she fumbles with her hands. "My stepbrother… if I kept you around when you know what happened, then he—" She closes her eyes and sighs. I stare at her, confused, until she opens her eyes.
"Um… I don't exactly know what happened in that bedroom, because you were unconscious when I got there." Even though I do know what happened, I would just rather hear it from her.
She looks up at me, tears filling her beautiful green eyes. Taking a long breath, Hanna watches me before she speaks. "You dropped me off when we got back to town, and he showed up in my bedroom after I laid in my bed, naked. I thought nobody was home, so I didn't lock the door… H-he…" Hanna stops and closes her eyes as more tears fall. "He raped me…" she sobs, collapsing on my chest. Hanna cries into my chest, and I feel a piece of her cracking with each sob.
My entire body goes rigid as I think about the fucking bastard she's living with. I still need to kill him, and I plan on it. "You can't stay there anymore, Hanna," I say against her hair.
"I don't have a choice," she cries.
I shake my head and pull her tiny body to me. "You can stay with me and the boys," I say to her. Even though that is a stupid response because she can't stay here. I can't have her here.
Hanna looks up at me with mascara running down her cheeks, along with the shed tears. She shakes her head and rests her head against me. "I can't do that, I can't," she replies once the tears have finally stopped.
Sighing, I pull her closer, wrapping my arms around her. "I'm here. I'll be one call away," I whisper into her hair. Another stupid remark because my lifestyle will get her killed.
I feel Hanna's smile as she cuddles closer to me. "Thank you."
I smile and press my lips to her head. "If anybody ever touches you again, I'll kill them," I growl, tightening my grip, and I mean it because I will kill them. Starting with her stepbrother. I watch Whisper jump up on the bed as she makes her way to me and Hanna, curling up between us in the tiny space.
I didn't think you could change in one day, but I vow to never let anyone hurt her again.