Chapter 17 Xave #2
“Actually, religious charities are like, the only type he doesn’t donate to. Not sure why, but I couldn’t find a single one linked to any sort of church or organized religious group.”
I want to ask about Damon’s mom and what Jace found out about her and her death, but I don’t. Normally I wouldn’t hesitate if I thought it could help with the investigation or give me an insight into someone I’m looking into, but in this case, it feels wrong.
Before I can even begin to unpack why that is, the door to Jace’s room slams open and Felix and Killian stroll in.
“Wassup, lovebirds?” Jace spins his chair so he’s facing the door. “You done boning each other’s brains out for a while?”
Felix’s cheeks go bright pink, but Killian just flips Jace off as the two of them walk over to the loveseat in the center of the room and sit down.
“What were you losers talking about?” Killian asks, draping his arm over Felix’s shoulder as he snuggles up to Killian’s side.
“Your favorite cousins were talking about something Xave is looking into for Jordan.”
“Anything we can help with?” Felix asks.
“Now that you mention it, yeah, there is,” I say.
Jace is still the only one who knows about my task from Jordan, and I haven’t asked Felix about Eden and Damon’s apparent friendship because it hasn’t come up.
I know my cousins, and they’d never stop badgering me with questions if I asked out of the blue, so I’ve kept quiet.
I might as well see what he knows since he brought it up.
“What is it?” Felix asks.
“Do you know anything about Eden being friends with Damon Cosgrove?”
He heaves a dramatic sigh and rolls his eyes. “Of course Jordan is obsessing over that. She said he’s been extra annoying lately. At least he’s consistent.”
“So they’re friends?” I press.
He nods. “They don’t really hang out or anything, not as far as I know, but they text and stuff. Why? They’ve been friends for over a month, and Jordan’s just got his panties in a bunch over it now?”
“He only found out about it a few weeks ago,” I explain. “And he asked me to look into it.”
“What aren’t you telling us?” Killian asks suspiciously. “I know that’s not all that’s going on. You would have said something earlier if it was that simple.”
Jace tosses me a quick look, and just as I’m about to tell him to go ahead and fill them in on the blackmail aspect of things, the door swings open and Jax saunters into the room.
I look at him closely as he goes to sit on the sofa across from Killian and Felix.
Jax is a master at hiding his thoughts and not letting anyone know what’s going on with him, but just like he can read me, I can read him. Something happened, and by the look on his face and the gleam in his eyes, that something involved an orgasm.
Is Jax hooking up with his mark?
I barely manage to cover up a laugh. It’s not like I can judge him, considering what I’ve been doing with my mark.
Seems like we both failed at our missions.
“What’s going on?” Jax looks between the love seat and where Jace and I are still sitting at Jace’s desk. “What did I miss?”
“Xave’s been tailing a kid from the Keepers for Jordan because he’s friends with Eden,” Jace says helpfully.
Jax leans against the couch and rests his arms over the back of the cushions. “Huh,” he says, his expression blank. “Which kid?”
“Damon Cosgrove,” Felix tells him. “And you do realize that ‘kid’ is a year older than you, right?” He tosses Jace a grin.
“Yup,” Jace says, grinning back.
“That’s the emo guy, right?” Jax asks. “The one with the piercings who dresses like that lead singer from that metal band you like?” He shoots me a quick look.
I nod.
“There’s more to the story,” Killian says. “And they were just about to tell us when you walked in.” He flicks his gaze to Jace and me. “So go ahead and tell us now that the gang’s all here.”
I glance at Jace and give him a quick nod when I see his questioning look.
He quickly fills them in on what we learned about Damon’s birth certificates and how Jace linked his original last name to the files.
“I’ve found references to whoever this Blake is in a few dozen exchanges, and based on what’s in them, it looks like Blake has been one of the Kings’ primary contacts for gathering intel on people for the past few years.
There’s not much else about him in there, but one thing worth noting is that Damon doesn’t have a blackmail file.
That doesn’t necessarily mean anything either way since there are only a few of the Keepers in the files to begin with, but it could mean something. ”
“Do you think it’s him?” Jax asks his brother.
Jace shrugs. “Can’t say yet. There are a few more things I need to look into before I can come to a conclusion.”
“What are your instincts telling you?” Killian asks.
“Not sure. The kid is an enigma, but being weird doesn’t mean he’s a bad guy. But then again, he could be, so…” Jace shrugs again and swipes a flash drive off his desk. “Here.” He extends it to me. “This is everything I found on him.”
I take the drive and tuck it in my pocket. “Thanks.”
“So do you think Eden and Damon are, you know?” Jace makes a circle with two fingers and pokes another finger through it a few times.
The rush of anger that goes through me is sharp and sudden, and it takes all of my self-control to keep my reaction from showing in my expression.
Felix shakes his head. “Trust me, she would have told me, in great detail, if they were. They’re just friends.”
“You think he’s laying the groundwork to get with her?” Killian asks.
Felix shrugs. “No clue, but I don’t think she’s into him that way.
She’s not shy about telling me when she likes someone, and the only thing she’s said about him is that he’s easy to talk to and she likes texting with him.
I don’t know the guy, but from what she’s told me, he’s not really her type. ”
“What do you think?” Killian asks me. “You’ve been tailing him.”
“I don’t know,” I say, keeping my tone neutral. “Nothing I’ve seen makes it look like he is, but who knows?”
I glance at Jace, who’s giving me another thoughtful look.
“What?” I ask him.
“Nothing.” He picks up his switchblade again and snaps it open. “So, what are we doing tonight?”
I half listen as everyone discusses the various things happening around campus, but my mind is stuck on the visceral reaction I had to the idea of Damon and Eden hooking up, which was just a more extreme version of how I reacted when I saw him dancing with those women at the AV party.
I’m not a jealous person. I’m also not possessive of people.
My whole thing is getting with women who aren’t looking for more, and I have no problem hooking up with women who are already in relationships and are looking for some extracurricular fun because I don’t have to worry about them wanting more.
It's not my fault they want to cheat, so why should I deny myself the experience they’re offering just because they’re with some guy who means nothing to me?
And I don’t chase people. Ever. I always wait for them to come to me.
In all the years I’ve been hooking up, I’ve never once had any sort of emotional reaction to the idea of a past partner getting with someone else, and I literally see it happen on the regular, considering how many women on campus I’ve slept with.
But Damon is different, and it’s not just because of what’s been happening between us.
That first night in the woods was hands down the hottest thing I’ve ever done, and it was only the second time I’ve given in to my true desires and gotten to explore that side of myself. The first was at the AV party.
The best part of what happened at the party and in the woods that first night wasn’t just that I finally got to drop my mask and be myself; it’s that Damon was just as into it as I was.
I’ve never been one to subscribe to the whole “virginity is sacred” thing, but I can respect that it’s a big deal for some people.
That’s why my policy has always been to stay the fuck away from virgins or people I know have limited experience because that’s a can of worms I don’t want to deal with.
I’m an asshole, but I hate drama, and ghosting virgins after deflowering them would definitely cause drama.
I’m also pretty sure that night in the woods wasn’t just my first time fucking a guy; it was his, too.
He told me I was the first guy he ever hooked up with, and I’m almost positive there wasn’t anyone between then and what happened at the AV party. And I know for sure he wasn’t with anyone else between the party and that night in the woods.
But instead of feeling indifferent about the possibility that I’m the only guy he’s been with, I fucking love it.
I don’t understand any of this, but something about him triggers my caveman instincts, and I’m not about to let something stupid like his gender or a shift in my sexuality stop me from having what I want.
Damon is mine. He just doesn’t know it yet.