Damon (Graveyard Kings #6)

CHAPTER ONE

ATHENA

“Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Damn, there are just too many to choose from.” I eagerly eyed up the buffet of men littered about the graveyard. There were simply too many to make an easy choice. “Who should the lucky guy be tonight?”

When I didn’t get an immediate response, I lightly nudged Luna with my elbow. The two of us leaned against one of the crumbling headstones, sipping our drinks. I glanced over to catch her making moon eyes across the graveyard at her serious boyfriend, Casper Callahan.

“What? Oh, I don’t know. Maybe one of the hockey players.” She quickly averted her gaze, pretending that she’d been listening all along.

I didn’t blame her for being distracted. Casper was a hottie with a great body. And he was head over heels for her. However, I was still happily living the single life and in need of some encouragement from one of my besties.

I shook my head, my long brown ponytail swishing around behind me. “No deal. My last hockey player hook up didn’t go so well. He passed out on top of me. Talk about cringe.”

Tonight’s graveyard party was technically a birthday celebration for Auryn Brewer, one of the Graveyard Kings and my friend Ripley’s other half. We were almost halfway through July, deep in the heart of summer. The temps were sky high, making me grateful for the air-conditioning in my apartment.

The Graveyard Kings never needed an excuse to party, always finding one reason or another.

Now that our college years had recently come to an end, I assumed the parties would gradually die down.

Although I doubted that they would fade away completely.

Not as long as the Kings were running the town with their black market organization.

Somehow the Kings had managed to snap up each of my closest friends.

One by one, they’d all fallen for the men that had earned a reputation for being able to obtain pretty much anything for anyone for the right price.

Some foolish people had made the mistake of fucking with them. They paid the price.

My friends were happy, and that’s all I wanted for them. Now that they were all paired up, they were constantly after me to find a man of my own. No thank you. One man for the rest of my life? Insanity.

That might be just fine for some people but I enjoyed the excitement of a new conquest. I loved knowing that when I took a man home, I never had to see him again. I so rarely did.

Back in high school I had dated one guy for a while. An experience that only confirmed the dating life was not for me. I simply had no reason to believe any guy was worth settling for. Not when there were so many others out there to be sampled.

“Yeah, that’s a dealbreaker.” Luna nodded in agreement. She ran a hand through her pink and purple colored locks, subtly nodding toward a guy standing near the tree line. “What about him? He keeps staring at you.”

My gaze strayed in the direction she indicated. I quickly averted it, doing my best not to make eye contact with that guy. “Absolutely not. That’s Andy. We already had a thing. It didn’t go well.”

Storm stepped up behind us then, sticking her head between ours. “Sounds like a lot of your hook ups don’t go so well. Why don’t you let us set you up with someone? We’ll pick someone awesome who doesn’t suck.”

I rolled my eyes, toying with the letter A pendant hanging from a silver chain around my neck. “Ask me again in twenty years, and if I’m still single, then you can set me up with anyone you want.”

Now it was Storm’s turn to roll her eyes. “You’re impossible, but I love you. You can be the rich single aunt that shows up with elaborate gifts on holidays. That role was made for you.”

“It really was.” Lifting my plastic cup of vodka and sprite to my lips, I caught the eye of a dark haired cutie watching me from several feet away. I didn’t recognize him from campus. Maybe he was new in town.

I turned around to face both girls, giving them a mischievous wink. Two of our friends still hadn’t made an appearance, currently too preoccupied with their men. I didn’t need a steady to have some fun of my own.

“I believe I may have found tonight’s winner.” I grinned. “I’m going to test the waters. Wish me luck.”

As I made my way over to the cutie with the flirtatious smile, I felt someone watching me. Expecting to see Andy, I glanced over to find Damon Price glaring in my direction. I dismissed him with a slight shake of my head and a purse of my lips.

Damon Price was an asshole. We hadn’t interacted much, but when we had, he’d been nothing but rude and nasty.

He was only part of the Graveyard Kings because his best friend was involved with one of them.

Damon struck me as the kind of guy who was rude to everyone outside of Noah.

Like he perpetually had a stick up his ass.

Forgetting about him, I continued to sashay my way across the graveyard to the cute guy who watched me expectedly.

I pasted on a brilliant smile, ready to dazzle him.

Feeling good in a cute pair of jean shorts and a halter top, I was ready to play the game.

To get my flirt on and make this man my boy toy for the night.

At least that’s what would have happened if I hadn’t been intercepted. Andy shoved in front of me, making me stumble to a halt. My drink spilled slightly over the rim of the cup, making me shoot him a dark glare.

“Moving on to a new conquest already?” Andy nodded in the direction of the guy I’d been about to approach. “Damn, Athena, you really get around.”

He wasn’t the first guy to say something like that.

To try to label me as a slut or easy. Funny how the guys could screw themselves senseless with a new girl every night and nobody said shit to them.

I wasn’t about to be defined by their bullshit labels.

I would live my life however I pleased, and they could all get fucked. Thank you very much.

I gave Andy a dismissive once over. Briefly taking in his short sandy brown hair, slight stubble, and boring golf shirt with shorts.

Definitely wasn’t my usual type. I tended to go for guys that were a little more exciting.

The hockey players that liked to get rough or the frat guys that were up for anything, which was probably why I never saw him more than once.

“Jealous because you didn’t make the cut?” I asked, letting my irritation show. This wasn’t the first time he’d said something like this to me. “Sorry, Andy. We weren’t a good match. It happens.”

He scoffed, shuffling from foot to foot. “Not a good match? Or did you just use me and toss me aside? Seems to be your MO.”

It never ceased to amaze me how many men were cool with being the user but not the used. Damn hypocrites.

“To be fair, Andy, I told you right from the beginning that I was only looking for something casual. It’s not like I led you on with a lie.” Over Andy’s shoulder, I shot the cute guy I’d been eyeing an apologetic smile with a shrug.

Seeing this, Andy pressed closer, towering over me. “You knew that I liked you. All I wanted was a chance to get to know you. A second date that wasn’t a drunken fling. I didn’t realize I was only another notch on your headboard.”

My temper started to rise. This didn’t happen often thankfully, but when it did, the butt hurt guy in question usually had a hard time accepting that I wasn’t interested in more.

I never could figure out why they wanted more anyway.

They didn’t really know me. They didn’t know what they were asking for.

“Yeah, well you were,” I snapped. “Just like I told you that you would be. No lies were spoken. Not once did I mislead you. I’m sorry you can’t handle rejection. It’s really not my problem.”

I always made sure any guy I hooked up with knew that we were never going to be anything more than a casual fling. Nobody could accuse me of being a liar. I always opted for honesty, doing my best to avoid a situation like this.

“Damn.” Andy shook his head, like he had the right to judge me. “I knew you got around, but I didn’t realize you were such a straight up slut. I don’t know what I ever saw in you. I regret ever laying a hand on you. You’re probably carrying every disease known to man.”

That crossed a line. My hand was a blur as my palm cracked across his cheek. I made sure to always play safe. Taking stupid chances wasn’t my style. The double standards for women made me sick. I wasn’t going to stand there and take this crap from him.

“Who do you think you are?” My voice shook with rising anger. “I made you use a condom. Don’t act like I let you raw dog me or something. If I had known what a disgusting piece of human garbage you would turn out to be, I never would have looked twice at you. This conversation is over.”

I moved to step around him, rubbing my stinging palm against my shorts. He stepped with me, blocking my exit.

“Get out of my way,” I snarled.

“Not until you’re done listening to everything I have to say.” Andy stretched out a hand like he would touch me, making me jerk out of reach.

“Oh, I am beyond done listening to anything you have to say. Walk away now before you get yourself in trouble.” Every one of my best friends was dating or married to a Graveyard King. Nobody would mess with me and get away with it here.

Andy laughed. “Is one of your many conquests going to kick my ass? I can’t imagine a single one of them wanting anything to do with you.”

In response to his question, Luna stepped up beside me, Casper looming next to her. “I think it’s time for you to leave,” Luna said, calm and ice cold. “Will you be needing any help with that?”

Casper took a step forward. The fact that he never spoke didn’t stop him from getting his point across. Silent and menacing, he stared hard at Andy, daring him to resist.

It didn’t take long for Andy to decide that he didn’t want to mess with Casper. There was a substantial size difference between the two of them. Their stare down didn’t last long.

Backing away, Andy said, “Whatever. You’re not worth it anyway.”

His insult rolled right off me. I honestly didn’t care what he thought about me. Although I was kind of pissed off that he’d ruined my chance to get friendly with the cutie I’d noticed. Having witnessed the interaction with Andy, he’d vacated.

Whatever. It was just as well. I’d still have a great night hanging out with my girls.

“Thanks, guys,” I said, touching Luna’s arm while giving Casper a grateful smile.

“Are you okay?” Luna asked, staring after Andy’s retreating form. “Do you want Casper to rough him up a little?”

She half smiled like she was only half joking. With a laugh, I shook my head.

“As tempting as that is, I’ll pass this time. I’d prefer to forget he even exists. Let’s go for a refill.” Holding up my almost empty cup, I pushed forward with my evening, refusing to let Andy bring me down.

As Luna and I meandered over to a cooler filled with drinks, Casper ambling along behind us, I again felt like I was being watched. This time when I glanced up to find Damon’s studious stare locked on me, I raised a brow in question. He simply continued to stare.

What was his problem?

I didn’t want to know nor did I really care. Dismissing him completely, I decided to forget guys for the night. Sometimes they were more trouble than they were worth.