First Impressions: The Fated Wings Series Book 1

by C. R. Jane

  Chapter 32

  Damon

  It had been a long damn day. I’d had weight lifting, a football press conference, and then practice this evening. Normally I wouldn’t mind it with the season starting the following week, but after how amazing last night had been, I was desperate to see Eva again. I had been distracted for the first time ever at practice, wondering what she was doing. I had texted her all day, wanting to see her in between everything, and she hadn’t responded. She had told me that she had a cheerleading activity tonight but not what the activity was, and I was anxious that she still hadn’t responded. I felt like a junkie going without his fix, going so long without seeing her.

  I was obsessed, consumed, fixated. I needed her. I turned the key to my penthouse door and walked inside. A trail of clothes was on the floor leading to the hallway where my bedroom was. Maybe Eva had grabbed one of the spare keys this morning before she left and she had come back to surprise me. This seemed out of character for her as I hadn’t even gotten up the nerve to kiss her yet, but I still had a lot to learn about Eva. Maybe she wasn’t as innocent as she appeared. I walked down the hallway, less hesitant at this thought. I opened the door to my bedroom and abruptly groaned. Selena was laying ass naked on my bed. Her legs were splayed open and she was touching herself groaning loudly. I was furious. I had never slept with her at my place, and she had just been invited here on the few occasions Mason and I had thrown some parties whenever he was in town. She must have grabbed a key one of those times.

  “What are you doing here Selena,” I ground out. “Damon, I’ve been so lonely without you. I don’t know why you’re doing this to us,” she moaned out, as she continued to touch herself. I idly wondered to myself how quickly I could order a new bed because I didn’t want Eva anywhere near where Selena’s naked ass had been. “Get up. Don’t make me drag you out of here.” She still didn’t move. I grabbed the sheet she was on top of and yanked it off the bed, sending her flying as well. She looked up at me from the floor, shocked. “Why are you acting like this?” she cried. “Get out,” I roared. I walked out my bedroom and into the living room, hoping she would get the hint. Selena appeared, still naked. She got down on her hands and knees and started crawling towards me on all fours. I looked at her horrified. In the past I had been amused by her antics and eventually turned on enough to fuck her. Right now I was disgusted.

  Just then I heard a gasp. Eva was standing in the doorway looking at me shocked. Suddenly I realized how this looked. Selena was literally on her knees, naked, in front of me. Eva ran back out the door. “Fuck,” I yelled, turning to run after her. Catching up to her I grabbed her arm. “Eva wait, slow down. It’s not what it looked like,” I told her imploringly. “I just need to get home,” she answered. “I was with the team at a concert, and there was a kiss, and I just thought…” she trailed off. “What kiss,” I asked her, suddenly furious. “It obviously doesn’t matter. I was being stupid,” she said to me sadly. “Selena got a key to my apartment and came in without me knowing Eva,” I said. “I would never have invited her here after I’ve been hanging out with you.” “I just can’t believe you were ever with her to begin with,” she answered. “She’s one of the most horrible people I have ever met.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that.

  The truth was I had never been a great person. Lust had been one of the things to get me into my current mess to begin with and mistakes like Selena were riddled throughout my past. “I’ll talk to you later,” she said, not waiting for me to say anything. I would give her space and then go after her I decided. Once she thought about this she would remember the time we had been spending together and not be upset. I still had the next part of my plan to implement as well. “At least let Shelton take you home if you won’t talk to me,” I begged her. At that moment Selena slid out the door, now fully clothed. She kissed me on the cheek as she slid by. “It was fun as usual lover boy,” she told me with a smirk. I closed my eyes. This was looking worse by the second.

  Eva had tears in her eyes at this point and I wanted to rip out my eyes in frustration at the sight. She pulled away from me and ran down the hall. I immediately pulled out my phone to dial Shelton to be waiting downstairs for her. Then after grabbing a bottle of the first liquor bottle I saw on the bar, I slid down the wall until I was sitting on the ground, needing the taste to drown out the desperation that laid heavy on my tongue. What a disaster of a night.

  Chapter 33

  Mason

  It was late when I arrived at the penthouse I shared with Damon. The hallway leading from our private elevator was darkened and I was wary when I saw a shadowed figure sitting against the wall. As I got closer I saw that it was Damon. “Damon?” I asked questioningly. He looked up. His eyes were bloodshot already, and he was holding a tumbler of what smelled like scotch in his hand. He must have had several since it was so hard for us to get drunk. Not that he didn’t give it his best effort more often than not. It was a good thing that we weren’t normal, since any regular person would have been unable to function with how much he drank most days. He ignored my questioning tone and stood up, sliding up the wall unsteadily to do so. “Welcome home brother,” he called over his shoulder as he wandered back inside our place. What the fuck was wrong with him tonight? Not that I could judge, I felt like doing my best to get shit faced myself. But Damon had major demons, as ironic as it was for me to say that about someone whose name literally meant demon.

  I would normally try to go talk him off whatever ledge he was standing on, but I didn’t have the energy tonight. Highlight reels of the night and my time spent with Eva cycled through my head, distracting me from whatever issues Damon was dealing with. It made me sick that I didn’t know how to contact her. I had driven into the college campus and attempted to look for her but hadn’t seen her.

  I was so desperate that I was willing to reach out to Selena to try and get her information. Although knowing Selena she would probably try to jump me and then give me the wrong information so maybe that would be pointless. I had just gotten to the entryway

  when I heard the elevator ding. I stopped and looked back expectantly. I wasn’t sure who would have access to our private elevator that would be showing up this late. Maybe a new hookup of Damon’s? The elevator doors opened and my stomach dropped.

  I guess it said a lot for me that I had totally

  forgotten about breaking up with my girlfriend through a text message sent by my manager tonight. Courtney walked out of the elevator and stared at me, one hand on her hip. Courtney was widely considered to be a gorgeous woman. She had platinum blonde hair that she sometimes streaked with different bright colors depending on her mood, a huge fake rack, doe like brown eyes, and legs that went on for days. Right now however she looked like a wreck. Her makeup was smeared all over her face like she had been crying, and her hair was in a greasy, messy bun.

  “Court, what are you doing here?” I asked stupidly. She immediately burst into tears. I didn’t know what to do. In the two years we had been together I had seen her do a lot of things, but crying wasn’t one of them. “You had Kevin send me a fucking text message to break up with me,” she cried. I took a step back unconsciously. I wasn’t expecting this reaction. “Courtney, you knew this was never a serious thing,” I said insensitively. “You know I’ve always fucked anyone I wanted.”

  She looked down at the ground and her bawling got louder. At this point I was pissed. Courtney knew exactly how our “relationship” worked. I had never gotten the impression that she was emotionally invested in the idea of us, and I knew that this reaction was more focused on the publicity and opportunities she would lose from not being my “girlfriend” anymore, than it was from losing us. “I’m in love with you, you idiot,” she cried suddenly. I didn’t know what to say to that. I had felt affection for Courtney at times,

  when she let her barriers down she was actually pleasant and interesting to be around, but none of those emotions had come close to love. �
��Court,” I said hesitantly. “Please Mason…whatever it is we can fix it,” she went on. “I can travel with you, I can do whatever you want, just don’t do this to us.” My face must have shown what I was feeling because she hurried on. “Did you meet someone else?” she cried. “Because I’m willing to make it work if you have. Mason, please don’t do this,” she ended softly. I felt like a prick.

  Maybe I had totally missed what was going on. “Court, I’m sorry for how I chose to end this, but I just can’t be with you anymore. You’re a great person (I lied through my teeth), but I’m ready to move onto something real. You and I weren’t real and if you think about it you will realize that. I want you to have someone who worships you, and that’s not me.”

  She stared at me for a while before she burst into a new round of sobs. “I’m not going to let you do this to us Mason,” she said in a frenzied tone. “I’ll make you come back to me. You aren’t thinking clearly.” She seemed to have decided something because her crying abruptly stopped and she got a determined look on her face.

  I looked worriedly after her as she turned and stalked back to the elevator and disappeared behind the doors. I rubbed my hand down my face, suddenly exhausted. Drinking until I was wasted was looking more and more appealing. We had some elvish wine stashed somewhere that could usually do the trick. I had hoped Courtney wouldn’t be a problem. All I could hope was that after I found Eva and hopefully convinced her to start something with me that Courtney wouldn’t show up. I finally walked back into the penthouse. Damon was passed out on the couch, the tumbler of scotch spilled beneath him on the floor.

  Shaking my head I walked over to the bar and looked at what was out. The bottle of elvish wine sat with the top uncorked. Evidently Damon had started in on that before the scotch. That would explain his current comatose state. I went to grab it but then decided to just go to bed. I wanted to be up early to start the search for Eva and that would give me a nasty hangover.

  Chapter 34

  Eva

  After running away from both Mason and Damon I found myself in the back of the car with Shelton driving me back to campus. “Everything okay Eva?” he asked concerned. I couldn’t answer without crying so I said nothing and continued to sniff softly. “Whatever the idiot boys did, they didn’t mean it,” he said wisely. I looked up at him, surprised he had mentioned boys and not just Damon. He smiled at me through the rear view mirror. “I was the driver for another of the limos tonight and I saw you with him as you got into his,” he explained. “Mason and Damon are roommates,” I said horrified. “Well yes,” he answered. “I thought you knew.” “I knew they were friends, but not that they were that close,” I said. I sank back into the leather of the seat pulling at the ends of my hair in what was becoming a nervous habit. I had kissed Damon’s roommate. I was the world’s worst person.

  I stopped for a moment suddenly and thought about the two men. At least at this point I had no idea who I liked better. I had spent a lot more time with Damon but my night with Mason had been unbelievable. I had wanted to kiss him. I had wanted to do more. Despite my lack of experience, he had made my body heat, made me crave something I didn’t know how to describe. My thoughts bounced back to Damon. Damon held so much gentleness and sweetness in such a freaking hot package. Over the past few weeks he had constantly surprised me with how considerate he was, how he remembered everything about me that I ever told him.

  I still couldn’t believe about tonight though. I believed him that he hadn’t hooked up with Selena but seeing him with her, and knowing they had a past made me want to puke. I didn’t know if I could ever erase the image of her kneeling in front of him naked with her hands on him. I couldn’t deny that a part of me, a huge part of me, had wished that was me on my knees in front of him.

  My musings came to a stop when Shelton pulled up in front of my dorm. “Is there anything else I can do for you Eva,” he gently asked. “Thank you Shelton, but I’ll be fine.” “Chin up my dear,” he responded with a wink. “If there is anyone that could have those boys whipped into shape it would be you.” I blushed and thanked him for the ride before walking away.

  Shelton drove off and I began to walk to the entrance of my dorm. As I walked, a shiver went down my spine. It felt like someone was watching me. I looked around. The campus was shrouded in shadows. It was late, or early depending on how you looked at it. At least four in the morning. Long past the time when most people were wondering in from a night of partying on Frat Row. I hurried my steps, scanned my card in the sensor, and threw the door closed behind me as I went inside. When I got into my room I let out a deep breath, mentally chastising myself for being such a scaredy cat. I changed into cheerleading shorts and a spaghetti strap top, threw my hair into a messy bun, and climbed into my covers hoping to fall asleep quickly and calm my restless mind.

  That night I dreamed. I was walking in the strange, lovely land again. This time my mind recognizing it as somewhere I had definitely been before. The same pleasing melody was floating through the air once again and I found myself humming along with it in familiarity. I knelt beside one of the streams, cupping the water in my hand, and purring in delight

  at its sweet taste. I heard footsteps behind me and turned around surprised to see a beautiful little girl staring back at me. The child had golden hair that matched my own and I saw the same lavender tinted eyes on her face as I saw on my own when I looked in a mirror. She was silent and seemed content to just watch me. After a moment, she reached out her hand to grab my own. As our fingertips touched, the landscape once again transformed into the nightmare I had seen before. The air seemed even darker and more ominous than the last time I had been there, and the ash in the air was all encompassing, making it almost impossible to breathe. The child’s serene look from before had changed to one of fear. She turned to me and began to speak…

  I woke up, out of breath, my hands in front of me as if they were reaching for something. I searched my thoughts, desperate to recapture the dream I knew I had just had. Like before, the dream stayed out of reach, and I laid back down on my bed despondently. It was again a few hours before I could fall asleep again.

  Chapter 35

  I wasn’t surprised when my phone showed that it was almost eleven when I finally woke up. I had been exhausted after such an action packed, emotion filled night. I was surprised however by the 20 missed calls and text messages that were waiting for me on my phone. I hadn’t noticed that it was on silent. A lot of the calls were either from Damon or Eric, but there were a few from a number I didn’t know. I ignored all of the messages. I didn’t want to deal with Eric on a good day, let alone a day that followed a night like last night.

  My thumb hovered over Damon’s name. I wanted to call him, to tell him that I forgave him, but something held me back. Maybe it was the familiar way that Selena touched him, or the look of shock on his face when he noticed me in the doorway as she was knelt in front of him. I just wasn’t ready yet to deal with him. I got up and decided to go for a run. I knew it would remind me of Damon since he had become my running partner but I needed the outlet for the nervous energy that was thrumming through me.

  As I walked out the back door in my workout clothes a figure stepped out of the shadows. I jumped in surprise. Mason peeked out from beneath a hooded sweatshirt that he had pulled almost over his eyes. “Eva,” he said, saying my name like it was a prayer. “How did you find me?” I asked stupidly. “Rockstar remember,” he said, with a cocky smile that sent a surge of lust down my body. “I wasn’t going to let you get away,” he continued. “Come with me somewhere private so we can talk?” I wasn’t sure that was a good idea. The whole point of me ignoring all of Damon’s calls was to think everything over…by myself.

  Being alone with Mason and Damon was maddening and all encompassing. It was impossible to think straight when they were around me. I must have been a masochist though because I couldn’t say no. I wouldn’t have been able to say no if it was Damon instead of Mason standin
g here either. He must have seen my decision in my eyes, because he grabbed my hand and started walking to the road where I saw a gorgeous gunmetal grey convertible parked by the curb. He led me to the car and opened the door. “Where are we going?” I asked. “I want to show you New York,” he replied. “Don’t ask any more questions, it’s a surprise,” he said with a wink.

  We drove in a comfortable silence for awhile until we arrived near the edge of the city, where it met the Hudson. I got out of the car and looked around in surprise. We were surrounded by cargo ships and freight buildings. “Is this what you wanted to show me?” I asked. “Shhh,” he answered, taking my hand and pulling me forward.

  We walked around one of the cargo buildings and I immediately stopped in shock. A large black helicopter was waiting for us on a pad located right on the edge of the concrete dock. A man who I assumed was the pilot by the headset he had around his neck, was standing in front of the helicopter talking to an older man dressed in navy coveralls. They both stopped talking when they noticed us. The pilot greeted us with a smile and walked towards us. “Mr. Shaw, it’s a pleasure to have you with us today,” he called as he walked closer, reaching to shake Mason’s hand. His eyes drifted to me. Mason pulled me into his body proprietarily. “This is Eva,” he said stiffly, obviously not liking the way the pilot’s eyes were drifting up and down my body. “I’m Len Morgan,” he said with a smile, reaching out to shake my hand. Allowing our hands to touch for a second, Mason then pulled me