8. Daemon

S taring at the intricate skull design that now covers most of my face and neck, I barely even recognize myself. I tell myself that’s why it’s okay to go, that the design will allow me to blend in with the crowd and not be noticed. Tonight is Halloween, and it’s also my captain, Nova Darkmore’s, birthday party. A party that not only am I invited to, but I am willingly attending without the force of my best friend. After getting into yet another fight with each other, it’s no surprise that Josh wasn’t invited too, but I know he doesn’t care. I also know that his little sister will be in attendance, a fact he doesn’t seem to be aware of, yet I have acquired the knowledge of it anyway. That’s why I’m going, because I need to look out for Madeline Peters where Josh can’t, or at least that’s what I’m telling myself.

The skull design, which I hand painted on my face, is as far as my effort goes when it comes to wearing a costume, pairing it only with black jeans, a black T-shirt, and a black leather jacket. I’m also wearing my usual silver pendant, and when I slide on a few silver rings, I am finally ready to go.

From the sounds that have been coming from the house across the street for the last hour, the party is already in full swing, but given I hate both parties and people, arriving early was not in the cards for me. No, my plan is to slip in while the party is in full swing, and hopefully go unnoticed. A plan that sounds perfectly reasonable as I make my way downstairs in my own house, finding it dark and silent.

I’m not sure where Josh is, but I know Levi and Landon must already be at the party, so when I leave the house, I lock the door behind me, and move my focus to the house across the street. It’s dark, but I can see flashing lights through the windows, along with a horde of costume-clad people scattered across the lawn and front porch.

I walk quickly across the road, slipping into the small crowd and moving toward the door with my head down, and when I push through the front door, I am assaulted by smoke. What the fuck? Did they rent a fucking fog machine? Shaking my head at the ridiculous notion, I scan the room, finding it heaving with people. Scanning the rest of the house, I spot Madeline instantly, lingering around the kitchen island with her best friend, Hallie, whose name I know because of Josh. They are both chatting with some of my teammates, but my interest is piqued when I watch my captain lean down and whisper something in Madeline’s ear.

What the hell is going on there?

Whatever he says has Madeline blushing, before she turns and says something that has him smirking in response. I watch them closely until she pulls away, and as she leaves, someone else takes her place at his side. Archer fucking Gray . He slides into the spot next to his best friend, both of them watching as Madeline escapes to the living room to dance, but my focus remains on them. Archer leans in and says something that has Nova nodding in agreement, his eyes still on my best friend’s sister, before Archer adds something else that has Nova finally looking his way.

I move closer, trying to hear whatever they are saying, but the music is too loud. And when Nova slips away to follow Madeline, I keep my focus on Gray, as I reach for a bottle of whiskey on the counter. His stare flicks around the kitchen, landing first on Alexander, before he moves toward him, grabbing two bottles of liquor and thrusting them at our teammate. Whatever he says to him has Reign smirking and nodding, before he slips away without another word.

Next is our teammate Jake, who is standing in the corner of the kitchen talking with his long-term girlfriend. Archer leans in and speaks with both of them, and the two of them happily nod in agreement, before once again disappearing from the kitchen. I want to follow them, to see where they are going, to know what he said to them, but for some reason I can’t tear my eyes away from him. Which is how I know the moment he spots me. He gestures for Hallie’s attention, forcing her to move around the island so she can hear whatever he has to say, but now his stormy, blue eyes are fixed on mine. Even as he leans down to whisper in her ear, he holds my stare, and when she looks towards the direction Madeline and Nova disappeared to, she nods, before exiting.

There are still plenty of our teammates lingering around, but the second Hallie moves away, he is storming toward me, and cornering me against the door before I can stop him

“Finally remember I exist?” he drawls, the alcohol on his breath potent as it fans against my face, and I have to clench my fists before I respond.

“Trust me, Gray, I never fucking forget,” I snap back, unable to ignore yet another one of his taunts, despite my promise to myself to stay away from him.

For weeks now, I have been looking the other way any time he has been in my vicinity, and no matter what he said or did to try and get my attention, I have ignored him at every turn. A fact only made more awkward with that I’ve become accustomed to speaking with his little sister about our art almost daily. Everything was working out, and despite his best efforts, it was getting easier to ignore him, so why the fuck am I here?

“Could have fooled me,” he scoffs, taking a sip of his drink, as his eyes dance around my face taking in my costume efforts. “Come on, a few of us are going to play some games in the basement, unless you’re too scared to join,” he taunts, nodding in the direction that the others just left, and I wish I wasn’t intrigued.

I wish I could follow what I have been doing for the last few weeks, and just ignore him and act like he doesn’t exist, but instead I find myself replying, “Lead the way, asshole.”

Archer smirks, one I’ve seen a thousand times since I first met him, and they are always brought on by him fucking taunting me. Of course he doesn’t move at my request, just holds out his arm and gestures for me to go first. Rolling my eyes, I push past him and head in the direction of the basement, ignoring his proximity to my back as I walk.

The house is the same layout as mine, so it’s not hard to find the basement, and when I push inside and head down the stairs, I’m not surprised to find the others already waiting. The deep bass of the music fills the air from the party above us, and I let my eyes flick around the room, taking in the differing decor in comparison to my own house. It’s a large open space with a bathroom in the corner, but instead of having a pool table and some chairs like we do, they have gone for more practical furniture. There are two sofas and two armchairs, with a small, sleek coffee table nestled neatly between them, which is where everyone is currently situated.

Alexander, Jake, and his girlfriend take up one sofa, and Hallie is sitting across from them on the other. That leaves a space beside her, or the two chairs, and I barely even think about it before rushing to claim one of the chairs, and when I meet Archer’s stare, his grin only widens. Forcing my eyes away from him, I note that Hallie looks about as calm as I feel about being here, and that Jake and his girlfriend are talking amongst themselves, but it’s Alexander that snags my attention.

Sitting on the end of the sofa closest to me, he has a joint hanging out of his mouth, one in his hand half-made, and another two on the table already rolled. Now weed doesn’t bother me, it never has. No, it’s the little white powder, laying in a small pile next to the joints on the table, along with some pills, that bothers me. They remind me of the darkness that once claimed me, the weakness I once showed, and I feel my throat getting dry at the sight of them.

My hands flex to reach out and cut myself a line, and I have to inhale a deep breath through my nose, and take a sip of my whiskey to calm my now racing heart. Unable to resist, I reach out and snag one of the joints from the table to fill the aching need now building inside of me, and Reign smirks, as he offers me a light which I gratefully accept. Weed always used to calm me down when I was too high, and right now, I fucking need a boatload of it.

Archer is still watching me closely, as he chooses a spot on the sofa beside Hallie, throwing his arm around her shoulder, and it has me pausing with the joint against my lips, as I find myself looking at the two of them in a new light. Are they a thing? Have I somehow missed this? My stare flicks across the two of them, and an unfamiliar feeling churns in the bottom of my gut, but before I can place it, I hear more footsteps descending the stairs.

Madeline Peters appears, my captain close on her heels, as her eyes scan all of us in surprise, but my focus is on Nova, who has his front plastered to her back, possessively guiding her to the empty chair. He forces her to take a seat, before propping himself on the arm, and offering a slight nod to Archer, yet still his focus remains on me.

I shift uncomfortably beneath his attention, and like a hawk circling the skies he watches me, that damn insufferable smirk still in place, and fuck do I want to wipe it off. Heat engulfs my body as I realize I want a lot of things when it comes to him, but I shut it down quickly and take another sip of my drink.

“So what are we playing?” Madeline asks nervously, breaking the silence that she no doubt felt compelled to fill. Ever the polite, poised, and polished politician’s child, just like her brother.

Only at the sound of her voice does Archer finally break his stare away from me, to share a look with Nova, before he proudly announces, “The game is truth or dare.”

I almost roll my eyes, I should have guessed it would be something like this, and as the game commences, it’s a mixture of juvenile dares, and embarrassing truths, as Jake, his girlfriend, Hallie, Alexander, and Archer all take a turn, before Archer finally focuses on his best friend.

“Truth or dare, Birthday Boy?” he asks Nova with a smirk, and our captain flicks his stare down to Madeline, before he responds, “Dare, of course.”

Archer looks like the cat who got the cream, as his friend takes the bait and Alexander practically leaps towards him so they can conspire together. I relight the joint in my hand and inhale deeply, watching as Hallie’s eyes widen at whatever my teammates are coming up with, and with Archer’s stare once again back on me, I spot the moment he comes up with something.

Alexander chuckles as he pulls away, nodding excitedly, as Archer winks at me before turning to Nova and beaming, “I dare you to take a drink from baby Peters’ body.”

My gaze snaps to Madeline, whose blush is instant as her eyes flare in surprise at the request, and I ready myself to jump to her defense, but then I note she doesn’t actually look worried. In fact, if I had to pick an emotion she was feeling, I would land on intrigued, or hell, even horny, and when I look up to my captain, I see the same emotions reflected in his eyes. He looks a little more pissed off if I am being honest, and it makes me wonder if this is all more than a game to him, if she is more than a game to him.

We all watch in unison as he leans forward and grabs a bottle of liquor from the table, along with a straw, and the temperature skyrockets as he silently commands her to lean back in the chair. They share a whisper, but my focus is on the juncture of her throat, the slender lines of her neck that shift as she parts her lips and opens her mouth wide. Then Nova spills whiskey onto her waiting tongue, commanding her not to swallow, and I find myself looking back over to Archer.

Of course the insufferable prick is already staring at me, the only person here not watching the show he just requested, yet I’m sure the heat in his eyes mirrors my own. Does he like to watch like I do? Is that why he did this? Because if that’s the case, why is he looking at me and not them?

The display they are putting on is erotic, and doused in sexual tension, yet Archer and I remain locked on one another instead, and when I raise my drink back up for another sip, he follows my every move. My heart thunders in my chest, as I lick the traces of liquid from my lips, and his eyes track my tongue. My fingers flex around the bottle in my hand, and just as I am about to ask what the fuck he is staring at, Madeline jumps to her feet and the spell between us is broken.

I focus back on her and Nova, spying her heated cheeks and heaving chest, and as she darts for the exit, I know from the look on Nova’s face that he won’t let her go. If Josh gets wind of this, there are going to be murders, yet as Nova captures her and drags her towards the bathroom in the corner, she looks to be just as enthralled with him, as he is with her. Yep, this is definitely more than a game for them, and I stare at the now closed bathroom door in wonder.

“Well I guess they decided to play something else,” Archer cuts in with a laugh, and when I hear a distinctive moan from the other side of the door, I’m sure he’s right. “Well, truth or dare, Forbes?” he adds, and my gaze snaps back to him.

A game, that’s what it always is with him. A game of cat and mouse, where he thinks he is the predator and I am his prey, but clearly even after years of playing on the same team, he knows fucking nothing about me. I’m no one’s prey, not anymore, and it’s time he fucking realized it.

“Truth,” I reply instantly, and if I’m not mistaken, his eyes widen in excitement, which means whatever he is about to ask, he has already thought about.

He makes a show of acting like he is thinking of course, before he finally asks, “Have you ever tasted another guy’s cum?”

The question makes Alexander choke on his drink slightly, and Jake and his girlfriend laugh with a shake of their heads, at how ridiculous their friend is, but my gaze remains on Archer. Hallie is also staring at him, her gaze flicking between the two of us, as a smile tugs on the corner of my mouth.

Taking one last slow drag of my joint before I stub it out, I ensure my voice is loud and clear, as I reply, “A few times actually, though some tastes better than others.” My response has his own smile dropping slightly, and even though I feel like I just won something, the dimming of his excited stare makes me feel uncomfortable for some reason.

More moans and groans float through the door, mixing with the bass of the music, as Archer replies, “A few times, huh, must have been quite memorable then, do you remember who tastes better?” There is a bitter edge to his tone now, that has me smirking internally, the high from our banter enough for me to forget about my earlier yearning.

“Some of them were memorable, and some of them I have forgotten completely,” I lie boldly with a shrug, and the fire returns to his eyes instantly, as a rattling sound pours out from the bathroom, and I crack my neck to try and remain focused on him, and not what’s going on less than ten feet away from us.

“Damn, Forbes, I knew you were a freak, but I didn’t know you were freaky like that,” Alexander chuckles, sipping his drink, and I finally break his friend’s stare to look his way.

A freak. So many times that word has been tossed in my direction to describe me, and every time it’s like a whip against my skin, leaving scars that nobody will ever see, but I feel them all the same. I’m sure he means it as a joke, like all the others who claimed before him, but jokes are only funny if everyone laughs, and right now, I’m not fucking laughing.

“Not all of us have such vanilla tastes, Reign,” I drawl, the alcohol and weed making me more vocal than usual, and his stare hardens a little.

“Foursomes are vanilla to you?” he asks with half a smile, but I can tell I am getting under his skin.

Nova and Maddie continue to fuck each other, and the door that separates us does nothing to hide their need for one another. However they are fucking in there, it sounds good, better than good, and I bet it looks it too. It certainly sounds it, and I should know, I have watched plenty of people fucking over the years, including this fucking jacked-up goalie before me, and his performance wouldn’t even make the top ten.

“The one I saw you having certainly was,” I clap back, before forcing my stare to my drink, effectively dismissing him, but of course he isn’t done.

“Then maybe you should look closer next time and you might pick up some tips,” he spits, his accent getting thicker thanks to his anger and intoxication, and in my peripheral I can see Archer ready to step in, but I won’t allow it.

“I’m getting better tips off our captain right now through a locked door than anything someone like you could ever teach me,” I scoff in disgust at just the thought, and he slams his drink onto the table, crushing some of the pills.

“Someone like me?” he asks in outrage, and I ready myself for the fight that is pouring out of him. Maybe that’s what I need right now, a pound of flesh like Nova, but in a completely different sense.

“A manwhore,” I confirm, because I know for a fact no one on the team has slept with more girls than him, and that’s not for their lack of trying. “Didn’t they teach you in that English boarding school of yours that quality is better than quantity?”

A mumbled curse comes from the other sofa, as he opens his mouth to respond, but Hallie quickly rushes out, “How about we get back to the game?” her question is choked out, but being female, her distraction works perfectly on my dim-witted goalie, who only eyes me for a few more seconds, before he switches his gaze to her with a smile.

“Excellent idea, Hallie, and from what I recall it’s your turn,” Alexander muses, shaking off his annoyance, and before she can deny that fact or correct him, he quickly adds, “Hallie, I dare you to kiss Archer.”

His dare hangs in the air, and I can feel him assessing me, but my eyes snap to Archer, finding him already watching me, watching me like he is waiting for me to say something. What the fuck am I supposed to say? I have no jurisdiction here, we are teammates who hate each other, and a dare is a fucking dare.

When I remain silent, he reaches forward and places his cup on the table, shifting his focus to Hallie. They communicate silently, in a way that tells me they definitely know each other better than I have ever realized, and my heart starts to thunder in my chest, as he leans towards her and gently presses his hand to her cheek. Time seems to move in slow motion, which means every second feels like a lifetime, and when their lips finally touch, a bomb detonates inside of me, and that sickening feeling from earlier churns deep in my gut.

This isn’t something I want to watch, not as their lips move in sync and they look so sickeningly beautiful and perfect together. The kiss has no passion or real heat, yet still it rips me to shreds and I don’t know why.

I can hear my heartbeat in my ears, feel it slamming against my ribcage, as it drowns out the groans of my captain and my best friend’s sister, but not the sounds of Archer and Hallie. Yet still I watch them. I watch their lips and tongues collide, as a fire threatens to burn me from the inside out, but just as a scream is about to tear from my throat, his stare opens and meets mine.

Archer Fucking Gray looks at me. He looks at me, as he kisses her, he watches me, as he kisses her, he fucking taunts me, as he kisses her, and I have never hated him more. I hate him so much it makes me fucking sick, yet beneath that hatred is something else, something more, and before I can let it fester and rear it’s ugly head, I jump to my feet, effectively ending their kiss, but also turning every eye in the room my way.

The music from the party still pumps in the room, mixing with the joint moans coming from the bathroom, but none of it is enough to drown out his fucking voice, and the memory of that fucking kiss.

“Forbes?” Archer says my name like it’s a question, and I want to steal the word from his throat and never hear it again, but at least if my name is on his lips, then his lips aren’t on hers.

Fuck.

What the hell is wrong with me?

I can’t be here anymore, I need to get out of here. I don’t speak, not a word, I just turn on my heels and storm towards the stairs, leaving all of them behind as Archer once again calls my name, but I’m already gone.