by L. A. Casey
“Go help your brother!” She nudged him. “We’ll get to work on how we can help things on Alannah’s end.”
I looked at the pair and shook my head, smiling from ear to ear. Dominic got a few kisses out of Bronagh and an arse grab, of course, and cuddles from his daughter before he left with his brothers to seek out Damien and get knee-deep into his problems. Many new things were happening to our group—some big changes and some little ones—but it was nice to see that at least some things never changed. No matter what any one of us went through, I knew I could always count on us pulling together to help one another out. We weren’t just friends; we were more than that.
We were family, and we’d go to the ends of the Earth for one another.
Here is a sneak peek at the first chapter of
DAMIEN
Releasing in 2017
PROLOGUE
Five and a half years ago…
Being everyone’s friend sucks donkey balls.
I thought about it as I twirled the ends of my black hair around my fingers and stared up at the ceiling. The bed I was lying on suddenly dipped, pulling me from my thoughts and causing me to flinch at the disruption of my peace and quiet. I glanced at my best friend, who had one hand on her bed to balance herself while she put on her high heels with the other.
Bronagh Murphy was my opposite in every way. When she wasn’t pretending she was invisible—she was loud, sassy, and had a solid backbone. She was funny too, and though she didn’t think so, she had a banging body.
My and Bronagh’s pairing was an odd one, and we hadn’t always been friends. In fact, it was only over the past few weeks that we decided to give the friendship thing a real go after I was attacked by the school bully, and Bronagh defended me. After that, we quickly found we were, in fact, BFFs and just had to hang out all the time.
We were a work in progress for Bronagh, though. I wasn’t exactly a social butterfly, I could make friends easily enough when I wanted to, but Bronagh couldn’t. She had trust issues, and landing a spot as her friend was a miracle in its own right. I had been in her class for all of secondary school and often saw her around primary school, but I never really knew her. No one did… until Dominic and Damien Slater moved to our town, got lumped into our tutor class and, quite literally, cornered her until she had no choice but to come out swinging.
Damien Slater, my mind drifted. Where do I start with Damien Slater?
I licked my lips and exhaled.
Damien was… my God—he was perfect. He was drop-dead gorgeous, tall, had an accent, and he made me laugh. He was an identical twin, but to me, he was nothing like his brother Dominic. I knew from the moment I saw him on his first day in school a few months ago that I would secretly obsess over him. I just didn’t know I’d be obsessing twenty-four-bloody-seven over him.
I had never had a real crush on a boy before Damien entered my life. I thought some boys around school and town were cute, and hot celebrities obviously drew my attention like any other red-blooded teenage girl, but I had no one who I really fancied myself being with. That all changed when I first saw Damien. His personality was larger than life, and as cheesy as it sounds, he looked like he was carved by angels. He was one of those perfect people you looked at and instantly knew that they would never glance in your direction, much less gaze in it.
Ten seconds after I clapped eyes on him, I was imagining our wedding. My stomach somersaulted when I pictured his white blond hair standing out against his black tuxedo as we said ‘I do’. How his grey eyes would stare into mine as he declared his undying love for me to the world. How his plump rosy lips would feel like velvet as they covered mine and claimed them in a heated kiss. How his smile would erase my every worry and fear and replace it with hope. How his large hands would hold mine when we strolled down the street.
It took another ten seconds for me to realise that I never stood a damn chance. Nearly every girl in our class, and the damn school, most likely had the same thoughts as I did and jumped to be the first one to grab and hold his attention.
It was mortifying to admit it to myself, but Damien consumed a huge part of my life, and we were barely even friends. If that didn’t label me as pathetic, then I didn’t know what would. The only thing on my side was that no one knew those embarrassing pieces of information… except for Bronagh, who was too attentive for her own good.
“Alannah, what’re you sighin’ for?” she asked, bumping my leg with hers.
I turned my attention to her. “Huh?”
“You keep sighin’.”
I do?
“Sorry, I’m just thinkin’.”
Bronagh stared at me, a perfectly shaped brow raised in question.
“About Damien?” she asked.
I felt my cheeks stain with heat. Bronagh was my best friend, but that title was new, and that meant she didn’t really know the depth of my feelings for Damien. No one did, and if I had it my way, no one would.
“Yeah,” I mumbled.
Bronagh simpered. “You’re so cute when you blush.”
‘Cause that’s what every eighteen-year-old wants to be viewed as. Cute.
I playfully kicked at her. “Leave me alone.”
“Sorry,” she said, amusement gleaming in her eyes. “I forget how… much of an introvert you are.”
“I’m so not an introvert. You are.”
“Me?” Bronagh gleefully laughed.
I nodded. “Which one of us kept to ‘erself for years?”
“I was purposely blockin’ everyone out, though; you weren’t.”
I didn’t reply, so Bronagh raised her brow and stared at me, a knowing grin on her pink lips.
“Fine,” I grumbled. “I’m a little bit of an introvert, but it suits me fine. When I try to be outgoin’, it fails, so keepin’ to one’s self is a safe bet.”
“When did it fail?” Bronagh quizzed.
When hadn’t it failed was the real question.
I blinked. “With Damien.”
My friend frowned. “You’re his friend, his only female friend apart from me, and that’s only because I’m datin’ his brother. If I wasn’t, he’d probably try to hit on me then never talk to me again when he realised I wasn’t interested.”
“It’s not like we’re even real friends, though. I only see ‘im outside of school because I’m with you all the time now, and that means I’m also with Dominic, and where there is Dominic, there is Damien.”
“Alannah—”
“I don’t like when he flirts with me because I know what he wants,” I cut Bronagh off, swallowing. “He is so open about not wantin’ a relationship longer than a rumble under the bed sheets, but I don’t want to just have sex with ‘im. I don’t want to be on his hit list. I really like ‘im, and it sucks that he doesn’t like me in the same way.”
Bronagh reached over and placed her hand on my knee.
“Sorry, Lana. I wish he was different.”
“He is great the way he is,” I stressed. “But I want ‘im to like me. I don’t want to be like Destiny or Lexi; they go through lads like it’s no one’s business, and I can’t be like that. I can’t be like them just to have his attention. I just… I just wish I was worth more to ‘im than a quick shag… you know?”
Bronagh nodded. “Yeah, I know.”
The mood had quickly turned depressing, and I felt bad.
“I’m sorry, Bee. I’m bummin’ you out on your big night.”
She tilted her head. “Me big night?”
I deadpanned. “Your hoo-ha has been deflowered. That means it’s a big night.”
Bronagh widened her eyes before she grabbed a pillow and hit me with it, causing me to sputter with laughter. She hit me with it again, so I squealed and laughed harder.
“You’re a bitch,” she stated.
I smiled wide. “You love me, though.”
“Yeah,” Bronagh said, sounding like she just came to some sort of revelation. “I do.”
I knew that her accept
ing me as a friend was a big deal for her, but I knew caring for me was an even bigger deal.
“Hey,” I said, gaining her full attention. “I love you too, and that means you’re stuck with me for life. Dominic will have to get used to me as a third wheel.”
My friend snorted. “He thinks you’ve a great rack and arse, so he won’t mind.”
I gasped. “He does not!”
“He does,” Bronagh tittered. “We randomly talked about it. I’m totally cool with you knowin’ it too because I know you’re the only girl at school who prefers Damien over ‘im.”
That was the truth.
I cringed. “Mate, Dominic is… ew.”
Bronagh cracked up with laughter. “Damien is his identical twin. They literally have the same everythin’. Well, not the same hair colour, but everythin’ else is the same.”
I disagreed.
“When I look at them, I see two completely different people. It’s hard to explain, but they’re nothin’ alike to me even though they have the same everythin’. Do you see Damien in Dominic?”
Bronagh shook her head. “At first I did, but now, I don’t. Dominic has so much personality that his body can’t contain it.”
“Speakin’ of loverboy.” I grinned. “Did it, you know, hurt?”
Bronagh’s cheeks tinged with redness as she nodded. “At first, it hurt then it was uncomfortable, and then everythin’ changed, and it was amazin’. It honestly wasn’t as bad as I always thought it would be, but if Dominic wasn’t so focused on makin’ me feel good, I think it just would have been sore and nothin’ special like most people’s first time.”
I exhaled. “That’s good to know. Maybe I won’t be so wound up when I finally lose me own V-card.”
“I’m a little sore now, but Dominic says that’s normal because it was me first time. Eventually, it won’t feel uncomfortable at all afterwards. So he says anyway.”
I gnawed on my lower lip. “You’d better go on the pill, just to be safe.”
“Yeah, Branna said she’d take me to the doctors to get a monthly prescription.”
I suddenly giggled. “You’re a total slag, needin’ the pill and an actual condom supply.”
Bronagh’s face flared with heat once more, and I momentarily wondered if the colour would ever leave her cheeks.
“Stop it. I get so embarrassed when I think of it. And I’m mortified to be on me own with Dominic again.”
Come again?
I raised a brow. “But he is your lad.”
“So?” my friend questioned. “I love ‘im, and we’re in a relationship, but he just saw me naked and took me virginity. I can’t help but be embarrassed.”
“You’re so weird,” I mused.
Bronagh snorted. “That’s not new information.”
Male laughter from downstairs got my attention, and I quietened down.
“The twins’ brothers,” I said upon hearing them, “are a lot hotter than what you said they were.”
“They are?”
I stared at her as if she had grown an extra head.
“You said they were good lookin’, but babe, they’re on fire. I’ve never met men quite like Ryder and Kane before. And Alec? That is too much sexiness to claim one person. Then there are the twins, who are another kind of hot. Their gene pool is bloody amazin’.”
Bronagh bobbed her head in agreement. “You should have seen me when I first met them. I stared without blinkin’, and I think I even drooled.”
“No one would blame if you did,” I commented.
My friend laughed. “Are you ready to go?”
I sighed as I pushed myself from the bed and got to my feet. I straightened out my dress, hoping it wasn’t creased.
“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
Bronagh frowned. “If you’d rather stay—”
“No, I want to go out. I’ve never been clubbin’ before, it’s just… I hope I don’t get upset if Damien pulls a girl. I have no claim on ‘im, but I really like ‘im, so you can guarantee me emotions will kick off if he pulls. I just hope I don’t cry.”
“You know what?” my friend boasted, sudden confidence filling her tone. “You are goin’ on the pull tonight. You’re goin’ to kiss the socks off a lad and forget about Damien Slater.”
If only.
“Yeah.” I whooped with fake enthusiasm. “Good idea.”
Bronagh beamed, pleased with herself. “Great. Go on down and tell the lads I’m ready. I’m gonna go get some of Branna’s perfume and see if she’s ready.”
I nodded and left the room. When I reached the ground floor, I turned and walked down the hallway and into the kitchen where I walked headfirst into one of the Slater brothers. I looked up and found Alec Slater looking down at me with a shit-eating grin on his way too perfect face. He placed his large hands on my shoulders to steady me, and he left them there, which had me freaking out because he was too hot for words to be touching me for a long period of time.
“So sorry,” I said rapidly.
He continued to grin. “Don’t worry your pretty little head, sweetheart.”
I heard a groan from inside the kitchen followed by some snickering.
“She just turned eighteen, big brother.”
It was Dominic who spoke, and I wanted to pummel him for embarrassing me.
Alec simply winked at me before he removed his hands from my shoulders, moved around me, and ventured off down the hallway then upstairs. I inhaled and exhaled before I stepped into the kitchen. Without realising it, I turned around to the empty space Alec just vacated and stared as if he would magically reappear.
“He’s so damn pretty.”
I looked to my right when male laughter sounded, and when I found the remaining four Slater brothers staring at me, I widened my eyes.
“Did I say that out loud?” I asked, horrified.
The group nodded, and I felt blood rush up my neck to my cheeks, which prompted me to place my face in my hands.
“You’re doing much better than Bronagh if it’s any consolation,” Dominic offered. “She stared at all my brothers when she first met them. I’m sure she drooled too.”
I dropped my hands, my cheeks still aflame.
“Speakin’ of Bronagh, go and put ‘er out of ‘er misery.”
Dominic blinked. “You wanna expand on that?”
“She’s mortified to see you even though you both… you know.”
He smirked. “Yeah, I know.”
Ryder and Kane shook their heads while Damien bumped fists with his twin.
“Go act normal so she can stop freakin’ out ‘cause when she is freaked, I have to be freaked. Best friend code.”
Damien laughed; his brothers didn’t. I felt a surge of pleasure that at least he thought I was funny.
“I’ll go take care of her,” Dominic said as he stood up, moved past me, and left the room.
When I was alone with the remaining three brothers, I found myself moving back and forth on my heels. I stopped moving when fear of my ankles giving way under my high heels entered my mind.
“So.” I cleared my throat. “You’re American.”
Alannah, oh my God.
I cringed at the shocking conversation starter.
“And you’re Irish,” Kane rumbled. “Now that we’ve gotten the obvious out of the way, how close are you with Bronagh?”
I wasn’t prepared for the question, nor the tension in Kane’s tone and the accusation in his glaring eyes.
“Bro,” Damien began, but one look from his older brother silenced him.
Kane looked back at me, awaiting my reply, and I could do nothing but stare at him. He was extremely intimidating. Bronagh warned me about his appearance, and I knew that his scars wouldn’t bother me because his looks didn’t define him, but she failed to mention that he was a bit of an arse.
“Close as new friends can be, I guess,” I replied with a one shoulder shrug.
Kane cocked a brow. “Has she talked to you ab
out us?”
“Us?”
“Me. My brothers.”
I blinked. “Um, no. She told me your names, that you’re from New York and said you’re all good lookin’, but that’s about it.”
Ryder smiled and was about to speak, but Kane wasn’t finished.
“Are you gonna ask questions about us?”
I got the feeling he didn’t like me, though I wasn’t sure why because he didn’t know me.
I swallowed. “No, why would I?”
“Because you’re curious.”
“About Damien, not you.”
I realised what I said the second the words left my mouth, and I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole because it sounded sassy, and I was rarely sassy.
“I didn’t mean that like it sounded,” I blurted. “I mean—”
“I know what you mean,” Kane cut me off, leaning back in his chair as he eyed me up and down. “You aren’t the first girl to be curious about him, and you won’t be the last.”
What is happening?
“Ryder,” Damien grunted. “Do something.”
Ryder gave him a slight shake of his head and remained quiet.
“I’m sorry, but have I done somethin’ wrong on you?” I asked Kane, hating how uncomfortable he had made me feel. “Because if I haven’t, I want to know what the hell your problem is and why I’m bein’ interrogated for no bloody reason.”
Kane raised his brows, Ryder smiled, and Damien choked on air.
“I’m just getting a feel for you,” Kane replied, his eyes still locked on mine.
I honestly thought my heart was going to explode from apprehension, but I stood my ground.
“Well, you can do it in a polite way without the attitude. Introducin’ yourself and simply being nice is a good way to start. I don’t know what Bronagh has said about me, but I’m a nice person who can only take so much bullshit. If you don’t have anythin’ nice to say to me, don’t say it at all. I’ll be more than happy to ignore you.”
“Well, fuck me,” Kane said then Ryder burst out laughing.
Meanwhile, I was busy trying to control my breathing and praying I didn’t pass out. I didn’t do confrontation, and somehow, that was just what I was involved in… and I think I won.