Page 8 of Origins
I never should have come here. But if I left now, I would run into that Titus person again. And I didn’t want that either.
This had to be a mistake. Why would any kind of secret club-like thing meethere? Perhaps they were on a job tonight, and they were ghost hunting?
That made sense. From the looks of this place, I could see why the owners would call paranormal investigators.
There was only one way to find out if Damen was here, unfortunately. So I forced myself up the cobblestone walkway and across the porch until I stood before a massive door. I felt like an intruder, being here. But I had been invited…
All I had to do was knock.
I had less choice now than I did in front of Dr. Stephens’ office. Before I even had a chance to lower my raised fist, the door swung open. Another man stood there, furiously writing on a clipboard. How he had known that I was even here, I had no idea.
This man too, was insanely attractive. There must have been something in the water in this part of town. This much handsomeness didn’t exist back on campus.
He looked to be a few years older than I, and his copper tinted hair appeared to be forced into submission with a tidy wave at the top of his head. Despite the single black hoop hanging from his left earlobe, he seemed professional and stylish. He wore designer jeans, and a black dress shirt, with sleeves casually rolled up over his massive forearms. And I could barely catch the glimpse of a tattoo above his elbow.
I wasn’t sure what to make of this—he was almost as large as that Titus guy.
And he still hadn’t even looked up. “Titus, I swear to god. This is the third time this month. You know that the equipment is still encrypted. I understand that your job is important to you, but you can’t…”
He glanced up, mid-speech, and his voice trailed off as he spotted me. The expression on my face must have been comical, because I hadn’t looked away or picked my jaw off the floor. Plus, my hand was still posed in the air—having been interrupted mid-knock.
The man’s full mouth dipped downwards and he lowered his square-framed, brown glasses to study me. “What’s this?” He cocked his head to the side, curiosity written in his expression, even as a slow grin appeared on his lips.
I gasped—he had the same exact eyes as Finn. There was no denying their relation. “Damen Abernathy!” I pointed at him, triumphantly.
I couldn’t believe my excellent turn of luck. After everything that I had gone through to try to find him, I finally succeeded. Now I needed to figure out everything else.
Damen smirked and all but tossed the clipboard over his shoulder before he leaned against the open door frame. “That would be me.” He crossed his arms, biceps bulging against the restraints of his shirt. “But I’m not sure I know who you are, or why you are here at my home. However, I am tempted to compromise my morals to find out.”
He watched me, an intense look in his gaze despite his playful words. I had a feeling he was sizing me up. “Very tempted,” he repeated. “But even as cute as you are, I digress. I don’t take bribes for grades and—”
“I’m not one of your students!” I interrupted him. I didn’t need him to get the wrong idea. Plus, really, hishome? But I would have to reserve judgment, maybe it looked nicer inside.
I couldn’t say anything rude. We werepracticallyfamily, after all. Considering that I one day might be this man’s sister-in-law.
“Oh, really?” Damen perked up at my admission, and he leaned toward me, closing some of the distance between us. “Then how can I help you, baby girl?” His voice deepened, coming out a seductive purr.
Baby girl?The nickname was terrible, but I still found it hard to breathe under the weight of his attention.
Was it possible that he was flirting with me? I wasn’t sure. Something about his presence—his intense demeanor—made it hard to think. Lost in his eyes, even my anxiety vanished.
Although I wanted to melt into his smoldering gaze, I held my ground. The semi-prepared speech I had mentally repeated to myself spilled from my lips. “Hello Damen, my name is Bianca Brosnan. I’m Finn’s friend. I went to Dr. Stephens’ office earlier to look for you because I need your help with…”
“Just a moment.” Damen straightened and held up his hand as he stopped me mid-sentence. He was gazing at me with confusion, and something else that made me feel slightly offended.
“What?” I couldn’t imagine what could be wrong.
His lips thinned. “Finn has a friend?”
Why were people shocked by this? Finn wasn’t all that mean. Everyone had their moments.
I leveled my deadliest glare at him, ready to defend Finn’s honor. “Of course Finn has friends! In fact, I’m hisbest friend. I’ll have you know that I’ve been hisbest friendfor over ten years.”
If anything, my admission seemed to confound Damen even more. But before he had a chance to respond, another man joined us in the doorway.
This new—also unworldly attractive—man was slightly shorter than Damen. However, he was also larger, and appeared to be made of pure muscle. I hadn’t thought it was possible for any more attractive men to exist in this town. However, that was before this rugged, male specimen popped out from behind the previous example.
He had dark chocolate hair that was swept back from his face, and the style highlighted the pure goodness that seemed to pour from his features. His skin was paler than my own light tan, and his expressive brown eyes held an amused, but curious, glint to them as he looked at me.
