Page 1 of Damon

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.”