Chapter 5 The party

*** POV - Melaena Axel is spread out on the couch waiting patiently for us to finish, his handsome face staring bored at the ceiling. "Axel dear, is Damion still such a hunk?" Kiara wiggles her eyebrows at me and I pout. "Don't know exactly what a hunk looks like?" Axel's mouth pulls up at one side. "Ug, never mind. More than twelve years of girl talk and you still can't communicate with your feminine side!" She puts down the lipstick and claps her hands together, making me jump. "Ok guys, it's time! Let's do this!" Kiara is wearing a green dress with long sleeves that reaches mid-thigh. I put on my pink high-top sneakers and look in the mirror. The short dress with a blue flowery-skull pattern and a low cut v-neck, under my denim jacket, flatters my slim figure and C-cup cleavage. My light hair hangs loose in soft curls down my back, reaching my butt, and wonder what Damion will think. Then I shake my head. What the fudge. Who cares what that dude thinks? I wonder if he can think, cause just like my brothers, his brain mostly hangs between his legs. Axel stretches out and gets up, giving a small wolf-whistle, "You know, you two are probably my favorite girls in the whole world." He flashes us a wide smile covering most of his handsome face just as Enrique walks past, his arm around a gorgeous redhead dressed in a skimpy skirt and top. "Looking good, peops!" He shouts into the room. "Who's the new flavor of the day?" Kiara asks her mouth pulling up into a smile in one corner. "Not a clue, you know I can't keep up with my brothers' sex-buddies." I laugh as we walk down the stairs to greet Uncle John with a kiss on his cheek. Doc Barney is next in line. We've been in the ER so much over the years the guy became part of the family. "So where's Ren?" Uncle John asks looking at me. "He's going to be a little late, work stuff." Ren is working in his dad's business. Real estate or something. I scan the room just to find Jason staring creepily at me, so I move my eyes quickly away to where doctor Deimos Grimm is talking to one of Uncle John's executives. Next to him is a very pretty woman, probably his wife, and a young boy that looks a bit like Damion. Wondering if it could be his brother the boy looks up and into my eyes and I almost choke on my spit when he wiggles his little eyebrows at me and sends me an air kiss. I give a small wave back, still struggling to wrap my head around what exactly is happening. Geez, he's just every bit as cocky as his brother and then I feel that strange, yet slightly familiar, tug in my gut just as my eyes hook into those green monsters that every single frickin time suck the air out of my lungs. The ones that seem to mess up my love life and haunt my dreams. Damn, I just hate those lovely eyes. I move my gaze over his tall body. He seems more grown-up, his muscles perfectly filling out his jeans and black T. He's got just the right amount of stubble on his square jaw, his black hair messy like usual, falling over his face and I can see an intriguing smirk on his lips. Hell, it's not fair for one man to be that handsome. I feel my stomach knotting tightly and it feels like electricity is running through my veins. I wish I could hack in and delete Damion from my system, cause he's like a virus slowly destroying my programming. Ug, I can't hate anyone more than I hate him. Looking straight at me he winks unexpectedly and a little ungirly swearword, starting with a C and naming the place that's heating up right now, escapes my lips, maybe a bit too hard. Flip, I'm sure everybody heard that! Fudge him for letting me swear, which I try not to do. Axel next to me is folding in half with laughter and I step on his foot. He stops immediately and looks at me, squinting his eyes. I know he'll pay me back somehow but right now I don't give a damn. It's enough that everybody else is eyeing me like I'm Cruella De Vil. It took me quite some time to figure out that her surname spells 'devil', cause you know ... she's like satan in female form. Did I say that I truly hate that guy and his annoying cocky attitude? And I'm sure he's related to Cruella or even the devil himself. Jackson looks at me from across the room. Could he hear me from there? I didn't say it that loud. The one side of his lip curls up into an annoying smirk. Why do all sexy men always have to do that, as if they know it turns women's knees into mush. Then again, that's probably exactly why they do it. Now I'm starting to wonder if there might be a secret 'Hot guy sex training club' where they teach men how to seduce the opposite sex. Or I suppose the same sex if they're into that. I wouldn't be surprised if Boys Educational and Analytical Sex Training – or BEAST - for short in fact really exist. And no, I'm not googling over my brother, but I'm not blind and I know that all my brothers are hot as hell. They're all carved from the same block as our father, tall, lean, muscled with perfect faces, and definitely VIP members of said club. "Earth to Mel." Axel is waving a hand before my eyes and pulls me out of my brain-running. I try to act as if nothing happened, but I know I'm blushing. Looking straight ahead, I try to focus on the paint on the wall, but my eyes just keep wandering to the cocky bastard at the bar standing next to Logan, still watching me. Two can play that game, so I watch back making sure my eyes and face portray a disgusted look. Enrique makes his way to Damion, hand holding onto the perky redhead. He's always had this thing for red-heads, but he's not picky – as long as they are beautiful he'll screw any hair color that agrees to the no-strings-attached policy of him. Enrique always makes it abundantly clear that he doesn't do the settling down or dating thing. I notice a pretty brunette slowly walking over to them, swaying her hips with loads of extra slutty effort. My eyes move back to Damion who's now laughing at Enrique, and then the brunette grabs him around his waist, planting a kiss on his pink lips and I feel a strange feeling pulsing through my veins, causing me to pull my mouth up under my nose as if I'm smelling a skunk. "He's even hotter than I remember if that's possible, and he for sure has the same effect on women," Kiara says, also looking at Damion who's now holding onto a dark-haired girl on his other side, the brunette still clinging to him. "Ug, I wish there was some kind of delete button for him." A small hand grabs my arm, startling me, and I slab my hand over my mouth not to swear again. "Hi, my beautiful princess, I'm Luke." I look into his dreamy hazel eyes. "Hi, Luke. I'm Mel." "I have 4 girlfriends, but I'll let them off easily, then you can be my girlfriend. What do you say?" The boy pulls his lips into a serious pout, his light eyes smoldering with mischief. He's cocky but very cute. I smile back at him, thinking that boys probably start going to the BEAST club from birth, cause this little guy already got all the moves. Or maybe he just has a good teacher? I look back to where Damion was standing, but he's gone. "Hey dude, maybe you should leave some girls for the rest of us guys!" Says the guy who just had two girls crawling all over him. Damion must be standing right behind me cause I can feel the warmth of his body making all my hair stand on end. I dare not turn around cause I already know that he will have that signature smirk on his face, you know the one they teach men at the BEAST club, and then he'll increase the sexiness of his grin with a few inches cocking his head to the side. And seeing that will take all my willpower not to push my hands through his dark hair, and I need my power for ... whatever I need it for. Then he moves into our circle, his arm brushing against me. I almost swear again cause it feels as if I was shocked by a cattle-prodder, sparks shooting from my arm to my toes. I secretly scold my body for betraying me like that, but at the same time, I'm thinking about how it will feel to kiss his soft lips. I notice his eyes are even greener close up and he has some recent bruises on his overly handsome face. Kiara and Axel excuse themselves and make a beeline for the bar, leaving me alone with him and Luke. Thanks, guys. "So, how have you been? Enjoyed the year away?" Hearing his voice sends shivers down my spine. I could undoubtedly do with a drink right now ... an extra-extra-strong one. "I'm good thanks, yep, a year away from you and my brothers – best time ever." He leans forward and his mouth is close to my ear. "So you didn't even think of me once?" I gasp at his arrogance. Yes, I thought about him like a zillion times .... but that's not the point. "Nope!" I push out the p. He just pulls his eyebrows up and plasters a sexy grin on his face. "What if I don't believe that?" Ug, this guy just knows how to pee me off in an instance. "Then maybe it's your problem." His smirk is now as big as a freaking banana. I'm angry and frustrated, especially when he just cocks his head and pouts his mouth. Damn this man. He looks at me as if he wants to say something more but then Logan grabs his shoulder. I take it as my cue to go join my friends and get that strong drink. Right now, I'll probably need more than one. As I'm walking I notice the pretty brunet, throwing daggers at me with her eyes. I wonder what her problem is, I don't even know the bitch. Yep, I know that's harsh, but if she's so judgemental, she must be a big B. And a slut. Yes, she's a slut, didn't she just have her grubby little hands all over Damion. But I ignore her, right now I'm too angry to care about some bimbo with bad manners. "Can I have something to drink?" I didn't notice Luke following me to the bar "And don't worry about that Chloe bitch, " he points to the brunette still staring at me. I get him a coke and a strawberry margarita for me. Luke babbles but I just hear a word here and there while I answer him instinctively - my mind somewhere else. He likes to play video games like 'Fortnite' and 'Call of Duty' and was flabbergasted to hear that I helped in the design of the latest 'Assassin's Creed'. I was freelancing for Ubisoft, helping with both coding and design during my senior year, and earned a smack load of money doing it. "That's so swag!" He doesn't give me a chance to answer him. "If only I was a little older I'd marry you for sure, screw my girlfriends! But maybe you could date my lame-ass brother? That guy sucks in the female department." Luke shakes his head and gestures with his hands to prove his statement, then he moves in closer and whispers "Sometimes I think he bats for the other side, you know ... " I try hard to keep myself from bursting into laughter, biting both lips. "I'm sure this lame-ass brother can still kick your but!" Damion smirks, also suppressing a smile. "But I don't have a problem picking up girls." Yep, he can say that again, unfortunately. I'm sure he can get any girl he wants, except me of course. "Yeh, sure, I'll believe it when you ask Mel out," Luke pulls a shitty face while looking sincerely at his brother. "I'll see about that," Damion winks at his brother. "See he's so gay!" Luke pulls his eyes at me with a sexy little I-told-you-so smile and then he challenges his brother with a cocky stance, chin in the air. "And you're so dead," Damion threatens and Luke walks away slowly, looking at his brother, pointing his fingers at Damion and then at his eyes, showing that he's watching him. Damion smiles and pulls a finger across his neck, making a cut-throat sound. "Cocky little bastard." There's a soft loving glint in Damion's eyes. So the beast does have a heart after all. "Seems to me it runs in the family." "Yep, just like our great taste in women. So will you?" Damion blinks and scratches the back of his head but his eyes seem serious. Will I date his brother? After what he did to me? My mind says 'no' but my body is leaning towards 'yes'. "I m not a na?ve teenager anymore and I'm certainly not your kinda girl." I wiggle my eyes at him and give him a million-dollar smile. My mind winning this round for sure. "And what kind might that be?" "I'm not into one-night-stand screw-them-and-leave-them crap. And I'm not dying my hair dark to fit into your groupie spectrum." Yeh, it is old news that girls tend to dye their hair brown just because Mr. MotoGP only screws brunettes. "Maybe you should not judge what you don't know. Things aren't always as they seem." Again his hand shoots to the back of his neck. His shirt sleeve pulls up, drawing my eyes to the rippling of his bicep and the tattoo on his arm. It's some kind of skull with wings. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining as it's super sexy and my mouth is super dry all of a sudden.