Three years ago.

Jace's POV.

I ended up at Cassandra's house.

She said she wanted to pick something from her house before driving me home, I followed her into the mansion because I wanted to see the inside of her house again but the second I jumped on her comfortable Queen sized bed, my eyes closed shut and I let sleep take over my senses.

Now I'm awake, I don't know what time it is but I can tell that it's pretty early.

Cass is still sound asleep beside me and I'm usually not an early bird, especially if I had a lot to drink but I can't stop thinking about what Cass said at the party.

I jokingly asked Olivia if she could break up with her boyfriend, I didn't mean it but the way she backed away from me then gave me that look makes me question things now.

Why kiss me?

Why tell me how you feel?

Why give me hope?

The fuck are you doing?

And then there's Diego, my so called best friend who had a long ass conversation with his neighbor and her boyfriend.

Sigh.

That son of a bitch fooled me, the whole thing he said about not seeing her around his neighborhood was a lie, she lives right across from him for fucks sake, of course they know each other, I have a feeling he knows things about her that he didn't want me to ask him about, playing the asshole neighbor card would not make me ask questions and I didn't.

I don't like thinking about things for more than twenty-four hours, it's stupid and pointless, hence why I have to put everything on lockdown and move on with my life.

First....

I have to punch my best friend in the face and then I have to ask Olivia a bunch of questions, the same questions that Cass predicted the answers to.

No kissing this time around, I swear to God I'll control myself.

Doubtful but I'll still try.

I turn my head to gape at Cassandra's sleeping face, we both slept in our clothes and couldn't make it underneath the covers.

I like how we didn't end up having drunk sex that could have ruined our current relationship.

That's a first on my part.

"Cassie?" I whisper, brushing a strand of hair from her face.

"Hmm." She hums in her sleep.

"Wake up." I prop on my elbows, squinting my eyes at the large windows behind her.

"Why?" She whines into her pillow.

"I gotta go." I move my gaze down to her.

"Okay, see you later." She mumbles, I snicker.

"You gotta give me a ride, dummy, plus, what if your parents see me?"

"They're not around." She responds with her eyes still closed.

"Still, I'm uncomfortable." I say.

"Jace?" She calls, finally opening her eyes and blinking up at me.

"What?" I respond.

"You're a pussy." She sits up, rubbing her eyes.

"Pussies rule the world." I move to the edge of the bed and notice my shoes neatly placed on the floor, "Did you take off my shoes?" I look at Cass over my shoulder with a smile.

"You're welcome." She yawns, stretching her arms.

I slip into my shoes and we head out of her massive room, I hear voices, manly voices coming from downstairs.

"Who's that?" I ask.

"I think my Dad just arrived from Russia?" She questions her statement, sounding confused.

We descend the stairs and I notice a tattooed guy standing at the bottom of the stairs.

He's wearing combat boots, black cargo pants, his black T-shirt tucked into his pants, the sides of his head shaved, leaving his dark hair messy. He has bruises on his face, and he has a fresh cut on his left eyebrow and a scar on the side of his head, right above his ear.

He looks like he was up all night fighting in battle.

We move further towards him and he finally looks our way, I realize that the guy is Damien Demarco, he went to our school last year, everyone thought he was a sick son of a bitch. He was and by the looks of it, he still is.

People say I'm trouble but this guy, he's something else.

"Oh, look, he's an even bigger dick this year." Says Cass in a sarcastic tone, the corner of his lips pull up and he eyes her from head to toe.

"Princess, you turn twenty-one yet?" His stupid voice sounds deeper for some reason.

I roll my eyes at that.

"Fuck off, Damien." She says to him.

"Eighteen?" He cages his hands behind him.

"What do you think?" She responds, he smirks, looking at her everywhere.

I don't know why but it feels like they're the only people here, I'm kind of invincible,  not that I'm complaining.

"I can't wait for them to rip off your Richardson name and burn it in front of you." He says the weirdest thing, Cass and I exchange a what the fuck glance and just when she opens her mouth to respond, she's cut off by loud voices coming from a room to our left.

Cass looks to the door then back to Damien.

"Why are you dressed like that and what were you doing in Russia with my father?" She asks suspiciously.

"Business." He gives a slight shrug.

"Guys your age are running frat houses in college." She points out.

"And I'm ten times richer than they are, I wonder which one is better." He tips his head to the side.

"The college part." She's quick to say, his eyes travel passed us, suddenly putting on a bored expression.

"If you say so." His broad shoulders shrug, "Princess." He adds, bringing his eyes back to her.

A man in a Black suit steps out of the room where the voices came from, a black duffle bag in hand, he hands it to Damien and goes back to the room after sending Cass a nod good morning.

Why do I feel like that's a bag full of Cash?

"So, does daddy have a plan for when the princess finally turns twenty-one?" He asks her, holding the bag like it weighs nothing.

Does money in a bag weigh nothing?

I gotta Google that later.

"What is it with you wanting me to turn twenty-one?" Asks Cass, sounding annoyed.

Damien's brows pull down, his curious gaze Annalizing her, searching even.

"You don't know." His tone is almost a whisper, "Interesting." He mutters, keeping his eyes on her.

"Goodbye, Damien." Cass rolls her eyes at him as she folds her arms over her chest.

He chuckles, looking to his side and sweeping his tongue on his bottom lip before facing her again.

They keep eye contact and I don't know what it is between them but it's definitely something and it's kind of entertaining in some way, awkward for me but I'm invisible so it doesn't matter.

I decide to clear my throat when the confusing eye-fucking lasts longer than it's supposed to.

His eyes suddenly shift to me and the look makes me feel attacked.

I feel like raising my hands in the air and telling him we're just friends.

"So are you-"

"Don't." Cass grits her teeth warningly, stopping him from finishing his sentence like she knows exactly what he's about to say to me.

"As you wish." He grins at her, "Wouldn't use the word goodbye if I were you," he turns around and walks to the front door, Cass and I walk through the door after him.

Damien jumps into a black Lamborghini, bringing the car to life and speeding it off the property.

"Show off." Cass mutters beside me.

"He scares me." I say honestly.

"Why? His just a person like you and me." She points out as we make our way to her car.

"Did something happen between you two last year?" I ask, sliding the car door open.

"What do you mean?" She avoids eye contact as she gets into the car.

I scoff before joining her inside.

"Reign kinda mentioned it but she didn't say exactly what happened." I buckle my seatbelt.

"It was nothing." She presses the ignition switch, still not looking at me.

"Cassie, you avoid eye contact when you lie." I roll my eyes at her.

She sighs, letting the car top down while she drives like an old grandma.

"Okay, fine," She gives in, "We made out and Luke walked in on us." She tells me.

"In your room?" I don't know why I'm smiling.

"In my room, on my bed, he was just about to... You know..."

"Tongue you down? finger you?..... Put it in?" I question at the same time, she snaps her head to look at me with wide eyes.

"Bro, we are not that close." She laughs.

"Shut up, we are," I chuckle softly, "So, Luke walked in?"

"He barged in and it all happened so fast, Luke started punching Damien, I was screaming for him to stop and Damien wasn't fighting back," She explains.

"Why wasn't Damien fighting back?"

"Because for some fucked up reason, he found the whole situation hilarious, he was laughing while my brother was beating the shit out of him." Her face expression sours at the memory.

"Of course he was." I mutter underneath my tone.

"There are some people who can't help but be attracted to people who they're not supposed to be attracted to, people like Damien, I know he's fucked up but every time we're in a room together it's like summer, winter, spring, and fall collide, bringing about this big chaotic combination but we don't even feel the effect." She says, keeping her eyes on the road.

I stare at her and in my own way, I understand exactly what she means by that.

"Why can't I fall madly in love with you instead?" I whisper to myself, she turns her eyes to me and she smiles.

"Cause it doesn't work like that," she answers.

She speeds the car after getting a call from her mother, reminding her about her flight to New York.

She drops me off infront of Olivia's house and wishes me luck before driving off.

I stand on the sidewalk, staring at the house and having second thoughts about everything.

I'm way too attracted to that girl, I know I don't wanna accept it but this entire situation has been doomed from the start.

She's not mine, she's never going to be mine and there's a ninety-nine percent chance that this is not gonna go the way I'm hoping it will.

"Jace?" Olivia's voice calls from my left, I turn my head to look and she's jogging towards me.

Her raven hair is in a tight ponytail, she's wearing brue Nike sports bra and leggings with white runners.

Sweat, she's sweating and breathing heavily.

I don't know what's wrong with me but sweat on a woman is just so hot to me.

"Can we talk?" I manage to speak, my eyes involuntarily dropping to her sweaty neck and cleavage. Fuck.

"Okay, let me shower first." She starts walking to her house, my eyes follow her but my legs don't, she stops walking and turns around to face me, "Well? You coming?"

Don't go, turn around and go punch your best friend in the face instead.

"Yeah, sure I am." I follow her.