Damien PoV
When I returned to the room, Toren was on the ground, giggling as he played with one of my dino toys.
"Hey, little buddy," I said. "What are you playing with?"
He looked up and grinned. "Dino toy! Look, it's a T-rex!"
He held up my old t-rex plastic sock puppet, and I smiled. I got it in a meal as a kid. While we could afford a whole better quality toys, this was one of my favorites.
"Wow, that's cool," I said, sitting down next to him. "What are you and the t-rex doing?"
"Playing," he said, wiggling the dinosaur. "Dino wants to play with Cass and Shelly."
I laughed. "I'm sure they would love to play with you. Well, your sister would. Cassian... he's a bad dino."
Toren frowned. "Why is he a bad dino?"
"He's just a big jerk who doesn't care about anyone but himself. He's a bully who likes to hurt people's feelings and make them feel bad. He's not a good person."
Toren's frown deepened. "He's a bad dino? I don't like bad dinos. Is he gonna chomp on sis?"
I smiled. "No, he won't. I'll make sure of it. I won't let him hurt her, no matter what. I'll protect her."
He hummed and hugged the dinosaur. "I want to help protect her, too! She's my sis! I love her lots!"
I smiled and ruffled his black hair. "I know you do, little buddy. I'm sure you'll be a great protector for her. But, for now, let's focus on finishing this cleaning. Team Cleaning Dinos needs to win."
He nodded and put down the dinosaur. "Okay! Dino will finish cleaning the cave! Team Cleaning Dinos will win!"
I chuckled and helped him finish cleaning up.
Once we finished, we went to check up on Shelly over in Cassian's room, only to find Shelly reading a book. She had a relaxed expression on her face. When she saw us, she smiled and waved.
"Hey, guys! What's up?"
"Nothing much, just checking in to see if you're done with the cleaning," I said, glancing at Cassian, who was on his bed looking at his phone.
"Yep, all done," she said, closing her book. "We figured you boys would be done by now."
Toren jumped on the bed. "We are!"
Shelly laughed and ruffled his hair. "Good job, little bro! I knew you could do it."
He grinned and hugged her. "Thanks, sis! I'm a good cleaning dino!"
She chuckled and looked at the room. "We did a good job cleaning this room. It actually looks decent now."
I looked around and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's not bad. Although, it could use some flowers. It stinks of alcohol still."
Cassian scoffed. "Bet your room still stinks of sweat from working out so much."
I grumbled. "Oh, come on, it doesn't smell that bad. I clean it often. I've got to work on these muscles, so they don't get lazy."
Shelly smiled as she stared at them. I flexed, and her smile grew. My face burned and I cleared my throat. Why was she staring at me like that?
"Well, come over to check my room, then," I said. "You'll see that it's way cleaner than this."
Cassian laughed and stood up. "Fine. But I bet it's full of toys on the ground."
"Me found this cool dino head!" Toren said, showing off the plastic sock puppet he'd been playing with earlier. "Can I keep it?"
"Of course, buddy," I said, ruffling his hair. "But I'm sure there are more toys in my room, too. You can look around and find them."
He grinned and ran out of the room, holding the dinosaur. "Come on, sis! Let's go find the toys!"
Shelly sighed. "Toren! Don't run!"
She ran after him. I was about to follow them when Cassian grabbed my arm. He glared at me. "I know you're into her. Don't get too attached. I'm still going for her."
I glared back at him. "You're the one who shouldn't get too attached. You're not good enough for her. You're just going to hurt her and leave her like you do with every other woman."
His jaw clenched, and he shoved me back, his green eyes narrowing as he stepped closer, his blond hair falling messily into his face. "You think you're some kind of hero, Damien? Don't act like you're any better than me," he hissed, his voice dripping with venom. "You're just as messed up—you're just better at hiding it. I see the way you look at her too. What makes you think you deserve her any more than I do?"
I pushed him back, my fists clenched, the old wounds between us tearing open wider with every word. "Because I'm not the one who ruins everything he touches," I snapped, my voice rising despite myself. "You slept with my girlfriend, Cass. You broke us—our friendship, everything—because you couldn't stand to see me happy. And now you're after Shelly? I won't let you hurt her like you hurt me."
For a moment, something flickered in his green eyes—regret, maybe, or shame—but it was soon replaced with a sigh. "Seems we'll never see eye to eye again, huh?"
I nodded. "Yup, never."
His green eyes flashed, and for a moment, I thought he might shove me again, but instead, he stepped closer and put a hand over my heart. His blond hair fell messily into his face, the gold chain on his purple shirt glinting as he leaned closer, his breath warm against my ear.
"You think you're so noble, Damien, but you're not fooling me. I see the way you flex for her, the way you light up when she smiles at you. While you might've wanted to protect her at first, your heart beats for her, doesn't it? You're only mad at me out of jealousy."
"Let go of me," I growled.
He did as I asked and chuckled as he shrugged. "Fine, fine. Well, let's get going. Time for me to evaluate your room."
I straightened, my heart still pounding from the confrontation, and shot him a hard glare as I followed him out of his room. My heart felt as if it was being broken into. Was that how people felt whenever I stared into their eyes? I could see now why some found me disturbing if so. But, when I did it, it was with good intent. Cassian just wanted to push the stake further into my heart.