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Fallon

K icked back and relaxed, Kelly and I were mid binge fest watching our favorite horror movies. A knock on the door gave us both a jump scare, sending popcorn sailing across the living room floor. We looked at each other, clearly surprised we’d be easily jump scared like that.

“This had better be a masked murderer and not Brent at ten or I swear...” I mumbled, getting up and surveying the new popcorn decor.

“Or you’ll what? Sleep with him?”

I threw the now empty bowl at her and went to check the peephole.

It was covered until I opened the door to see him leaning on the door frame–in a different jacket. His face looked weird, more serious than normal and I wondered if he was here for an actual life or death reason.

There was no humor or teasing on his face. “Can I come in?”

I stepped back and gestured for him to come in. “I guess I better make good on my word, then. Welcome to my humble abode.”

He stepped through easily, unlike when he forced himself in the last time.

“Kelly,” he nodded, sizing her up. Was he...making eyes at Kelly? There was no way that happened.

Maybe I saw something that wasn’t there. Like a ghost.

She raised an eyebrow and looked over at me before responding to him. She was just as shocked to see him here as I was. “Good...evening.”

I bit my lip to hold back a smile and she shrugged at me. Our own little secret exchange happened right in front of him.

“Since you’re here, I’m hoping it’s on the life-or-death clause I mentioned earlier. Care to tell us what is such an urgent matter that you’re here after bedtime?”

He looked over at Kelly before turning his attention to me as if he was asking to talk alone. His eyes darkened and his jaw set firmly. “Garrett. It’s more of a private conversation.”

My hand went to my hip, knowing I wouldn’t be keeping things from her anyway. “Whatever you tell me will immediately be relayed to her, but with a more dramatic flair. If you want to save me the time of re-explanations, just spit it out.”

He sized me up to gauge my level of seriousness. We had a close friendship. We were sisters in every way but blood, and I made sure people knew that loud and clear. There was nothing kept secret between us, and I didn’t expect it to start now.

Before he could explain anything, I realized he mentioned my love life. What an asshole. He always poked his head where it didn’t belong. “Wait. Garrett? What are you doing coming around my house in the middle of the night telling me it’s life or death and that it’s about my boy– Garrett?”

Of course, I almost said boyfriend. Good going .

His nostrils flared and he took a deep breath. Annoyed with me. “There’s word going around on campus. I was trying to mind my business, but I couldn’t help but overhear the many, many whispers about the text that went out. Your name caught my ear, and it was all about you and him. Fallon Montgomery and Garrett Bradford .”

He paused, waiting for me to say something. He had the nerve to tap his foot at me.

“So?” I threw my hands up and gestured to say what’s your point?

“As in The Montgomery Group. As in, you conveniently left out that you’re the heir to Maria’s throne, and I had to find out from a third party.” He crossed his arms, waiting for me to answer his interrogation-style questions.

While it was true I didn’t boast my name and legacy, it’s not like I kept it a secret from everyone. People had every opportunity to look me up or check into who I was. My mother kept a lot of it a secret from me most of my life; I never wanted to have that same level of secrecy. That didn’t mean I had to flaunt myself everywhere like it made a difference.

Sometimes people didn’t make the connection. If they found out my last name, it was common enough that they may not make the connection, but among the hyper wealthy and elite groups...it made for interesting conversation.

Last semester I kept my head down well enough, but being seen with Garrett meant I was due to be found out– if you could call it being found out.

I countered him. “How do you know my mother well enough to use her first name so casually?”

“Because your company and my company are good, good friends.”

I gritted my teeth. There was no way that I would end up working with him in the future. No. Way. “What does that mean?”

“My grandfather, Augustus Vaughn of Chamberlain Industries, knew your mother, worked with her, and spoke very highly of her.” He sighed and rubbed his face. “Look, Blondie. This isn’t the point of why I’m here. You may get dragged into some shit that one, you’re not even aware of and two, that you don’t need to be dragged into.”

I shook my head and looked over at Kelly, who was looking ready to start back up with a fresh bowl of popcorn to watch us go back and forth. “What I’m asking is this: why do you care? You and me? We’ve hung out in very clandestine ways, and you seem to care more about being full of yourself than caring about other people. Is the point of all this to make me feel like you care about anything other than yourself in some weird way to get me to sleep with you?” I backed up to sit on the couch ledge. “Unless it’s just a way to keep things contained in your family’s business. If we’re as connected as you say, it could be you trying to cover your ass.”

Sometimes I wondered how much of my mother I had in me. If I had some of the business savvy mindset she did. Or, if I had some of the discerning powers that led her to become wildly successful. If I did, honing them would be on the docket to make it in the world I was oblivious to.

“The rumors have already started, and things like this take a swift turn to ugly if you’re not careful. I can’t tell you what to do, but these people around you are cut-throat and will aim straight for your jugular. Look at me,” he raised his arms and turned in a circle. “I appear harmless, don’t I?”

I shared a look with Kelly. What did he mean by harmless ?

“Okay...humor me. What did they say?”

He sat himself at my dining table, daring more entry into my house. I followed him over out of pure curiosity about this interaction. Part of me wondered if his grandfather sent him over to size me up, seeing if I was capable like my mother.

“No one could believe that you were Fallon Montgomery.” He set his elbows onto the table and steepled his fingers.

Kelly cut in; her mouth full of candy. “That was the point of her keeping her head down.”

“Sure. That’s fine to not cause a scene, but what I’m hearing is that he’s using her as a meat shield for the upcoming legal issues facing his family. Did you not know that he’s one of the six families being targeted?”

Kelly sat at the table with us, fully ready to enter the drama herself. “I did tell Fallon that when we talked with him that he mentioned a lot more than what that text said.”

I sighed. “Since you’re offering up information, I’ll fill you in on my end. We went to the field today to watch the boys practice when that text was sent to everyone. You showed up shortly after and you know what happened there while you were there, but when you left, we went to go talk to Garrett since the guys practicing looked done after the scandal hit everyone. All the guys were acting suspicious and Garrett said that ‘money laundering, embezzlement, and organized crime’ was involved when the text never said that.”

I needed something to eat if this was how the evening was going to go. Leftovers were in the fridge and were calling my name while my stomach grumbled. I just snatched a pack of sour gummy worms I left on the table instead.

“Then we left,” I continued. “We had a moment of ‘that was weird as hell’ before theorizing that he, or someone there, might be hiding something. Whatever it was, he knew more than we did and wasn’t forthcoming with the information. It was just generally odd .”

He let my words sink in with him for a moment, looking around my house like he’d never seen it before. Like he didn’t force his way in not that long ago. “Do you know his family at all? The Bradfords?”

“No. Why would it matter?”

He looked concerned. “You know absolutely nothing about being wealthy, do you? You are in the top one percent of everyone in this country, Blondie.”

“My mother raised me right if that’s what you’re asking.” I sat back, challenging his accusation.

He placed his palms flat on the table. “In this life that we all share,” he looked between Kelly and me. “Status is everything. Who you associate with is everything. What benefit does Kelly’s family have for you that makes you friends with her?”

She looked shocked.

“That’s not why we’re friends,” I stated flatly. He was bringing our friendship into it by suggesting it had to have some benefit other than the fact that we loved each other and wanted to associate with each other. We lived together for God’s sake!

He looked between us, not believing there were no benefits outside of just friendship. “Great example: Your mother was a rare talent, and others will expect you to be just as good as her, if not twice as much. This includes not holding a relationship with a man that could threaten your throne.”

“I’ve not heard you speak about your father, and I suspect there is a valid reason for that. Garrett may know who you are, but you don’t know who he is. It’s a dangerous game you’ve been playing with him this semester and you will be caught in the crossfire. No one like us stays safe for long.”

Brent Vaughn, the playboy, telling me what life was like. The guy who plays baseball and gets into fist fights for fun? No way .

He had to be bonkers.

Or sent by his grandfather with a threat or something.

I held up a finger. “As the known player of the school, you are telling me that I need to be careful of my associations? That sounds like the exact opposite of what you do.”

He probably was thinking I was dense with the expression on his face. He had to close his eyes and breathe before responding to me. “Do you know my grandfather?”

I pursed my lips, unsure of what answer he was looking for. Augustus Vaughn was top dog of anything in this country. I’m sure he had politicians in his pocket like a mobster would. If Brent was in line to inherit such a large conglomerate, why was he such a... him ?

“I had a meeting with him earlier this week and he was telling me to keep my head down. Something big must be in the works. Can’t be good if your name is circulating like this.”

Kelly broke up the intensity with the sound of her own stomach screaming for food. “Sorry. I’m super hungry since my popcorn is all over the floor. Can we order some food?”

“Might be more productive with food.” He pulled his phone out. “What are we in the mood for, girls?”

“Pizza and garlic knots. Oh! A brownie thing. Maybe some regular breadsticks...” Kelly was quick to answer. She loved her pizza.

She might also be very, very stoned at this point.

“The pizza needs to have as much meat as possible on it or she likely won’t eat it in her, erm, current state.”

He typed away on his phone and laid it face down on the table, leveling his gaze with mine. “I’m game for a sleepover. I ditched the Dictator’s tail, so you two are stuck with me for the night.”

Oh joy. He also called his grandfather a Dictator, which led me to believe that they must have a strained relationship of sorts. But that was a question for another time.

“So, you ordered the food knowing we’d be relying on you to stick around to see it get delivered. Devious plan.”

I stood, planning on changing my clothes and he stood up with me. Kelly looked between the two of us as if we were her own personal reality tv show and she was enjoying our weird little game. When I made a move to step away, it was clear he wanted to follow me, and Kelly just watched on. I was happy at least one of us was having a good time, even if she was stoned out of her mind and anything would give her that level of entertainment.

“Any wild secrets about her boyfriend?” I gestured to Kelly, hoping to distract him so I could leave and put on comfier pajamas. It didn’t work.

“Who’s her boyfriend?”

She perked up. “Shane Jones.”

“Nope. Don’t know him.” He said bluntly.

She missed the point because she was that far gone. “Babe, I don’t think you need to worry. I was being facetious.”

Brent ignored her. “Is Garrett your boyfriend officially ?”

He followed me after I turned away to walk toward my room. I wanted to cover myself up if he was going to stay here. He saw me in worse when he demanded I come with him, but we were in my house—at night. A small bout of anxiety started brewing in my stomach and I hoped it would go away with some food.

“Not your business,” I called out as I closed–and locked–the door.

The doorknob jiggled vigorously, and emphatic knocking began. He realized I locked his ass out so I could change and have some privacy. This guy was a piece of work. Plus, his jacket was still tucked away in my closet and thinking about him coming in and looking at it thinking it was my prized possession was not the goal. Unless he forgot about it.

How many girls had he given it out to so carelessly? Ew. Don’t think about that.

“Babe, let me in. We still have other things to discuss.”

My ugly sweatpants with stains and odd holes in them would have to do. The matching stained and gross sweater would be a perfect pairing to add to it. The look? As unsexy as possible around Brent Vaughn, horn dog extraordinaire.

I found an oversized hoodie that smelled kind of gross and decided it would do. “Not your babe!” I shouted back.

He had this weird habit of leaning face first into the doors I opened. He stood there looking like he was trying to seduce my door into opening.

It also appeared that he found his mischievous grin again because it was plain as day on his mouth.

“Oh, wow,” he looked me up and down. “ Love this look for you.” He twirled one of the strings for my hood in his finger.

“Great. I’ll just change into something even uglier.”

The door was stopped by his hand. He barged in this time, closing and locking it behind him. “Why didn’t you tell me your mom was Maria?”

“Why didn’t you just ask who I was?”

“Question for a question?” The smirk on his lips tells me that he’s turned on his charm.

Fuck.

“Not in the mood. I will give you one piece of information: my mother raised me right. She made sure I didn’t act like you or any of the other nepo babies out there because she wanted me to have a brain and be able to think critically.”

He closed the distance between us while I looked for other, uglier clothes that wouldn’t turn him on. The guy was a freak and made me want him as turned off as possible at all times. Because, let’s face it, he was in my room with a closed door and very close to me.

Those things combined were not good. Especially with Brent Vaughn.

My heart betrayed me when I looked up to see him standing in the closet doorway looking down at me. His eyes were full of hunger, and it was not for pizza and garlic knots. That look had surely made all the girls he encountered swoon, but I decided it was too cliche for my tastes.

Sure, he buzzed his hair, had tattoos that lined his body up to the sides of his head, dressed far too well for his own good, and smelled like sex with a rockstar...

That didn’t mean I had to fall for it.

“What are you digging around for, babe?” His voice dropped back to that natural sultry tone he had. The warning and urgency disappeared when he started thinking about me changing my clothes. About being out of them. I saw that look. He wanted me out of my clothes.

“Something even less sexy than these since you seem to get off on my regular ugly clothes.” I refocused my rummaging to find something more stained, stinky, or holey. Anything. “And I’m not your babe.”

He ducked away from the pair of pants I threw at him, laughing up a storm. “So, she prefers Blondie to babe.”

“Neither actually.” I wondered about going through my laundry basket to find what I was looking for. “Can I pass?”

His large structure barricaded the door–because of course it did. He wanted me stuck in here, begging him to let me out. “Can I kiss you finally?”

My hands swiped up and down, showing him my ugly attire. “Does all this really do it for you?”

A fingertip traced beneath my chin, drawing my gaze to meet his eyes. I watched his pupils dilate, dark pools expanding as the air between us filling with tension. “I want to finally feel those fucking lips on mine.”

Looking anywhere but his eyes is all I could do. “Why,” I stuttered. “I’m clearly not your type. I’m just a challenge you can’t help but persist at. You can’t tell me I’m wrong.”

His head found where my gaze went, eyes blazing with intensity, staring into my soul. The distance between us disappeared and I heard his breathing become shallow. My nerves fried on the spot and my heartbeat was out of control. It had to be an adrenaline rush I felt–the nervousness that everyone got in unfamiliar situations or whatever.

Whatever it was, I was sure he could hear my heartbeat.

“Just let me kiss you, damn it.” He grasped the back of my neck to pull me into him. The low, breathy voice sent tingles down my spine and other regions.

So, I obliged and shoved my mouth into his. If it was happening, it would be my move.

And it was nothing like kissing Garrett. His lips felt like a lightning strike–exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. Unless I was a dumb virgin–which I was–I would say that it felt urgent and needy. It set my body on fire.

He was a lightning strike.

Like that first night when we stood at the edge of the cliff overlooking the city and gazing at the stars.

Like when he pulled me onto his bike out of nowhere.

Like when he threw me over his shoulder to take me somewhere he somehow knew I’d want to go.

I felt like I was waking up.

Shoving my hand to his chest, I separated us. We were out of breath from the urgency of the kiss and hands roaming everywhere. Jesus Christ in Heaven, what the hell was I thinking?

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and pushed my way out of the closet. “Happy?”

A hand clasped over my wrist. “Wait.”

“What?”

His phone pinged and we both looked down.

“Looks like food is here.”