Page 6

?

Fallon

W e pulled into the surprisingly quiet neighborhood at about four thirty in the morning. I hoped Kelly would still be out with her newest boy toy, Shane, so she didn’t catch me walking in from being on the back of a motorcycle with...

“Hey,” Brent whacked my thigh. “Are you sleeping back there?”

“Huh? Yeah. The ride was peaceful.”

“We’re here. Time to go inside,” his tone was short, cold even.

Okay, jerk. “Wait. How did you know where my house is?”

He flicked out his kickstand, got off the bike, and slipped off his helmet. “I literally saw you the other day.”

Fair enough . I pulled the helmet off my head, feeling the brisk air on my face. “Do you live at that house over there, then?”

He shrugged. “Sometimes.”

“Sometimes? Are you in a frat or something? Have your own–nevermind.” I waved my hands as if dispersing my questions into the air. “I don’t need another repeat of earlier.”

“Smart girl,” he whispered, lighting up another cigarette while leaning on his bike.

He held in the smoke for a moment before releasing it into the air while his face was tilted up to the sky. He turned his head slightly and offered the cigarette over to me.

Solidifying my status as a new smoker, I accepted. I copied his movements, looking to the sky and releasing the smoke. At least the swirling smoke was cool to look at.

I handed it back to him. “I hope you don’t have cooties.”

“What if I did?” He smirked, popping the cigarette back into his mouth.

“Then I’d have to make good on my offer and head butt you to death.”

“Kinky,” he laughed, smoke leaking out of his mouth.

“You’re insufferable.” And an asshole. Why does he have to look so hot but be such an ass? I slipped an arm out of his jacket but he stopped me, putting my arm back in.

“I’ll take it at the door.”

I cocked my head at him. “Uh, you’re not coming in.”

Saying nothing, he gripped my arm and marched me to the front porch like I was a child being sent to my room. We stopped maybe two steps from the front door. At least he didn’t throw me at the door, I guess.

He was facing me and the air seemed to thicken as we stood there. We were quiet enough that I could hear my breathing and heartbeat. His gaze turned intense, boring into my soul as it held mine with an expression I haven’t seen him wear before. His eyes seemed to be challenging mine, his eyebrow slightly raised in a challenge of what I would do with him on the porch.

Taking a step closer, he closed the distance between us to just mere inches. His hand reached up slowly, and I swore I saw a millisecond of hesitation before his fingers gently grasped my chin. The grip was firm, yet gentle.

He was testing my boundaries.

My breath caught in my throat, my eyes widened as his eyes flicked down to my lips. Slowly, his thumb stroked my bottom lip, freezing me to the spot. The tension was almost unbearable as he leaned in, making his intentions crystal clear.

As his lips just started to brush mine, the door opened with a sudden whoosh of air, breaking me out of his trance.

Kelly stood in the doorway, arms crossed, one eyebrow halfway up her forehead in equal amusement and curiosity. She cleared her throat, shattering the silence of the early morning.

“Is our guest staying or leaving?”

I blinked the tension away and stepped back. My cheeks flushed hot, a mix of embarrassment and frustration. Please don’t tell me it’s sexual frustration . Brent straightened himself, the smirk returning to his lips as he released my chin, his thumb brushing my bottom up once more before dropping his hand. He flicked his gaze to Kelly and nodded to her before looking back to me.

“Leaving,” he said, his voice back to his typical nonchalant tone. Though, his eyes might have told a different story. His eyes looked me up and down, silently devouring me as I stood in his jacket. He didn’t ask for it back. Instead, he presented a full, cocky smile. “Try not to miss me too much, Blondie.”

My heart stopped as he turned on his heel, leaving in just his t-shirt.

I turned back to Kelly, my pulse still racing, a warm feeling brewing in my belly, and let my breath out slowly.

Her arms were still crossed and she wore a mischievous smile. “Guess I can’t call you a virgin anymore.”

“Oh my God!” I shoved her through the door and slammed it. I hoped that, to any god in the universe, Brent would not hear what came out of her mouth.

I stood behind the closed door, panting and holding my chest, wondering what the hell my night had turned into. Was I about to kiss Brent Vaughn?

Better yet, was he about to kiss me ?

“Did I just see you standing on the doorstep about to swap spit with Brent Vaughn or am I hallucinating? Aren’t you dating Garrett?” Kelly’s voice pulled me from my thoughts as she stood looking back and forth between me and the front door.

We both shared a look of total disbelief.

I held up my arms in the too big jacket and shook the sleeves around like an idiot. “I don’t know! Help!”

Kelly folded over in full laughter, her eyes looking like they welled with tears. “What now?” She had to steady herself from the laughter. “Do you just... wear it and hope he comes asking for it back?”

“Yeah, because that wouldn’t be awkward at all or raise any questions,” I replied, still giggling from the entire night. “Do I go over there and give it back and act like nothing ever happened? Or do I, like, leave it on his bike like a creepy love note?”

She snorted and came over to check out the jacket. “Hmm, you could keep it as a trophy. For, you know, conquering the bad boy of the school.”

We devolved into another fit of laughter.

“Okay,” Kelly tried calming herself, “I need to know exactly what happened and who you’re going to choose. I need minute by minute detail and how big his dick is. Is it bigger than Garrett’s?”

I ran my hands through my hair, blowing out the anxiety from my lungs. “Ew, no. I didn’t sleep with either of them. But, I don’t think you’d believe what happened. I don’t even think I believe it.”

We fell asleep on the couch after I told her every detail of the evening, minute by minute. I’d experienced it all and I wasn’t sure that it wasn’t all made up–the night was that unbelievable. Brent Vaughn takes you out and nothing happens? Yeah, right.

A knock came at the door while Kelly and I were drinking coffee shortly after waking up. I rushed to open it, not realizing I was still in my skimpy pajamas. Getting rid of Brent’s jacket was fresh on my mind, and I hoped we could pretend last night never happened.

I swung open the door. “Oh, thank God. I–oh! Garrett! Hello!”

“Hello to you, too. Were you expecting a delivery or something?” He stepped in, placing a kiss on my cheek on his way in, holding a bag of something.

“Something like that. Must have had the days mixed up!” I feigned a laugh and looked back to see Kelly in her pajamas giving me a side eye while sipping on her coffee.

“Yeah,” he said, looking between me and Kelly. “I have some food if you’re interested. Are we still going to the baseball game?”

Oh shit, that’s right.

“Yeah, yeah. Let me just put some clothes on.” I started down the hallway, trying to shake my thoughts away. I didn’t realize what time it was.

Garrett leisurely trailed behind me. He got cozier by the day, and I wondered when he’d eventually ask me when we were going to have sex. With everything feeling like I was heading into a dramatic reality tv show episode, I wasn’t sure I could deal with it.

I stopped at my bedroom door and raised an eyebrow at him.

“Can I come in?” He gave me a quick once over, finally noticing how skimpy my pajamas really were.

Kelly is going to have a field day with me later.

“Only if you promise to be a good boy.” I opened the door and let him inside.

He plopped onto my bed. “Are you still down to hit up the diner for food after the game? The snacks there aren’t going to be filling and I don’t really want to eat twelve pretzels in lieu of a real meal,” he chuckled softly, looking at me like he was waiting for me to undress in front of him.

“Yeah,” I said, slyly hiding Brent's jacket in my closet while he looked away to take a mental inventory of my room. “I love diner food. What should I wear?”

Stretching out to lay on my bed, he got cozy with a clear view into the closet. “Something warm. It’ll get cold later.”

Almost diving into my closet, I shoved Brent’s jacket under a large pile of dirty laundry to cover my ass in case he came in. I felt frantic glancing around to find an outfit that would suit a baseball game and a diner date.

Deciding on tailored high waisted navy blue trousers and an ivory cashmere sweater, I slipped into them quickly. My choice in clothes were relatively simple outside of the new wardrobe Kelly duped me into buying. Wearing these clothes made me think of my mom; her style was the same and I wanted to keep her close to me.

“Something like this?” I stepped out of the closet holding up my nude colored loafters.

“How do you always look so good?” He strode across the room to get close to me and admire my outfit up close. The way he admired me made me nervous.

Trying to hide my reddening cheeks, I bent down to put my shoes on. “I get my style from my mom.”

He brought his hand to the side of my face when I straightened back up. I tilted my head up toward him and he leaned in for a kiss. Unfortunately, the vision of Brent flooded my mind as I kissed Garrett.

His other hand gripped my waist and pulled me closer to him while his kiss turned hungry. I tried to focus on Garrett–here and now–and how his thumb slowly caressed my jaw as our mouths moved, but that asshole’s face was there like a dark shadow.

Relief washed over me that nothing went further and he didn’t press me for more before we left and made our way to the sporting complex.

The students were buzzing and the energy was high before the baseball game. We had seats near the dugout where the players could see us in the crowd. Dread grew in my chest knowing Brent could easily pick me out of the crowd.

I saw him easily. Number seven. Even warming up he held that same cocky swagger he used when he went anywhere. The dark star of the baseball team.

Garrett and I got cozy with snacks and drinks before the game started. The team lined up for their usual pre-game routine, Brent’s gaze landing on mine. I knew that he knew that Garrett didn’t know about last night, and an evil grin only Brent could have appeared on his lips.

“That’s Brent Vaughn,” Garrett whispered into my ear. “He’s a beast and the best shortstop I’ve ever seen.”

I nodded along with him, a faux smile plastered on my lips while I saw a group of girls flocking to greet Brent specifically before he went out for the official start. Knowing I was watching, he leaned over and kissed a few of them on the lips and smacked some others on the ass. Yeah, a beast , I thought, fighting hard to keep myself from rolling my eyes.

We were playing another strong team, but our players seemed to have a competitive edge and laser focus. I didn’t quite understand baseball–or sports in general–but I knew that we had some solid guys playing on our team. It dragged on for a while and Garrett was completely involved in the game. America’s favorite pastime , I thought, sucking down what was left of my soda. We were up in points, and while I hated to admit it, Brent did seem to be a great baseball player.

“Wow, what a great game,” Garrett said, his attention snapping me back to reality. “I’m happy you came with me.” He leaned in to kiss me, and I got more into it than I should have–for show.

“Me too.” I kept letting him kiss me.

He finally pulled away. “Let’s go get some real food, babe.”

He took me to his favorite diner and told me about the nostalgia surrounding the place. He and his brothers would come here after games with their dad back in the day, but their dad became too consumed with work, and they started going by themselves to keep up the tradition. It was a cute story, and I wondered when I’d be able to chat casually about my mom again. I kept her memories bottled up like a dirty secret from others, just wanting to have her to myself.

She was all I knew. Then, I was thrown into a pretty abusive situation with Sylvia.

“I’m telling you, we have this next football game in the bag. Hudson has no idea what’s coming for them.” He was cute when he talked about things that made him excited–a little sparkle in his eye as he spoke.

I kept up a soft smile, holding his eye contact despite my mind wandering back and forth between the diner with Brent, my mom, and Garrett in front of me. Taking small sips of my coffee, I tried to make myself look more animated than I felt. Kelly might have been right.

“You’ve basically started your own soap opera.”

How much more drama could I get myself into?

Garrett turned at the sound of yelling coming from outside. Maybe I shouldn’t ask those types of questions to the universe . A group of guys were standing around while another one approached and was cursing up a storm, pointing his finger toward someone in the group.

Looking more intently, the group looked like...the baseball team. And the guy was yelling at Brent. Because of course he was. And of course Brent looked as cool as a cucumber while it happened.

The guy took a swing. Brent backed up a few steps, laughing while a cigarette hung from his lips.

“I’m going to go see what’s going on out there,” Garrett said, easing himself out of the booth.

“Wait,” I grabbed his wrist. “Don’t.”

He gently pulled my hand off of his. “I’ll be fine. Remember, I get tackled all the time.”

“Tackled, but not sucker punched!” I chased after him.

Garrett was already out the door. “Everything good out here?”

“Go back inside, Bradford,” one of the baseball guys called out.

The man who was screaming at Brent had a few guys with him. Screaming guy and Brent were on the ground instantly, throwing punches and grunting like cavemen. The rest of the group erupted into flying fists, shouts, and taunts.

There were shouts from inside about calling the cops. Brent rolled off of the guy, blood dripping from his lips, and had a deadly grin as he looked up at me.

Garrett stepped out in front of me, blocking my view and pushed me back towards the door. He turned around to face Brent sucker-punching him square in the jaw, throwing him out into the fight where he took a few more hits after taking down one of the other guys.

What a mess.

Luckily, the fight didn’t last much longer and Garrett slowly backed out looking as if he hoped that would be the end of it. The baseball team was victorious after they brought a few more men down while the others retreated, leaving their beaten members on the ground, probably hoping the baseball team wouldn’t follow them. Brent fist bumped one of his teammates to his left. “Fuck yeah, dude.”

Garrett looked like he took a few too many hits that hurt, but still came to inspect me. His eyes were full of concern as he searched my face. “You okay? Did anyone touch you?”

“No, I think I’m fine.” My eyes weren’t quite focused on his face.

“Sorry to crash your date, Blondie,” Brent called out as he and the team entered the diner. “I’ll cover the bill, don’t worry.”

Garrett was still looking at me, but my eyes caught Brent winking at me from inside, picking up a piece of my bacon and eating it.

“Let’s get you home.”