by Toni Aleo
It wasn’t easy.
Every time she talked about the hot, rugged, dangerous looking man that they needed for the campaign, all she could think about was Lucas. She knew for a fact that THAT man had the body of a God. Perfect and rugged, with hair on his chest, and sexy yummy tattoos. Oh Lord, she was getting hot all over again.
“Fallon, are you still hot? You’re all flushed,” Elli asked as Fallon stood waiting for questions from everything.
“Just a little, I’ll be alright,” Fallon said as she groaned inwardly. What the hell was wrong with her? She was always professional and composed! She was acting like a freaking school girl!
“I’m sorry about the heat Fallon, hun, but I won’t have you wait long since I’ve kept you hot through the whole meeting,” Mr. Fisher said.
All Fallon could think, was that Mr. Fisher wasn’t the one that kept her hot but she sure wasn’t going to say anything.
“So I’ll just let you know now, that yes, we want to do the campaign. Sounds good, I’ll let you and Elli decided on what player y’all want.” Mr. Fisher stood and came to Fallon, shaking her hand while Fallon was about to burst with happiness.
She had done it! Yes!
Everyone stood, coming over to Fallon and shaking her hand before shaking Rob’s. Elli was last and instead of shaking Fallon’s hand, she hugged Fallon tightly.
“Great presentation, you are just so passionate about it. I loved it.”
“Thank you Elli,” Fallon gushed as Elli smiled and started for the door. “I’ll be in contact.”
“Wonderful babe, see ya later.”
Fallon watched Elli walk away as Rob came over to her. “You know I wasn’t hot at all through the whole meeting.”
“Shut up, Rob,” Fallon said glaring over at him.
“I’m thinking that someone couldn’t get a certain someone’s statement out of her head.”
Fallon rolled her eyes as she picked up the mockups of the campaign.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said. When she looked over at him, he started to laugh.
“Oh, I’m sure I do. I’m thinking you were thinking about the same guy that you had me say very rude things too.”
“Shut up, Rob,” Fallon said once more before letting out a frustrated breath.
If Lucas affected her this much and she hadn’t even seen him, what was going to happen when she did?
*******************************************
“It was so embarrassing Audrey, so stinking embarrassing.”
Audrey giggled before picking up her glass of wine and bringing it to her lips. They sat around their kitchen table, drinking a celebratory drink while Aiden was upstairs sleeping. Fallon was explaining her day and what had happened after the dreaded phone call from Lucas.
“I say when you see him again that you attack him! Give him a kiss he’ll remember for the rest of his life!”
Fallon giggled at that. “Oh please, I’ll probably just stand there, like a fish out of water, my mouth opening and closing!”
Fallon demonstrated how she would look and that had them both laughing.
“I don’t see why you are letting him affect you? I mean he is hot and all, but apparently he’s something if he’s got you, Ms. Calm, Cool, Collected, on edge,” Audrey said. Fallon smiled as butterflies filled her stomach.
“Oh Audrey, you just don’t understand,” Fallon expressed, “I lived when I was with him.”
“Huh?” Audrey asked confused, “You’re not livin’ now?”
Fallon mouth picked up at one side as she thought back to all the amazing times she and Lucas had. “I am, but in a different way. Lucas could make me laugh just the way Aiden does now. He could get me in a hockey goal and shoot pucks at me and I would know I’m safe. We went on amazing trips, ate amazing food, sat on the beach, and just lived together. He loved me, and Lord, did I love him.”
When Audrey didn’t say anything after a few minutes, Fallon looked over at her. Audrey was looking at her with wide eyes and a confused look on her face. “Fallon, I’ve never seen you talk about a man so passionately. Me, Aiden or your job, you always talk like that, but never a man.”
“’Cause there hasn’t been anyone since him,” Fallon answered sadly.
“’Cause you haven’t tried to be with anyone else,” Audrey pointed out. “A lot of guys want a piece of your crazy hot ass.”
Fallon laughed. “I’m not crazy hot, and plus after being with Lucas, no one could ever compare. That’s probably why I haven’t been with anyone. I’m still so raw.”
Audrey shook her head. “Fallon, it’s been seven years, and I have never heard of him. Now, not only do I know who Aiden’s daddy is, but I know that this dude was your dude. What the hell?”
Fallon slowly shrugged her shoulders as she bit at the skin around her index finger. “Maybe I’m over him,” she then laughed, “Or maybe I know the truth is coming out, so I gotta tell someone!”
Audrey laughed. “I don’t think you’re over him, sis. If you were, he wouldn’t affect you the way he does.”
“Maybe you are right ‘cause Lord, I’m so scared about seeing him again.”
“You should be, he is sexy as all get out,” Audrey gushed as Fallon smiled.
“You have no clue on the amount of sexiness there is when that man takes his clothes off,” Fallon said breathlessly as she waved her hand in her face. It was suddenly very hot in Fallon’s small kitchen.
Audrey giggled as she placed her face in her hands, looking up at Fallon. “Oooh, do tell!”
Fallon giggled along as she just shook his head. “Oh Audrey, my favorite thing about him other than his eyes, was his chest. It was a little hairy but not much, his abs was something straight out of a magazine, ripped beyond all belief. He had this sexy ass tattoo along his pecks that said, ‘Never look back, never think twice’ and…”
Audrey cut her off before she could go on. “How in the world do you still remember what his tattoo says!”
Fallon gave her a shy, naughty smile. “When you’ve ran your tongue along them letters enough times, you tend to remember what they say.”
Audrey laughed out loud, holding her stomach as Fallon giggled uncontrollably. “He was everything I wanted. I loved him with everything inside of me,” Fallon said sadly when she stopped laughing.
They sat for a moment, and Fallon couldn’t help but think about seeing him again. It had been so long, what would happen? Would she do what Audrey said? Fallon knew that would stun him. It brought a grin to her face just to imagine the look on his face if she was bold enough to do it.
“Why did y’all break up?”
Fallon looked up and then back down as she shook her head. It hurt so bad just to think about. So damn bad. She would be lying if she said she didn’t think of him, if she still didn’t miss him, because she did. She hadn’t even seen him yet and just the thought of his eyes settling on hers brought her to her knees. That was why she was so nervous about seeing him. She may still be mad and not want anything to do with him but if he was persistent, the way she knew he would be, she wasn’t sure if she could resist.
There was just something about Lucas Brooks that could stop a full room from talking and make them look at him. He was so intoxicating, so full of life. He loved living, he was fun, he had a joke for everything, and he was always smiling, even after all he had dealt with. His body was her Wonderland, she could still to this day remember every tattoo, every scar, every ab, the line of hair that ran from his belly button down, everything. It still broke Fallon’s heart every time she thought back to that day.
The day that basically ruined her life.
“You’re zoning out on me Fal,” Audrey said with a laugh. Fallon looked over at her.
“He broke me,” Fallon said simply as she closed her eyes. When she opened them, Audrey was looking at her with a worried look on her face. Fallon gave her a small smile before she slowly retold why they broke up.
C
hapter 5
It had been a long week since Fallon had seen Lucas. He had gone back on the road and she had gone home to see Audrey for a couple days. Fallon was beyond excited about finally seeing him tonight. Lucas said he was gonna meet her at the dorm and Fallon decided she couldn’t drive fast enough to get there.
Two years, it was still hard to believe. Fallon had never been with someone so long or hell, been in love so long. She knew she loved Lucas two months in, and hadn’t stopped yet. Yeah, he could make her so mad she wanted to rip his face off but within a minute, he had her laughing or on her back with him on top of her.
A slow smile went across Fallon’s face — she couldn’t wait to get home. She was ready to be with her man. When she saw his truck in the parking lot, she parked beside it and jumped out, heading up the walkway to the dorm. Once inside, she made her way upstairs praying that Allison was still in Houston visiting her family. If she wasn’t, oh well, she was about to see a show. Fallon giggled to herself as she ran up the many stairs to the hall that held her room. When she reached it, she threw the door open and stepped inside.
It was dark.
Fallon flipped on the lights and when her eyes adjusted, she couldn’t catch her breath.
Allison jumped up, throwing clothes on as Lucas just laid there.
Naked.
“What the fuck?” Fallon said once she found her voice.
“Oh God,” Allison whispered as she zipped her pants.
Lucas finally stirred, sitting up and looking around. When he looked at Fallon, his eyes went wide, and that was when Fallon’s heart broke. At that moment she knew he was going to try to hide this from her. That maybe he even planned it. Get some from Allison before she came home and then he would get it from her.
Fallon almost threw up.
“Fallon?” Lucas looked at her, than over at Allison. “Oh, fuck.”
He got up quickly, throwing his clothes on. For the first time ever, she couldn’t even admire his beautiful body. She was disgusted and wanted to hit something…or someone. Allison left the room quickly, passing by Fallon without a glance.
Coward.
Fallon slowly ran her hand through her hair while Lucas dressed quickly. Why wasn’t she yelling? Why wasn’t she trying to hit him? Fallon just stood there, staring at him. He came over towards her, and Fallon saw the tears in his eyes but she had to look away. It was too hard to look at someone she had loved for so long who had just been found in bed with not only someone Fallon knew, but her best friend.
“Baby…”
“No, don’t call me that,” Fallon whispered. “You lost that privilege, what an hour ago? How long have you been going at it?”
Not that she really wanted to know, she just wanted the point to get across to him that what they had was over.
“Fallon, please, it’s not what you think,” Lucas begged.
An empty laugh broke from Fallon’s lips as she walked past him, pulling the sheets off her bed. “Not only did you fuck my best friend, but you did it in my bed. Wow, way to go Luc.”
“Fallon, please baby, look at me.”
Fallon felt him walk up behind her, so she whipped around, her fist clenched as she looked up at him. “Get out, and never come back,” she sneered as his face twisted with guilt.
“Please, you don’t mean that.”
“I do, go.”
“Fallon, baby, please I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened, I was… I don’t know, baby please.”
Fallon turned back around as the tears rolled down her cheeks. She couldn’t believe it. She felt like her heart was just smashed into a billion pieces and all he could say what that he didn’t know what happen?
“It's pretty cut and dry Lucas — you fucked my best friend.”
“I didn’t mean to,” he pleaded.
Fallon turned, completely disgusted with him. “You didn’t mean to?”
“Yeah.”
She waited for him to go on and when he didn’t, she turned around again because she was pretty sure she as gonna deck him in the throat. “Get out Lucas.”
“No, not until you talk to me.”
“I ain’t gonna talk to you, ever again. So leave. We’re through.”
“No!” He turned her around with his large hands and she looked up at the desperation on his face, but she didn’t care. She pushed him away and he stumbled back into the wall.
“Don’t touch me. Get out.”
They stood for what seemed like hours, staring each other down. Tears rolled down her cheeks as his eyes watered with tears she knew would never fall. Lucas didn’t cry, he always said that after his daddy died nothing would ever hurt him as bad.
“I’m going to go, but I’ll be back. We’re not through,” he said before he started for the door, and just as he was about to shut it, Fallon said, “We are, and come back if you want, but I won’t be waiting. Ever again.”
Fallon couldn’t get through the whole story without crying. Audrey held Fallon’s hand as she went over the events of that day.
“What did he mean ‘he didn’t mean to’?” Audrey asked once Fallon had calmed down.
“I don’t know, and I really don’t care. The whole experience was so surreal. Like when we would talk about how if one of us would cheat, I would always say how I would kick his ass,” Fallon let out a soulless laugh, “then it happens, and all I did was change the sheets.”
“Fallon, you were in shock,” Audrey consoled.
“It just sucks, ‘cause... ‘cause I feel so guilty Audrey,” Fallon said as she started crying again. “I feel like I should have told him about Aiden when it happened, but I was so hurt, so upset that he hurt me so bad.”
Audrey wrapped her arms around Fallon, holding her closely to her chest. If that day never would have happened, she would still be with Lucas. They would be married; they would have Aiden, and probably more children. Aiden wasn’t planned, of course, but Lucas wanted kids. Another reason why telling him about Aiden was gonna be bad. He was gonna freak about not being in Aiden’s life for the past six years.
For the love of God, what the hell had Fallon done?
***************************************
Lucas looked left, then right, before passing to Welch. Welch only had the puck for a split second before he directed it right into the goal. Lucas threw his arms up in the air before the guys all wrapped up in a hug, tapping each other on the head. Thank God, Welch got that in because if he hadn’t the score would be 4-0. At least if the Assassins lost it wouldn’t be a shutout. Even with Lucas playing hard, trying hard to get shots on goal, it wasn’t their game, and they lost 4-1.
Lucas slowly walked down the hall behind his teammates, his head hung low. It was the first game he had lost as an Assassin, and he would be lying if he said he was okay with it. He didn’t come to the Assassins to be a loser, but to be a winner.
When he looked up, he saw that the coaches and Eleanor Adler stood lined up by the locker room, nodding and tapping each guy on the head as they walked into the locker room. It was crazy; he had never been on a team that was much more like a family than a team. When Lucas reached Elli, she gave him a small smile.
“Good game Brooks, great pass.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Adler,” he said with a nod.
She smiled sweetly at him, and he smile back. It was the first time he had ever smiled after a lost. Lucas decided then that he was going to love playing for the Assassins. They were a family, and he could always use one.
Later, Lucas didn’t know why he was thinking of the day he lost Fallon on the bus ride to Columbus, but he was. Maybe it was calling the office that morning, or maybe it was because the Assassins had lost in St Louis. Since he already felt like shit, he figured he might as well think of the worst day of his life.
All Lucas could remember was not only the cold, dead look in Fallon’s beautiful caramel eyes, but the way she was just plain disgusted with him. He still to that day didn’t remember getting into bed with Al
lison, and he really didn’t remember having sex with her. He was too drunk and high to remember anything from that night.
Lucas shook his head as he thought back to that night.
Lucas just wanted to see Fallon.
It had been a long week, and he needed his Fallon fix. She was like a drug and he was addicted. The week had been hard, he had gotten hurt during a game against the Devils and when the doctor prescribed him Lortabs, he should have known he was in trouble. He started popping the pain pills every chance he got, mixing them with his favorite drink. Lucas soon found that it took him to cloud nine and he loved the feeling.
Fallon had called that afternoon saying she was getting in at seven. When Lucas woke up at six, he rushed to get ready and headed towards Palo Alto to be there when she got there. The choices he made that night were plain stupid. Not only did he drink and drive but he was high from the pills too. He could have gotten killed, or worst, killed someone else.
When he got to the dorm, he opened the door to Allison sitting on her bed in a little tee. She was supposed to be in Houston. What the hell was she doing home?
“Oh, hey Lucas,” she purred as she stood up. Lucas should have known right then to leave. Allison was known as a ho in the locker room, she had been with Levi and a couple of the guys from the team. Lucas knew better, he knew better then to mess with anyone but Fallon. But Lucas was so drunk and so high that when Allison tipped toed over to him in that little bitty t-shirt and wrapped her arms around his neck for a ‘hug’, he couldn’t help but to hold her closer than needed.
When her lips touched his, he didn’t think, he just acted and it was the last thing he remembered.
Now Lucas was paying for it. Even with Fallon saying that she wouldn’t be there the next day when he showed up, he went back, and more than shit she was gone. He would forever hold that look she gave him right before he walked out as the last memory he had of her. He spent weeks trying to find her and then was told she went home. He figured there was no point in chasing after her, she didn’t want him.
So he turned to drugs and alcohol.