by S. J. Sylvis
“Dawson actually built this house with his father. His father owns— Actually, no…” Ivy smiled, correcting herself. “Dawson owns a contracting business here in Oak Hill. They’re the best.”
Fallon’s eyebrows shot to her forehead. “You did this?” She quickly looked around again. “Well, now I know who to hire if I ever need some work done. It’s really nice.”
Dawson grinned and thanked her before putting his attention back on Ivy. I knew the real story behind this house and why Dawson had built it the way he did, but that was a story for another time.
“See? Everyone loves this house. That’s why you need to move in,” he said to Ivy, pulling her legs over to his lap.
Ivy rolled her eyes and huffed. “Dawson, you know I love this house, but I JUST bought mine, and we put so much work into it! I can’t leave now.”
Fallon and I stood back and watched as they argued back and forth.
I whispered into Fallon’s ear, “They’re like an old married couple.”
“I heard that!” Ivy said and then laughed. “We are like an old married couple.” She paused and popped some popcorn into her mouth. “Maybe you should put a ring on it.”
Fallon and I both snickered, standing back behind the couch. Dawson pulled his body back and placed his hand over his heart. “You’ll marry me, but you won’t move in?! WHAT?”
Ivy batted her eyelashes innocently, a grin appearing on her face. She chewed the rest of her popcorn and shrugged.
“Maybe you’ll change my mind with a ring.” She was toying with him, and it was hilarious.
“They’re funny,” Fallon said, peering up at me.
I nodded. “And annoying.”
“What? No, they aren’t!” she argued.
Then we heard Dawson. “I have many ways I can change your mind…”
Ivy squealed. “DAWSON LANNING. We have guests! Stop it!”
I looked down at Fallon. “Told ya.”
She laughed out loud and shook her head.
“Alright, that’s enough,” Ivy said. “Come on in and sit down, Fallon. Let me introduce you to Dean and Sam Winchester.”
Fallon’s face was overtaken by a smile as she rounded the couch and plopped herself down onto the cushions. I stood back for just a second and watched as she laughed with Ivy and Dawson. She fit in so perfectly, despite that she obviously came from a world much different than ours.
Fallon was making herself at home in my head and my life. It felt right to have her here.
But it was so, so wrong.
Chapter Eleven
Fallon
“Alright, that’s enough for tonight. I’m going to be so tired tomorrow!” Ivy said as she pulled herself off the couch.
I glanced down at my phone and saw that it was after midnight. “Jeez. How is it midnight?” I asked, stretching my legs out in front of me.
Ivy looked over at me, a dead serious expression on her face. “I’m telling you right now that Supernatural is addicting.”
I laughed out loud. “I think you’re right.”
Dawson and Ivy both stood up, and I went to do the same. I needed to leave. I’d already been there for several hours.
Earlier, while I was debating on texting Emmett (since I’d been ignoring him for the past few days, conflicted about what had happened and what was said the night of the gala), I saw Derek’s car pull up in front of my parents’ house. I panicked. I didn’t want to see him, especially not after how we—I mean, how I—left things after we parted ways the other night. After the whole thing with Emmett sweeping me off my feet, first with a taco and then with his mouth, I went back down to the gala with a flushed face and tiny beads of sweat decorating my cleavage. I tried to act completely normal for the rest of the evening, but it didn’t work—not even in the slightest. At one point during the guest speaker’s long and painfully boring speech, Derek had rested his hand on my thigh. I instantly jumped and hastily announced that I had to go to the restroom. I was pulling away from the man I was supposed to marry, because I felt guilty about what I’d done with Emmett in the hallway.
Or should I say, what he did to me.
I didn’t regret it. No way.
But I did have mixed feelings about it.
Derek could sense that something was off, which was probably why he was so touchy-feely for the remainder of the evening. He had touched me in subtle, gentle ways, and I had instantly panicked and pulled back. When he rode back with me in his town car to drop me off at home, he glanced over at me with those steely eyes and asked, “Did you think about what I said? Are you backing out? Is that why you’re being so distant?”
I tried to laugh. “Distant? As opposed to what? We’ve never been super affectionate, Derek.”
He shook his head and looked away, flexing that jaw. He messed with the bow tie around his neck, loosing it ever so slightly. “I was trying to rectify that tonight, but you’ve been very standoffish. Jumping when I’d brush a finger along your skin, running off to the bathroom to avoid me, and willingly putting yourself in a conversation so you could pretend you were busy. I asked you to think it over, and if you’re backing out, then so be it. I just need to know… now. Before we get too invested in this.”
I gulped and looked out the car window, gazing at the house I grew up in. For a slight second, Emmett’s head popped in my brain—his smug grin, the small dimple that popped out at the most unexpected times. The way it felt to have his hands on my body, his mouth on mine. The pleasure he’d driven into my body. It drove me mad. I felt wild. Out of control. I wasn’t sure where I started and he ended. And that terrified me, which was exactly why I turned my head back to Derek and said, “I’m not backing out.”
Then, I leaned over and gently placed a kiss on his cheek. I didn’t look at him afterward. I was too lost in my own thoughts, so I got out of the car, walked myself to my door, and disappeared inside.
So, we left things unfinished in a way. I hadn’t heard from him since, burying myself with tasks my mother asked me to do for the club. I tried to do everything I could to avoid thinking about Emmett and that godforsaken bucket list that I half-wanted to burn and half-wanted to keep… just in case. Then I saw Derek’s car pull up at the house, and before I knew what I was doing, I was jumping off my couch, snagging my purse along the way, and flying to my car.
I panicked.
For what reason?
I had no idea. I just knew I didn’t want to talk about the future or act like everything was all fine and dandy when I knew it wasn’t.
So, there I was… in Oak Hill. I hadn’t even remembered driving there. One second I was avoiding all thoughts of Emmett and escaping a run-in with my future fiancé, and the next, I was surrounded by corn fields and mooing cows. My mouth gaped open, wondering how in the hell I’d managed to drive fifty minutes without even remembering doing it. I felt like I’d left my body, floated off into the universe, and then landed in Oak Hill.
I knew what that meant.
I knew it meant that I was totally and irreversibly becoming attached to someone that I really didn’t know all that well.
I’d run from my house in a desperate attempt to escape my almost-fiancé and ended up in the one place that I was trying to avoid all together.
My mind was made up at that point.
There were no taksies backsies. I could have fun with Emmett (AS FRIENDS) until I no longer could.
Might as well live now, right?
That was how I found myself sitting with Emmett in Dawson’s house, watching Supernatural.
Emmett’s hand slapped onto my leg as Dawson looked over at Ivy and very coyly said, “I know you think Supernatural is addicting, but I know something else that’s even better.” Then he wiggled his eyebrows up and down.
Ivy smacked him on the chest. “You’re probably making Fallon feel so uncomfortable right now.”
I wanted to scream, No, what’s making me uncomfortable is the way my heart just flew out of my chest because Emm
ett’s hand landed on my thigh! If he just inched over a few centimeters to the left, I’d probably just melt all together.
Emmett ignited something in me the other night. I couldn’t even think about him without blushing.
Another reason why he and I couldn’t be anything but friends.
The little voice in the back of my head whispered, Yeah right.
I wiggled in my seat and laughed off Ivy and Dawson, all while pushing away the annoying voice that wouldn’t get out of my brain. I went to sit up again, mainly to get away from Emmett’s hand, because I was starting to sweat.
“You guys can stay and watch some more episodes, if you want. You don’t have to leave,” Dawson said, eyes darting to Emmett’s hand on my leg. My cheeks heated.
Be cool, Fallon.
I stuttered, “Oh, no. You guys are going to bed. I should head back. It’s late.”
He shrugged. “Okay, but don’t feel like you have to leave because we’re going to bed. We’ll probably be up for hours anyway.”
My mouth fell open at the same time Ivy’s did. Emmett bellowed out a loud laugh from beside me, but the only thing I could focus on was the way his hand had tightened on my thigh.
Ivy smacked his chest. “I HATE YOU. GO TO BED, DAWSON... RIGHT NOW!”
Dawson threw his head back and laughed, and basically ran to the stairs. Ivy looked over at me, totally annoyed with her boyfriend. “I’m sorry, he’s...”
Dawson screamed from the stairway, “Hilarious? Witty? Handsome?”
I laughed and shook my head as an exasperated smile formed on Ivy’s face. She ran after him, leaving Emmett and me alone.
“They’re so funny,” I said, taking my attention off Ivy running upstairs to Dawson.
“So…” Emmett released my leg (thank God) and lounged back into the couch cushion. He had on a tight t-shirt, which of course showed off his toned biceps. Was that all he wore? Hot, tight-fitting t-shirts? He was casually hot, and it really wasn’t fair to the rest of the male race. “Why were you in Oak Hill?”
I turned my head away. “You always get right to the point, Emmett.”
He scoffed. “Well, time isn’t on our side, Fallon. Let’s get on with it. I wanna know.”
I gulped, pursing my lips together. Then, I just spilled, because it didn’t seem worth hiding. “Derek came to my parents’ house, and in a desperate attempt to flee, I got in my car and started driving…” I breathed out through my nose. “And I ended up in Oak Hill.”
Emmett adjusted his body so he was facing me now. His arms crossed over his chest. I peered over at him, raking my eyes all over his body. Good job at being friends, Fallon.
“And… about ignoring me? What was that all about?”
“I didn’t ignore you!” I pointed out. “I just… didn’t call like you asked me to.”
“But the real question is… why, Fallon? Did I scare you off the other night?” My eyes bounced back and forth between his before I settled on answering him truthfully, no matter how stupid I sounded. “You didn’t scare me… I scared me.”
His brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
I tried to sound collected, but my words came in spurts. “I… I get lost in you.” Emmett leaned forward, his scent filling my senses. His hand moved to splay on my leg again, and instantly, butterflies were erupting, my heart was exploding, my leg was tingling. I looked down at his hand touching my thigh and gestured to it. “This makes me feel things. You make me think things. Things I don’t want to be thinking about. You have me considering things I don’t—can’t—consider, and I just wasn’t sure what to do with all of that.” I clenched my eyes shut. “I mean, I sat at the gala all hot and bothered, completely flustered because of what we snuck off to do! That is so not me!”
I heard him swallow, so I peeked my eyes back over to him. He was staring at me intensely, and I hated that I had no idea what he was thinking.
“But you liked it.”
I knew, without a doubt, that I looked like a tomato. I could feel the heat emitting from my cheeks. “That’s not the point. The point is… I like you. I like being around you, but I don’t think I can do… this.”
“So that’s why you didn’t call me? You don’t want me to do what I did the other night, ever again?”
No. No. No. Wait, yes!
I stuttered, still eyeing his grip on my thigh. Even through jeans, I felt scorched. “I… I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“But we can be friends?” Emmett slowly moved his hand off my thigh, and I was yearning for it to come back.
I turned my attention back to his, noting the way the soft lamp behind his body made the room glow like we were in the middle of some romantic date. “If you want.”
A small smile curved along Emmett’s shadowed face. “Friends with benefits?” Then he laughed after my eyes grew wide. “I’m kidding. I won’t touch you unless you want me to.” He shrugged. “We can be friends. I think you’re pretty cool, and I actually like hanging out with you. I like talking on the phone with you.”
I tried to hold back my smile. “You do?”
He smirked. “Yes. Why is that so hard to believe?”
I shook my head and sighed. “Because no one likes the real me.”
Emmett’s brow furrowed. “Then they don’t know you.”
My heart was suddenly soaring. Calm down, Fallon. “Okay… so friends? You’re still ready to help me with that dumb bucket list?”
The bucket list was totally stupid, and the only reason I didn’t burn it the other night was because of that moment right there. It was the only thing tying us together. It was the only way I could justify our friendship.
“Of course... friends.” Emmett put his hand out, and I lazily raised mine to shake it. The second our bare palms touched, it was like I was instantly taken back to the bar, feeling the way his lips covered mine with urgency. Then, I was suddenly jolted to the gala, feeling the way his hands roamed my body, remembering the feeling of his tongue stroking me back and forth. Am I on fire? I was full-on sweating. My eyes flashed up to Emmett’s, and he swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down, his eyes slanting just slightly.
Being friends with him would be damn near impossible. I should have walked away then.
But I couldn’t.
Because one thing about Emmett Lanning? He made me feel alive.
Suddenly, Emmett ripped his hand out of mine and ran it through his brown hair. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
I stood up on wobbly legs and started to make my way to the door, but his voice stopped me. “Do you really want to go?”
I answered with my back still toward him. “I should.”
“Not if you really want to stay.” I paused, my movements faltering. “Do you really want to go, Fallon?”
My voice squeaked, causing my cheeks to burst with heat. “No.”
I turned around and stared at him. Emmett looked so dangerous the moment the word left my mouth. His eyes twinkled with excitement. “Good, then sit back down. We have a game of twenty questions to finish.”
Being alone with Emmett in a room glowing from a single, soft lamp, looking so deliciously sexy with that smirk formed on his face was… Well, it went against everything I had told myself after the gala. But the feeling of pure exhilaration moved my legs back to the couch where I sat down a tiny bit closer to him than before.
◆◆◆
“Oh, my God. How are your questions actually getting worse, Emmett?!” I asked, flinging myself back onto the couch, away from his playful smile.
“Okay, okay, okay,” he repeated, grabbing my arm and pulling me upright again. “I’ll be serious now. We’ve covered all our favorites, some lame childhood shit… now the real stuff.”
My eyes widened. “Okay, now I’m scared. Maybe we should go back to the easy stuff.”
He shook his head. “Nope. You said my questions were getting worse. No more playful shit. We’re getting down to business.”
I gulped, hoping he didn’t ask anything too serious.
“If you could be anything in the world, profession wise… what would it be?”
I breathed out a bundle of air. Thank God, that’s easy. “That’s an easy one. An interior designer.”
Emmett’s eyebrows folded, and I wanted to swallow my words. “I know, that sounds dumb,” I started, looking down to the hardwood floor.
“Why is that dumb?”
I snapped my head back up. “You don’t think it’s stupid?”
He looked confused. “Why would I think it’s stupid? It’s just so… normal. I was expecting you to say… I don’t know. I mean, if you could be anything… I would have thought you’d pick something crazier. An interior designer just seems… normal.”
I laughed. “Not for my life.”
“Explain,” he demanded, reaching for the coffee table to snag the stale popcorn from hours ago.
“Well, in my family, women don’t work, because we have to do the whole ‘corporate’ wife shit.”
“There’s that word again,” Emmett said with a little snip to his voice.
“What word?”
“Wife.”
I looked away. “I’m not fond of it either. Let’s just talk about something else.”
I finally brought my gaze back to his. He was studying me again, and I just couldn’t help but let the next words fly out of my mouth. “Why do you do that?”
He looked confused. “Do what?”
“Look at me like that. Like you’re studying me.”
His mouth lifted on one side. “I can’t help if you’re attractive, Fallon.”
I laughed. “That’s not why you’re staring at me like that, though. It’s like you’re trying to read me.”
He shrugged. “I can’t help it. I feel like I know you, yet… there are parts of you that are hidden under lock and key. And since we’re keeping this whole thing…” he gestured between our bodies, “friendly—you know, since I can’t touch you now—nor is it permanent, I don’t want to pressure you into telling me all of your…” he leaned in closer, his breath hitting my skin, “dirty little secrets.”