Falcon (Trinity Academy Book 1)

by Michelle Heard

  “Things just got interesting here at Trinity. I might actually enjoy this year,” Mason murmurs.

  Chapter 3

  Layla

  I’m feeling all kinds of confused as I let Lake drag me out of the restaurant.

  “Damnit, their timing sucks,” he grumbles under his breath. “Just as they were about to bring my order.”

  “Thanks, Lake, you’re a lifesaver,” Kingsley says as she catches up with us where we’ve come to a stop on the lawn.

  My mind is still reeling from everything that just happened in the restaurant. So much for flying under the radar. Thanks to those two idiots, it feels like a spotlight has illuminated my being here.

  Talking about idiots…

  My gaze locks with Falcon’s as he and Mason walk toward us. I almost had a heart attack back at the restaurant when I turned around and saw Falcon standing behind me. Earlier at orientation, Falcon was sitting a distance from me. Seeing him so up close was damn unnerving. He is too good-looking, too intense, too intimidating.

  Falcon stops next to Lake and giving me a bored look, arrogance coats his words when he says, “You’re welcome by the way.”

  Normally, I can’t read people’s faces to save my life. But Falcon’s eyes… they’re alert, intelligent, and so damn alive.

  Feigning indifference, I roll my eyes. The last thing I need right now is for Falcon to know how unsettled I feel by him. “I never asked for your help in the first place.” Not wanting to come across as being rude, I reluctantly add, “But… thank you.”

  The corner of his mouth twitches slightly before his features return to their unyielding state. “You start as my assistant tomorrow. Don’t disappoint me.”

  Feeling frustrated and irritable, a wave of heat creeps up my neck and face. “Oh no, hold on! I never agreed to be your assistant.” Needing to make it clear to him that I have zero interest in the position, I continue, “I don’t want to be your assistant. Get one of the other students. I’m pretty sure there’s a long line of applicants who would love the honor.” When he just smirks at me, I add, “I’m just here to study. Pick someone else.”

  To my dismay, the smirk around his full lips only keeps growing. “You don’t get a choice in the matter. You start tomorrow morning at eight. Don’t be late.” He starts to turn away, then stops and glancing at me one last time, he adds, “Coffee. Two sugars. Cream.”

  My mind races for the perfect come back, but before I can form the words, Falcon walks away, leaving me staring at the back of his broad shoulders.

  “What the hell just happened?” I whisper, shaking my head to rid myself of the confusion. Tearing my eyes away from Falcon, I look to Kingsley. “It feels like I stepped into the twilight zone.”

  Kingsley shrugs. “We survived.” She lets out a nervous burst of laughter. “That’s all I care about.” Letting out a deep breath, she repeats, “We survived.” A smile forms on her face, and her eyes begin to sparkle. “But you have to admit, that was exciting.”

  Immediately I begin to shake my head. “Girl, no. There was nothing exciting about that.”

  The nerve of that idiot telling me to be his assistant. Just watch me. I’m going to do my best to be epically bad at this assistant thing.

  I glance over my shoulder to make sure no one is watching before I reach for the salt. With a rebellious grin all over my face, I stir the salt into the coffee, then try to school my face into a careless look. Picking up the cup, I struggle not to laugh as I walk over to where Falcon is sitting with his friends.

  Mason notices me first and says something which makes Falcon glance in my direction. For a split-second, I feel nervous, and I’m just about to hesitate when an arrogant grin tugs at the left corner of Falcon’s mouth.

  Nope, I’m doing this. I’m going to show him I won’t be messed with.

  Placing the cup in front of Falcon, I smile as sweetly as I can manage. “Your coffee, Sir.”

  Feeling Falcon’s eyes on me, I take a deep breath before I meet them. Again, I feel the punch to my gut from making eye contact with him.

  Scared he’ll see right through my act I turn away from the table. “Enjoy.”

  It takes a lot of effort to not run from the restaurant, and even more to not peek over my shoulder to see his reaction once he tastes the coffee.

  Darting out the door, I turn left and rush to where I can hide behind the wall so I can peek through the windows. Slowly, I inch forward until I have a view of Falcon, and a wide smile splits over my face as I watch him pick up the cup. When he takes a sip, an anxious squeak rushes up my throat.

  A frown begins to form on my forehead when a smile forms on Falcon’s face as he looks down at the cup. Shaking his head slightly, he sets it back down on the table.

  “That’s it? All the trouble and he just smiles?” Letting out a disappointed sigh, I inch back behind the wall.

  “Why are you standing here?”

  Kingsley’s voice has me jumping with fright. Swinging around, I slap a hand over my chest. “You’ll give me a damn heart attack, woman.”

  Kingsley leans to the side and glancing into the restaurant she tries to see what I was looking at.

  “What were you looking at?”

  “Nothing.” The word bursts from me, and I quickly grab her hand to pull her away. Walking toward the office, I change the subject. “Let’s go get our class schedules.”

  We’re making our way back toward the dorms, aka palaces fit for royalty, when we cross paths with Grayson and Serena.

  “Hey, Kingsley, let's go for coffee.” The way Serena talks makes it sound like an order instead of an invitation. She gives me a side glance, then continues, “We didn’t have time to catch up yesterday.”

  Kingsley gives me a questioning look, which has me sputtering, “Sure, go ahead. I’ll see you later.”

  I’m just about to start walking away when Grayson takes a step to the right, blocking me in the same way he did the day before. “Don’t runoff. Join us.”

  Another order? Geez, don’t these people know how to ask nicely?

  “Yeah, come.” Kingsley hooks her arm through mine and gives me a pleading look. “Please.”

  Why have coffee with people you don’t like? Biting back the question on the tip of my tongue, I nod and let her pull me toward the restaurant, desperately hoping Falcon isn’t still there.

  When we sit down, Grayson takes the seat next to me and then proceeds to scoot his chair closer to mine. Having very little self-control left, I roll my eyes and purposely look at Kingsley.

  A tug at my hair has me scowling as my eyes snap to Grayson.

  “You’re hurting my pride,” he pouts.

  “I don’t care about your pride.” The words are out before I can filter them.

  “Ouch, that’s cold, babe.” There’s something about the smile on his face which makes me feel uncomfortable, and I move my chair closer to Kingsley’s and farther away from his.

  “I don’t blame her. It’s not like you inspire any warmth, Grayson.”

  When I hear Mason’s voice, I glance over my shoulder so quickly, I almost sprain my neck in the process. Seeing Falcon and Lake with him, my heart sinks to my little toe.

  “Let’s not start something again,” Serena drawls with a bored tone. As soon as her eyes land on Falcon, she pouts. “We should have dinner tonight. We have a lot to discuss.”

  My eyes dart back to Falcon, and I watch as he takes a deep breath. Lifting a hand to his face, he brushes his middle finger over his eyebrow. “Yeah, that’s never going to happen.”

  My head swings back to Serena, and it’s beginning to feel like I’m watching a tennis match.

  Her eyes narrow, and her mouth turns down at the corners. “I don’t think your mother will be very pleased to hear how rude you are to me.”

  As my head turns back to where Falcon is, I actually hear the click right before a burning pain engulfs my neck. “Ahh! Crap.”

  “Yeah, we should leave,” Kingsl
ey states, taking advantage of the moment to leave. She gets up, then reaches for my arm.

  “No, wait,” I almost whimper the words as the burning sensation is joined by a sharp ache underneath my right ear. “I just pulled a muscle.” I let out a soft groan as I carefully raise my hand to my neck, so I can support my head.

  “Seriously? This is not the time, nor the place to put on an act,” Serena snaps.

  Not having the energy, I ignore her snarky comment and slowly begin to get up from the chair.

  “Let’s go to the nurse’s office. Maybe she’ll have something we can put on your neck to relax the muscle,” Kingsley says as she takes hold of my left arm to help me into a standing position.

  “It’s torture just watching you stand up,” Falcon growls.

  Before I know what’s happening, an arm hooks under my knees and another wraps around the middle of my back. I let out a squeak as the movement of Falcon picking me up jars my body, causing another flash of hot pain to engulf the back of my head. Letting go of my neck, I slap Falcon against the chest as I scowl up at him.

  “Slowly, Falcon,” Kingsley gasps.

  “You want to carry her?” he snaps at Kingsley.

  With my eyes wide, and the up-close view I have of his jaw, my body and mind freeze.

  “I’ll carry her,” Grayson offers which snaps me right out of the shocked state I was caught in.

  “No.” At the same time, Falcon growls the word, it explodes over my lips.

  “I mean… uhm… I… I can walk,” I begin to sputter when the students in the restaurant all look at us. “There’s nothing wrong with my legs.”

  Falcon lets out an impatient breath through his nose and his arms tense under me. Without another word, he stalks toward the doors, and as soon as we’re outside, he grumbles, “You could help a little. It’s not like you weigh nothing.”

  I glare up at him as I wrap my arms around his neck, resisting the temptation to strangle him. “It’s not like I asked you to carry me,” I snap back.

  Glancing down at me, a sexy smirk pulls at the corner of his mouth.

  Don’t give me that sexy smirk, thinking it will make me swoon.

  As if the jerk can hear my thoughts, the grin keeps growing.

  Stop it. I’m not going to fall for it.

  By the time Falcon has a smile plastered all over his too-hot-to-handle face, I’m swallowing hard on the attraction I feel.

  Dropping my eyes to his neck, I hope to the high heavens Falcon didn’t see any of the emotions on my face.

  When we reach the nurse’s office, my heart is beating out of control, and I’m beginning to sweat from all the effort it’s taking to not look at the stupid handsome face right above me.

  Falcon puts me down on a bed, and instead of pulling back, he places his hands on the mattress, effectively caging me.

  When he leans a little down and catches my eyes, I feel a wave of excitement and attraction crash over me.

  “What?” I wanted to snap at him, but the word comes out sounding way too breathless.

  Don’t fail me, heart.

  Not this man.

  Not ever.

  “Thank. You.” He pronounces the words slowly with a low, gravelly timbre.

  “For what?” I ask, feeling confused, desperate, and like I’m about to overheat all at once.

  Letting out a chuckle, Falcon shakes his head as he finally pulls back. “Would it kill you to just say thank you?”

  “Huh?” Frowning my frazzled mind scrambles to catch up to the moment from where it was stuck in intoxicated-by-hot-dude-land. As common sense returns to me, heat creeps up my neck.

  He’s just a pretty face, Layla. This is Falcon Reyes we’re talking about. Off-limits. Mom’s future boss. Heir to wealth beyond your wildest imagination. Falling for him will just be plain stupid.

  “Thank you.” Lucky for me, the nurse comes in right then, saving me from being alone with Falcon for another torturous second.

  Dressed in a pristine navy-blue uniform, the woman looks more like a PA than a nurse. “Mr. Reyes, is everything okay?” she asks him, not even looking at me.

  “Layla seems to have sprained her neck,” he offers the information.

  “How did it happen?” she asks as she moves closer to me so she can take a look.

  “By being too nosy,” Falcon states and before I can even glare at the jerk, he turns around and walks out.

  It’s only been four days since classes started and I’m already swamped with assignments. Thanks to some painkillers and stretching exercises, my neck is all better.

  I overslept this morning and didn’t have time for breakfast, which has my stomach growling as I walk to the restaurant to meet Kingsley for lunch.

  Sitting down, I let out a sigh as I place my bag on the floor next to my chair.

  “I could eat half a cow right now,” I admit, giving Kingsley a smile.

  “That makes two of us. Let’s order.”

  After the waiter leaves with our order, Kingsley leans back in her chair and lets out a groan. “How are we going to get all this work done?” She shoots forward and looks hopefully at me. “You think it’s too late to change my major?”

  Chuckling, I shake my head. “To what? Everyone is complaining about their workload no matter what they’re studying.”

  She slumps back again and pouts. “True. It sucks.”

  “You can say that again.”

  “What sucks?”

  Both our heads snap up when Lake comes to stand next to our table.

  Gentle with the neck, Layla. Let’s not sprain the damn thing again so soon after getting it healed.

  Kingsley grabs Lake’s hand and pulls him closer to the table. “Sit! You’re just the person I’m looking for.”

  “I am?” Lake asks while grabbing the seat next to her. The waiter brings our order of pizzas, and as he places it down on the table, Lake grins. “Just in time.”

  “Should I bring your milkshake to this table?” the waiter asks.

  “That would be great, Jeremy.” I find myself staring at Lake when he smiles at the waiter before he proceeds to help himself to a couple of slices.

  Kingsley’s laughter draws my attention to her, and seeing that she’s laughing at me, I ask, “What?”

  “The look on your face is priceless.”

  “What look?”

  “You’re looking at Lake as if he’s an alien.”

  “The way he eats, I wouldn’t be surprised,” Mason comments. He takes a seat next to Lake, which has my eyes widening.

  Shit.

  No.

  Oh hell.

  Please.

  “We’re having pizza? Again?” Falcon complains as he sits down in the only open chair which happens to be next to me.

  Ugh.

  Last time I’m praying.

  “We’re having pizza,” I answer while I quickly grab three slices before it’s all gone. I shove the greasy yumminess into my mouth and let out a moan as I begin to chew.

  Food. Finally.

  “And now I understand the meaning of food porn.” Mason’s words stun the hell out me and trying to swallow too fast, I almost kill myself by choking.

  Kingsley gently pats my back as I start to cough.

  Mason lets out a disgruntled breath and shaking his head, he reaches for a slice of pizza as he mutters, “Totally ruined the fantasy for me.”

  As soon as I can breathe properly, I glare at Mason, “And you’re totally ruining lunch for me.”

  When my eyes collide with his dark ones, an apprehensive shiver skitters down my spine.

  Laaayyyylllaaaa! When are you going to learn to shut up? Do you have a death wish?

  “She didn’t have breakfast this morning,” Kingsley quickly jumps in, trying to save my butt by making an excuse for me.

  “Falcon,” Mason growls, still keeping his eyes locked with mine, “your assistant doesn’t know her place.”

  Yeah, so much for having any survival inst
incts.

  Taking a deep breath, I open my mouth to let Mason know what I think about his comment but instead swallow a gulp of air which goes down the wrong hole when Falcon places his arm around my shoulders.

  This time it’s not Kingsley gently patting my back as I almost cough up a lung, but Falcon slapping my back. When I clear my throat, I glare at him. “You can stop now. I’m breathing again.”

  He gives me one last slap right between my shoulder blades then brings his hand up to the back of my neck. Feeling his fingers wrap around my neck makes a different kind of shiver rush down my spine from when I made eye contact with Mason.

  The shivers quickly up and vanish when he pulls me closer and locking eyes with me, he says, “It’s hard to believe you’re Ste…”

  I shoot up out of the chair before Falcon can finish his sentence, and grabbing his hand, I pull him behind me as I rush from the restaurant.

  Making sure there’s no one close to us who can accidentally overhear, I stop and spin around while hissing, “Can you please keep it a secret? I don’t want anyone here knowing who my mother is.”

  Falcon actually looks stunned by my sudden actions. “Why?”

  I glance around again, just to be sure, and taking a step closer to Falcon, I whisper, “Can you imagine what the other students will do to me if they found out I’m your employee’s daughter?”

  Falcon leans a little closer, and whispers, “Oh yeah, I didn’t think about that. So we’re going to keep it a secret?”

  “Yes.”

  The fleeting feeling of relief from thinking Falcon understood where I was coming from disappears the second the corner of his mouth lifts. “Nothing in this world is free. You better up your game at being my assistant if you want me to keep my mouth shut.”

  Ass.

  “Why do I have to be your assistant?” I ask, a miserable feeling sinking into my gut.

  “Because I say so,” he says. When I notice the tiny golden flecks in his deep brown eyes, I realize how close we’re standing to each other.

  I quickly take a step back to put some distance between us while my traitorous cheeks begin to glow with embarrassment. “That’s not a reason,” I mumble.