by Toni Aleo
The look.
He always pinned her with it when he wanted her naked. She couldn’t count the times he would be across the room at some function they were at and he would give her the look. Fallon’s breath caught as they just stood in the middle of the restaurant looking in each other eyes.
When Fallon’s phone went off again, she broke their intense staring match to look down at her phone. When she saw that the text was from Audrey, it was like she was being hit with a ton of bricks.
Audrey and Aiden were in the restaurant.
Oh, God.
“Whoa,” Fallon moved away from Lucas, pulling the text up, so she could quickly text that Lucas was there and for Audrey and Aiden to run. When the text came up, and Fallon read it, her body caught on fire with anger.
We’re not there, but Lucas is. Eat with him sis, give him a chance.
The traitor! Fallon was gonna kill her!
Fallon looked up at Lucas’ smiling face and had to look away. “Listen, here is how this is gonna happen,” she said quietly. “We are gonna walk out of this restaurant without causing a scene. You will go to your car and I’ll go to mine and we will never see each other again. Got it?” she asked as she looked up.
“What?”
“I will not be having dinner with you, and when I find out how you got my sister on your side, I’m pretty sure I’ll be calling to cuss you out, but for right now we are gonna leave like we are just old friends. Because if you embarrass me in front of the people in the restaurant, I might just kill you,” Fallon, said, looking up into his eyes. “I sell here, don’t fuck with where I sell at.”
“I wasn’t going to, but I thought we could at least sit down for dinner,” Lucas said, getting madder by the minute. Audrey must have not told Fallon to meet him because he could tell Fallon was about to blow.
Shit.
“Let’s go outside,” she said through her teeth as she smiled at someone off to the side. Lucas looked around him before looking back down at her, he was beyond pissed. He had everything ready. He knew what he wanted to say and how he was going to convince her to give him a chance, but with the way she was looking, Lucas knew it wasn’t going to happen.
Lucas nodded as she turned to leave. He followed her outside and towards her car. When he saw her stop by the black Acura, he raised an eyebrow. “What happened to the Charger?”
They had had some good times in that car. It was the sexiest damn car he had ever seen, just like its owner.
“I sold it, now what do you want?” she said in her snooty little voice as she opened the door and placed her purse in the passenger’s side seat. Lucas found himself rolling his eyes like a girl because this woman frustrated him beyond belief.
“I want to go back inside and eat.”
“No, I told you in the office, I don’t want anything to do with you. I can’t do us, Lucas. I can’t,” she basically pleaded.
A normal man would have walked away, but Lucas wasn’t normal.
“You are not giving me a fair chance.”
“You cheated on me! You’re lucky I’m not decking you in the face.”
“I was a different person; give me a chance to explain. I know you still care for me.”
She shook her head and he saw the tears in her eyes that were threatening to fall. He didn’t want her to cry, he wanted her to be happy. With him. Was he being selfish? Maybe, but he knew what he wanted and he knew Fallon still cared for him, maybe even loved him.
“Even if I do Lucas, I can’t do this.”
“Why? We are different people, give it a chance. We are so good together.”
“We were good together. Like you said, we are two different people now and the new me can’t do what we had. It was too toxic, too intense.”
“It was perfect, and you know it. Stop fighting it.”
Fallon rolled her eyes. “I mean, what do you want? Do you just want to go fuck and get it over with?”
Hearing that risqué word leave those luscious lips had Lucas rock hard. He had to fight the lust that screamed for him to say ’YES’ to say no, because that wasn’t only what he wanted. He was ready to be with someone, he was ready to be with Fallon.
“No baby, I want you. All of you. I promise I won’t mess up this time, I just need you to believe me,” he pleaded, taking a step towards her, but she put her hand on his chest, stopping him.
“I…I need to- I can’t.”
Fallon jumped into the car, starting it and whipping it out of the parking spot before Lucas could even move.
But this time, he wasn’t going to let her get away.
**********************************************************
“I love you Audrey I do, but do you know I could fucking kill you right now!” Fallon screamed as pulled out onto the main road.
“Oh my God, Fallon, over dramatic much? And what’s up with all the cussing? It’s weird.”
“I’m serious Audrey. You had him meet me at the place we sell at! What if we got into a screaming match, what would have happened then? You not only risk my sanity but also our contract with J’s!”
Audrey let out a frustrated breath. “Okay, this over dramatic shit is getting old. I am trying to help you! You still love him, tell him about Aiden, let them meet, have sex with him and then get married so you can stop driving me up the fucking wall!”
“What the hell does that mean?! I don’t drive you up the wall!”
Audrey let out an empty laugh, and Fallon swore she was gonna get into an accident. She was driving like a lunatic. “You know damn well what it means! I can’t live my life ‘cause I’m worried about you and Aiden.”
“Oh please!” Fallon yelled, “We are not holding you back!”
“Yes you are! I can’t go find me a man and get married because I’m too worried about my big sister and her baby. I love you guys and I want y’all to be happy. I’ve been going years thinking that maybe you were just waiting for the right guy or hell that you might be gay! But no, you’re still caught up on some dude that I never even knew about! Get your head out of your ass and tell him about his kid, and see what happens. Stop being such a whiny little bitch!”
Fallon eyes went wide as the line went dead.
“That bitch!”
Fallon threw her phone down on the seat and took a deep breath in. She and Audrey hardly ever fought but when they did, it was bad. That was usually how it was with Fallon though. She was easy going until someone pissed her off, then she was a crazy person. For example, in one day, Fallon had cussed at three people. Something was seriously wrong with her and it wasn’t hard to guess what.
It started and ended with Lucas Brooks.
Fallon knew that she shouldn’t go home because more than likely it would be round two between her and Audrey, but she was tired and she wanted to see Aiden. When she pulled into her driveway, she sat for a minute, taking a deep breath in and then letting it out through her nose. Fallon gathered her things before opening the door and stepping out of the car. She was looking down at the e-mail that had been sent to her phone as she walked around her car when she heard his voice.
“I wasn’t done talking to you.”
Fallon looked up quickly, taking in a sharp breath when her eyes met Lucas’.
“Oh fuck,” Fallon whispered as she looked down at her phone.
She needed to text Audrey to keep Aiden in the house, but before she could even get a word written, Lucas snatched her phone away, throwing it across the yard. “Listen to me!”
“No, you gotta go. Like now. You aren’t welcome here,” Fallon pleaded as her heart pounded against her chest. He had to go; Aiden was a matter of feet away, probably killing hippogriffs or something.
“No, we are going to talk, or at least you’re gonna listen to me.”
“Damn it Lucas, you gotta go! Please I’ll go wherever, you just can’t be here.”
“Why? Stop trying to blow me off and fucking talk to me!”
“What do you want Luca
s! Hurry, tell me so you can fucking leave and never come back!” Fallon screamed.
They stood only inches away from each other, both their chests raising and falling at the same time as they shared a long tension-filled look. This was such a bad idea — he had to go — but Fallon knew until he said what he needed to he wouldn’t leave her alone. So all she could do was pray that Audrey looked outside and saw him.
And that Aiden stayed in the house.
****************************************************
Lucas took a deep breath in. He hated fighting with Fallon, but she was being so damn difficult. There were so many questions swirling around in his mind, but like always when he was around her, he got diarrhea of the mouth and said the first thing that came to mind. “I feel like a piece of me dies every day I go without you, Fallon.”
Fallon face scrunched up as she looked up at him. “What?! That’s what you needed to say? Are you crazy!?”
Lucas shrugged his shoulders. That wasn’t the response he thought he would get, but he was dealing with the new Fallon. “I don’t think so,” he answered before she threw her arms up in the air.
“Seven years! Seven fucking years Lucas and I don’t hear a word from you. You come to my hometown and now you want to be with me? Sounds like convenience to me,” she yelled.
“No, I looked for you, but you blocked me from your MySpace and Facebook!”
“Oh please! Social networks don’t rule the world! Levi could have found me if you really wanted to see me. You are just full of shit and you don’t even really wanna be with me, you just want to fuck me probably!”
Lucas rolled his eyes because he was tired of her yelling stupid crap at him.
“Why now Lucas? Seven whole years have passed, why now?”
There was no way he could tell her while standing in her front yard the reason why he didn’t look for her after she left. Telling Fallon that he was a recovering drug addict and alcoholic did not seem like a good thing to say when trying to get someone back. So he did the next logical thing — he grabbed her by her shoulders and pressed his lips against hers.
It was as if fireworks went off when their lips touched. She went to pull away but he wouldn’t let her. Lucas moved his arms around her, holding her tightly to him as he deepened the kiss. When she relaxed beneath him, he moved his tongue into her opened mouth and slowly played with her tongue. His eyes were shut tightly, basking in feel of her lips that he had missed so much. When he felt Fallon’s hands come up his chest, wrapping around his neck so she could move her fingers into his hair, he felt like had just scored the game-winning goal.
Reluctantly, he pulled back first because he couldn’t breathe. When he looked down into Fallon’s beautiful flush face, he smiled. “I want you because I still…”
“Mommy? What are you doing?”
Fallon froze in his arms. She then looked behind her, and he did the same to see a little boy on the porch.
“Oh God,” Fallon whispered as she covered her mouth, moving out of his arms, but Lucas couldn’t move. His eyes were glued to the little boy that stood only a couple feet from him.
A little boy that looked just like him.
Chapter 10
Fallon felt chills run down her spine and back up as she glanced up into Lucas’ eyes. He had a slanted grin on his face. One that told her he was feeling what she was feeling, and that was that she didn’t want to move. She wanted to stay in his arms forever, drinking from that sexy mouth of his. Their eyes were locked as he smiled down at her, and all she could do is think that she was home.
That Lucas’ arms were her home.
“Mommy? What are you doing?”
Fallon froze. Oh no, Fallon thought as she looked behind her to see her perfect little guy wearing Spiderman pajamas with his hair a mess. His face was covered in chocolate and even though she wanted to smile at his cuteness, she couldn’t.
The shit was about to hit the fan.
“Oh God,” she whispered as she moved out of Lucas’ arms. When she looked up at him, his eyes were wide, his mouth was hanging open some and she was pretty sure his heavy breathing wasn’t from their intense kiss.
More like from the shock of seeing his son for the first time.
“Mommy, who’s that?” Aiden asked. Fallon looked back towards Aiden, trying to form a word, but it wasn’t working. She didn’t know what to say. She glanced back at Lucas, but he hadn’t moved an inch as he held Aiden in his shocked gaze.
“Aiden baby, go on inside please,” Fallon answered, not knowing what else to say. She wanted to run to him, protect him from Lucas’ intense gaze, but what would that help? Lucas had already seen him, and now Aiden was looking at him with a puzzled looked.
“But who’s that?”
“Someone I know, now go inside,” Fallon demanded.
“Your boyfriend?”
“No Aiden, just someone I know. Please go in the house.”
“But I saw you kissing him,” Aiden persisted with a disgusted look on his face.
“Aiden James, get in that darn house before I pop that bottom.”
That was when Lucas broke him gaze on Aiden to look at Fallon. She couldn’t read his expression, it was somewhere between shock and anger.
“But Mom!”
“Aiden James, I swear on God’s green earth, don’t make me come up them stairs.”
Aiden shot her a dirty look before running in the house and slamming the door. Lucas looked back up at the door, then down at the ground. He was still breathing extremely hard and it was starting to worry Fallon. She hoped he wasn’t having a heart attack because she felt like she was having one. Her heart was beating extra hard inside her chest and she tried to catch her breath, but it wasn’t working. It seemed like hours passed as she stood there looking at him, while he stared at the ground.
Finally she couldn’t take it. It was not like him to just stand there when something big happened, he was extremely emotional. He screamed, he yelled, he threw things, Lucas Brooks was never speechless. Fallon took a step towards him, clearing her throat. That was when he looked over at her and when his eyes met hers, she couldn’t breathe. There were tears in his eyes, tears that were threatening to fall at any moment.
“Lucas, I’m sorry,” she found herself saying, “I never meant for you to find out like this.”
Before the last word left her mouth, he turned and started for his truck. Fallon watched as he walked quickly to his truck, slamming the door and starting it up. She expected him to roll the window down and start screaming at her, but when he just pulled off, she felt like she was about to pass out.
What the hell was he doing?
**************************************
Lucas wasn’t sure when the tears started falling, but it was somewhere between Fallon’s house and his. He felt like his heart had been ripped from his chest at the sight of the little boy that he knew was his. It only took one look in the little boy’s eyes to know. Not only did the little boy, Aiden, have his eyes, but his hair, his cheeks, his lips, his chin, everything. The only thing he had from Fallon were her dimples and maybe her nose. It was so surreal, looking at Aiden and knowing that he was his son. How could Fallon do that to him? How could she be so heartless? How could she keep a child from him for seven years?
Especially after Lucas losing his father.
Lucas believed that no child should grow up without a father, and now his son had. How was that fair, why would she do that? Put aside what he did to her, yeah, he was a douche, but didn’t he deserve to still know his child? Did he really fuck her up that bad that she couldn’t even tell him about his own son? That she decided raising him by herself was better than giving Lucas the chance to be a father. Did she really think that lowly of him? Was he that big of a piece of shit?
Lucas sat in his truck for what seemed like hours before he finally got out. He didn’t know anyone was there until he stepped in and saw a curvaceous blonde going into the kitchen. She wore only
a small tee that didn’t even cover her bare ass as she walked slowly to the kitchen. When she turned to looked at Lucas, he saw that it was Eleanor Adler’s assistant, Janet. Since he was in a state of shock, he only shook his head as he headed towards the stairs that would take him to his room while poor Janet let out a girlie scream. Before he reached his room, he saw Levi heading down the stairs in only a pair of boxer. It didn’t take much to figure out what was going on and Lucas would have been a little upset with Levi if he wasn’t having a mental break down.
When his door closed behind him, he went to his bed, falling face first into it. Lucas buried his face into his fluffy bedding, letting his tears fall. He never cried, but he couldn’t help himself. Sobs ribbed through him as the guilt and hurt tore through his body.
Seven years. Seven years that poor innocent boy went without a father when one was available. Fallon couldn’t be a father and a mother. Lucas had no doubt that she was the best mom imaginable, but she couldn’t do both. Other than not telling Aiden about Lucas, Lucas knew that Fallon was caring, sweet, and more than capable of taking care of a child. He just wished that she had more faith in him to know that he could have been a father too.
Or could he?
He was pretty fucked up back then — of course she didn’t know that — but still, he was. Would he have gotten his shit together and taken responsibility for Aiden, or would he have turned back to the bottle like he did for everything else? There was no way to tell, but Lucas still would have liked to have known about Aiden.
The apology Fallon gave him wasn’t good enough, and he would expect another one when he was able to confront her. She had to know that she was wrong for what she did. After everything they talked about as a couple, about how he would never want his children growing up without a father because he knew how it hurt, how it could fuck a kid up. He was a prime example and what killed him the most was that there was a child running around with Lucas’ father’s name and he didn’t even know who he was.
How was that fair to either one of them?
Lucas must have fallen asleep because he woke up to Levi standing over him by his bed. Lucas rolled over, wiping his nose as he looked up at his best friend.
