After all the shit she’d told me last night, I knew that my words were no doubt affecting her.
It seemed like she had a hard time thinking of herself. It made me wonder what she truly wanted out of life. What would she do with her life if she weren’t tied to marrying some hotshot CEO asshat? What would she do if she did what I did—just said “fuck it” and left? I almost wanted to sketch my tattoo, the one she was so interested in, onto a bunch of sticky notes and place them all around her house, her car, everywhere, to remind her that she could do the same.
That she should do the same.
And I wasn’t just saying that because I wanted her to be mine.
I truly felt like she needed to do what made her happy, not what made her parents happy.
I hated everything she’d told me last night, and I had to hold back all the shit I wanted to say, because what I really wanted to say was probably too harsh for her to hear. I wanted to grab her by her slender shoulders and tell her it was crazy as hell to be giving up her happiness—her entire life—all because she was terrified of what would happen if she were to turn her back.
But I couldn’t do that.
It was her life.
Her decision.
I tried to imagine what I’d do in her situation, but it was so farfetched that I couldn’t imagine what I would do. An arranged marriage… I didn’t even think those were a thing anymore. The entire thing was ridiculous.
The thing with Fallon, though, was that she was too damn sweet to wipe her hands of her family. I could tell that by the look on her face last night. It was almost as if she was enshrouded from the real world by her parents’ views and beliefs.
I sighed and changed the subject after my thoughts started to weigh on me. Things were getting too serious, too fast. “Okay, I think we should talk about this bucket list.”
Fallon blinked a few times before settling on my face. Her expression was completely unreadable. “You’re really still gonna help me?”
I raised an eyebrow and put my hand on my bare chest dramatically. “You must not think much of me, Fallon.” I shook my head, removing my hand. “Did you really think I’d bring you here last night to fuck you, after everything you told me, and then just dip out?”
She pulled into herself and placed her head down on her knees. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did. I mean…” Fallon’s voice was muffled. “I am marrying someone else.”
I ground my teeth before I reached over and put my hand under her chin, pulling those baby-blues back up to mine. “I’m not going anywhere until I have to. We’re finishing this bucket list, and we’re gonna have some fucking fun. You got it?”
A barely there smile appeared out of thin air, and the gratification it sent to my heart was hard to ignore. “I got it.”
I smiled. “Okay then. Give me a second. I’m gonna go grab my phone from my pants… that are still in the living room from when you stripped me naked and had your way with me.”
Fallon gasped, her small mouth opening wide. “I... I did not!”
I threw my head back and laughed, climbing out of the bed.
Once I got to the door, still butt-ass naked, I turned my head around quickly because I k
new that she would be watching me strut across the floor. I raised an eyebrow and cleared my throat. Fallon’s eyes flew up from my ass to my eyes, and then she buried her head into her knees to hide her reddening face.
I shouted as I continued walking through my apartment. “Don’t worry, Fallon. You’ll get to feel my ass soon enough.”
She didn’t say anything, and I chuckled to myself as I grabbed my jeans and fetched my phone.
When I got back to the bedroom, I laughed out loud. Fallon was still sitting up in my bed, but instead of her head being buried into her knees, she had taken the gray sheet and pulled it up over her head.
She looked like a poor rendition of a ghost on Halloween. All she needed was a black Sharpie to draw eyes and a mouth.
“What are you doing?” I asked, climbing back into bed.
“Hiding. I’m so embarrassing and flustered around you, like, 99% of the time.”
I laughed and pulled the covers off her head. Her hair was a wispy mess, but her cheeks were resuming to normal. She peeked over at me, and I grinned. “I love that you’re flustered around me.”
“Why?” she asked, running her fingers through her hair.