Falling for Fallon (Oak Hill 2)

I shook my head harshly. No, if my father knew I was with Emmett, he would have snatched me up by the arm and dragged me back home.

Relax.

My hand shook as I turned my phone back on. I leaned back on the car, waiting for Emmett to return to help subside this ridiculous bout of anxiety I was having.

My heart squeezed in my chest as my phone came back to life, the multicolored background displaying all the pretty colors. I exhaled loudly. Whew. Nothing.

Then my stomach fel

l to the ground. My hand was vibrating from the constant notifications.

Text after text, voicemail after voicemail. They were coming through my phone one after another. There were so many that I couldn’t even get to the dial pad.

It finally stopped, and instead of looking at the texts, I pressed play on the voicemail from my father.

His voice was hoarse, demeaning. “Fallon, get your ass home right now!” There was a bit of shuffling on the other end as if he were pacing. Typical. “Your mother… your mother saw some guy going into the guesthouse last night. You better not be with that man I warned you to stay away from. You get yourself home right this instant. I already searched the guesthouse—nothing but messy sheets and empty condom wrappers, which is completely appalling.” Then I heard my mom’s shrill voice in the background. My eyes widened. “Condom wrappers? What?! You said there was nothing!”

Then the voicemail stopped.

I felt like I was bleeding and I couldn’t get it to stop. There were two more voicemails. My heart was beating so fast I felt woozy, dizzy. I pressed myself even further onto the side of the car. I glanced up and saw Emmett paying for something at the register but hurriedly went back to my voicemails.

My father’s voice was even more belittling. “Fallon, you need to call me back this instant. Your mother is in hysterics! This is so typical of you. We finally find someone suitable for you, and you go off and run away with some schmuck.”

I choked back my fear and listened to the last voicemail. It was an hour after the last.

This time, my father not only had anger laced in his voice, but he also sounded ruthless, conniving. I almost puked. “I know who he is, Fallon. I’ll ruin him and that poor excuse of a business of his if you don’t get your ass back home right now and make this right. I said it was the final straw, and I wasn’t lying. I stick to my word. You know that.”

Emmett came out of the gas station, but I couldn’t even conjure up words. He wore a smile that was quickly replaced with a furrowing frown. He rushed over to me, worry clear on his face. “What’s wrong? Are you okay? You look like you’re about to puke or something. Was it the Hot Fries?”

I shook my head quickly and pushed the call back button on my phone. My heart was beating rapidly, banging against my chest so hard that it hurt. My hands were shaking; my head was pounding. I stared at Emmett’s gray t-shirt as my father’s voice rang through the phone.

“Where are you?”

I stuttered. “I’ll be home soon.” Then, I watched as Emmett moved closer to me. He put his hands on my arms and rubbed them up and down. It instantly grounded me. I cleared my throat. “I listened to your voicemail.”

My father stayed silent on the other end of the phone.

“Don’t do anything, please. I heard you. I’ll be back.”

I gulped as his voice hit my ears. “And say goodbye to Emmett. This ends now.”

I felt Emmett’s hands stiffen on my arms, realizing that he, too, heard my father.

My father ended the phone call before I could get another word in. I wasn’t sure what I’d say regardless. He wasn’t the type of man that negotiated. If he said he’d ruin Emmett and his business, I believed him.

He’d done it before—taken down someone he didn’t like for the mere fun of it.

He had money, and he knew how to pull strings. He wasn’t afraid in the least.

I quickly realized my chest was heaving, and I couldn’t catch my breath. I was gasping for air, wheezing. Tears were streaming down my face, and my teeth were clenched so tight I thought they might crack. The second Emmett’s hands left my arms, I pulled my arm back and chucked my phone across the gas station pavement. It bounced several times and skidded so far that it hit the dumpster.

I ran my hands through my wavy hair. I almost wanted to pull my hair out—that was how overcome I was with emotion. I sunk down onto my bottom and curled my legs up to my face, burying it into my knees. I wrapped my arms around my shins and continued to let the tears fall.

I knew what I wanted: Emmett.

But that meant I had to give up my entire life. And not only that, if I were to stay with Emmett, my father would probably come after him. Destroy his business one way or another.

I couldn’t do that to him.