4. Tacos + Teasing

I trudge my way up the front porch steps, still shivering from that damned motorcycle ride, and carry my mom's bong inside.

Now that Jayce is in my friggin' house, I realize just how small, old and unkempt it is. I should really clean more.

I walk into the kitchen as mom places four tacos onto a plate, cheese and toppings trailing behind them, and sets them down in front of Jayce, who instantly goes to grub city.

"So, honey," Mom drawls, smiling at me, her eyes bloodshot and slightly more closed than a sober person's would be. "You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend."

Jayce looks at me with a huge smirk, quickly raising his eyebrows and flipping his hair out of his eyes, awaiting my reply and shoveling chips in his mouth as if he hasn't eaten in a week.

"I-uh," I stutter, completely taken aback by the entire situation. This night has gone so totally differently than I wanted it to. "He's not my boyfriend, mom. He gave me a ride home from a party after I had to much to drink."

She looks like she's trying to be motherly and upset that I just confessed I had been drinking, but she knows there's literally no way she can get me in trouble when every waking moment she has some form of alcohol in her system. "That was awfully kind of—," she glances at Jayce.

"Jayce," he's barely able to say his name because his mouth is so full. It makes me internally chuckle. He eats like it's a contest.

"Jayce," mom slurs. "Well, thank you, Jayce, for bringing my Tink home safe and sound. This is one of the first times I'm meeting one of my kids' school friends. Except Presley, of course," she shoots an accusing look at me, which is met by nothing but a challenge in my eyes. "It's very nice to meet you, Jayce. Feel free to stay as long as you'd like." She gives him a winning smile, ruffles his hair, grabs a bottle of wine and goes into the other room. Cringe. "Oh, by the way, honey!" She shouts from a room over, "Isabel brought over a thing for you tonight. Something about an Ariel outfit? I put it in your room," I hear the TV turn on as I internally groan.

Jayce's eyes are flicking back and forth between me and the other room, no doubt sensing the tension and bitterness, especially coming from me.

"Ariel outfit?" He asks with a curious grin, wisely choosing to not ask about my mother. "I want to see."

"Too bad," I sigh, stripping his jacket off and throwing it back at him. "You can go now," I head upstairs, leaving him with no invitation to follow. I make it to my room, but apparently, the fucker doesn't need an invitation and is perfectly happy to make himself at home wherever he goes because as soon as I open the door to my room, he walks in, slings his leather jacket over my desk chair and sits down in it, looking very pleased with himself.

"Why do you have an Ariel outfit?" He asks in a troublemaking tone, nodding toward the purple shell bra and long, sparkly green skirt hanging on my closet door.

Isabel, my go-to seamstress, had been altering it for me and I guess she just finished it up a few hours ago. She's the best.

"It's for work," I say, finally ripping my heels off my feet and chucking them into my closet before curling into a ball on my bed spread. I close my eyes in an attempt to hint that I don't want him here.

"What do you do for work?" Jayce questions. Why the fuck is he suddenly so interested in my personal life? I squint through my eyelashes to see him inspecting the pictures I have plastered on my wall.

"People pay me to dress up like a princess and come to their kids' parties for entertainment," I say, getting curious about why he seems to care so much. I sit up, a little too quickly, a woozy feeling washing over me thanks to my good buddy, beer.

"Can I pay you to dress up and entertain me?" He asks smugly, smirking suggestively. "Who's this?" He asks before I can reply, turning away from me and pointing at a photo on my wall. He's so damn curious. It's kind of adorable.

No, stop.

I feel the familiar pang of sadness in the pit of my stomach as I realize what picture he's talking about. It's of a little blonde girl with pigtails, sitting on the shoulders of a handsome dark-haired, grey-eyed man. Both are smiling ear-to-ear, clearly laughing.

"That's me and my dad," I say, trying to keep my voice strong. Damn all that alcohol for making me feel extra emotional.

"Are he and your mom still together?" He asks innocently, still scanning the photos and other sentimental items I have tacked on my walls, like soccer medals and school awards.

"Not exactly," I say with a small smile, feeling tears gathering in my eyes.

Jayce turns around when my voice catches in my throat. "What do you mean?" He asks, quickly crossing my room in two long strides and sitting down next to me on the bed.

"He was murdered when I was 5. Actually, just a couple days after that photo was taken," I look up at the ceiling, forcing the tears to not spill over.

"Oh shit, I'm so sorry, Fallon," Jayce runs his hand through his hair, clearly a bit uncomfortable.

"Yeah," I sniffle. Damn him and his caring eyes. "Let's talk about something else," I say, "Like why you suddenly have an interest in my personal life?"

He shoots me a brilliant smile. "I'm intrigued by you," he scoots a little closer to me, causing my stomach knot to tighten. "But you don't seem to be very interested in me," he says, his intense brown eyes flickering with wonder.

"Your reputation precedes you," I shrug. "And based on it, your assessment is correct: I'm not interested in getting to know you, Solis."

Fuck, I'm lying. I'm so fucking lying. Even though I'm drunk as a skunk right now, I still don't want to give him the satisfaction of yet another girl falling all over him. No way.

"Well," he says, scooting closer to me again so that our thighs are touching. I ignore the electricity that pulses through me at his touch. "If you weren't interested in me, you wouldn't have been trying so hard to make me jealous tonight," he says, smirking with satisfaction, his face dangerously close to mine.

"I was not trying to make you jealous," I lie, my voice small and my breathing rapid as I glance between Jayce's perfect smirk and deep brown eyes.

"If you really weren't, you wouldn't have gotten so worked up when I called you out on it," he says, his voice dropping to a crazy sexual, low tone as he stares into my eyes. "And, I think my reputation makes you curious," his voice is slow and husky and I can feel his hot breath on my neck. Goosebumps erupt across my skin and my eyes flutter shut as my heart races. "And I think that no matter what you do, you eventually won't be able to resist me any more," he whispers in my ear, his stubble lightly tickling the side of my face.

And just like that, he's off the bed. My eyes snap open to see him standing in the doorway, his back towards me.

He looks over his shoulder and smiles with an impossibly arrogant, alluring glint in his eyes, "Have a good weekend, Tink."

I hear him make his way downstairs and out the front door. He revs the engine on his bike and takes off down the street, leaving me sitting on my bed, in need of an extremely cold shower.

Fuck his suave ass, honestly. Damn him, too. What the hell did he think he was playing at? Now that his devilishly enchanting self was out of my sight, I remembered that I was still pissed at him for humiliating me at the party, and yet, he had totally been able to mess with me even more. What is wrong with me?

Ugh. It must be the alcohol. If my brain was functioning at full capacity, none of this would've happened. Don't ever take up drinking, kids.

Or maybe his legendary seduction powers are actually sinking in. I hate the fact that part of me wants to find out. The other part is pissed as hell at him and wants him to just stop messing with me so my life and routines can go back to normal.

Damn him. Again.

I shoot Haven a text that I got a ride and ask Presley to please let me know when she gets home.

After I take an aspirin and drink a full cup of water, I hop in the shower, frustrated and forcing myself to not think about the ridiculously handsome goalie that had been whispering in my ear not three minutes ago. The alcohol is still very much in my system and is definitely not helping my attempts to cool myself down.

The shower feels so nice and relaxing that after a couple of minutes, I almost fall asleep standing up. I can barely keep my eyes open as sleep encroaches on me with merciless speed. As I climb slowly into bed, I register two things: one, I can still feel a tiny tingle on my neck from the memory Jayce's breath left behind, and two, there was a forgotten black leather riding jacket still draped over the back of my desk chair.

~

After a deep sleep filled with entirely too many images of brown eyes and smirks, I wake up Saturday morning feeling surprisingly refreshed.

I check my phone to see that it's a little past noon, and that I have two texts. The first one is from Presley, it came in around 7am this morning.

I'm not entirely sure what to think about that. This Cole guy still gives me a weird feeling but, I'm glad that she's happy for now. I reply by asking her if she wants to hang out today, though I'm sure she'll be sleeping for a while.

The next text is from a number that's not saved in my phone.

Huh. I don't actually have a Tinkerbell costume, but I would totally make one. I'll get to live up to my nickname.

I roll out of bed, impressed with the massive bed head I'm currently sporting and head down to the kitchen to make some coffee, despite the fact that it's noon.

Right as I'm filling a mug with the fresh brew, Presley comes bounding into the kitchen.

"Well, hello," I giggle, sipping on my steaming coffee. "How the hell are you awake?"

She giggles and grabs a mug. "Adrenaline," she replies simply, flipping her hair over her shoulder and reaching for the coffee pot.

"Ah," I reply. "Cole?"

"YES!" She pounds her hands on the counter and does a little dancey jump. "He's so amazing, Fal."

"Amazing in general or amazing in the bedroom?" Her enthusiasm makes me smile.

"Both," she raises her eyebrows suggestively. "We were texting all night and when he realized I didn't have a ride home, he'd insisted on coming to get me."

"Did he know you were drinking, little miss under 21?" I tease, remembering Cole is Goldcrest's Chief of Police.

She furrows her brows together. "I mean, I didn't exactly tell him, but I'm pretty sure he could tell. Everyone flipped their shit when a police cruiser pulled up to the house. It was hilarious," she cackles, her messy hair jostling with her laughter.

I shake my head, smiling at her. I love my best friend so damn much.

"What happened after he picked you up?" I pull a banana off the counter and start peeling away the skin, playing dumb.

"Oh, you know..." She smiles, looking sheepishly at her feet and pushing her hair behind her ear. I've never known her to not kiss and tell. I'm kind of impressed. Maybe he actually will be good for her, despite the feeling in my gut.

"Well, Pres," I say with a mouth full of banana. "As long as you're happy, I'm happy," I smile at her with fruit in my teeth, which elicits a laugh from her.

"Also, he invited me to a charity ball that the station is hosting at the convention center two weeks from now," her grin is as wide as the Cheshire Cat's.

"Oh, wow," I set down my mug, unable to hide my shock. "Won't that be, like, pretty... Public?" I hate myself for not being fully supportive right off the bat, but honestly, this guy must not have a drop of common sense if he's seriously considering bringing a 17 year old as his date to a work event. Can he really not wait 12 months for her to turn 18 before they take everything public? If something happens, it wouldn't only screw him over, but it would hurt Presley, too. And I'm so not cool with this guy risking her future just so he can 'feel young again,' or whatever.

"Chill, Fallon," Presley says soberingly. "I'm not going as his date. He already has a date he's got to take for appearance's sake - the mayor's daughter or something like that. He just wants me to be there so we can have eye sex across the room and meet up afterwards," her eyes sparkle and I can tell her mind is in a fantasy, not in my kitchen.

This entire thing is very odd, but against my better judgement, I keep my mouth shut and smile.

"He actually gave me two tickets," she says, her eyes coming back to reality. "Would you come with me?"

I can't help but smile as she beams at me, as radiant as the sun. I take a deep breath in and exhale slowly. It might be a good idea for me to meet this guy. Make sure he's not too slimy. I press my lips together and force a smile. "Sure."

She squeals and does a happy dance before wrapping me in a suffocating hug. "This is going to be so fun! Let's go dress shopping!"

"Right now?" I laugh and look down at myself in my pajamas with a bed head.

"Yes!" She grabs my shoulders, twists me around and smacks my bum. "Go upstairs and get changed!"

I laugh and make my way up the steps. Sleep still hasn't left me completely, but the idea of a ball actually does sound fun and pretty damn magical, even if we will probably be the only teenagers there.

I change into light wash, high-waisted jean shorts and a cream crop top, pull my hair back into a ponytail and do a five minute makeup routine.

Descending the stairs, I remember the booking request text from this morning and make a mental note to pick up the items I'll need to make a Tinkerbell outfit.

Presley and I head to her car, which is a little Fiat. It's baby blue and beautiful and I absolutely love riding in it. Her parents bought it for her as soon as she got her license. Ariana Grande blasts over her flawless, custom sound system as we head to the mall.

I can hardly believe that she's still so full of energy, but I guess it make sense. The blossoming of a new love is exhilarating, to say the least. I'm not sure why Cole gives me the creeps, especially since I've never even met him, but I don't want to ruin Presley's high with too much of my cautiousness and doubt.

A sudden reminder of last night's kitchen scene with Jayce and Deion hits the pit of my stomach. I need to know the status of my reputation - is it still (hopefully) non-existent? Or did Jayce's performance actually put me on the radar with the other desperate girls trying to get with Goldcrest's great goalie?

"So..." I start as we arrive at the mall. "What happened after I left the party last night?"

Presley shrugs, "Jayce and Deion started arguing. I thought they were going to start fighting, but Deion backed down and left. Jayce peeled out on his bike right after. Honestly, Fallon, I think most people had forgotten about it within ten minutes. Everyone was drunk or high or both."

I let out a huge sigh that I hadn't even realized I'd been holding in. Hopefully, nothing else crazy will happen and I can keep flying under the radar for these last two years of high school.

"Wait..." Presley scrunches up her face. "How did you get home after you stormed out?"

Here we go.

"Jayce actually found me, apologized and gave me a ride home."

Presley stops in her tracks, pausing in the entrance of the first store. Her eyes get wide and she looks at me like she's about to implode. "Are you fucking serious?" I can tell she's trying to contain her excitement.

"Yes," I say slowly, turning to sift through the dresses hanging on the racks. I tell her about what Deion's motives had been and how Jayce had actively protected me. By the time I finish, her mouth looks like the LOL meme.

"WHAT?!" She shouts, causing several heads to turn in our direction. She lowers her voice, "What the hell is wrong with Deion? That's so fucking fucked up." She shakes her head back and forth with a look of disgust. Anger blazes in her eyes, but within moments they move from angry to dreamy as she pipes up again, "But then Jayce swooped in and saved the day! So what happened when he dropped you off?!" She's jumping and dancing in place now. I should really try to be that enthusiastic when she talks to me about Cole.

"I mean, mom was smoking on the porch and invited him in for munchies, then she called him my boyfriend. I went up to my room and he followed me—"

"—FALLON RHODES, DID YOU DO THE HANKY PANKY WITH JAYCE SOLIS?!" Presley screeches in the middle of the store.

"No!" I hiss at her, smacking her hand and bowing my head in an attempt to hide behind the dress rack in front of me. "He just asked about my job, looked at the pictures on my wall and asked about my dad," my voice hushes even more as I say, "And then he proceeded to tease the living hell out of me by whispering in my ear and telling me that eventually, I won't be able to control my curiosity and will be incapable of resisting him. Then he left."

Presley looks like she's going to strangle me. "You better not be fucking with me right now," she points an accusing finger in front of my nose.

"Believe me, I wish I was," I let out a light laugh.

"Oh my GOD! He wants you, and you aren't letting him have you!" She flashes me a huge, excited grin before she spins on the spot and runs over to another store, dramatically shouting, "This is fucking rich!" With her hands waving above her head.

I follow in her footsteps, chuckling to myself. She's insane. Jayce definitely does not want me. He just wants someone. He wants another conquest, another notch in his belt. If I'm perfectly honest with myself, I think that's the main reason I do my best to curb his advances - I know that in his eyes, I'm nothing special. I know that to him, I'm just a good screw. And I refuse to let myself be that degraded.

Presley waltzes into the next store and beelines for a red dress. She plucks it off the rack and drags me back to the dressing rooms with her.

"What are you going to do about him, Fal? I mean, he's hot as hell! Why not give him a good bang?" She asks as she slips into the red satin dress. It fits her perfectly.

"You look fucking incredible," I tell her, appreciating her beauty.

"You think?" She asks, turning around to look at her ass in the mirror.

"Hell yeah! You need to get that," I nod. "Cole will lose his mind at the sight of you."

"Perfect," she giggles. "Now, stop changing the subject," she gives me a stern look as we head toward the check out. "The hottest guy in school and probably the entire state, who also happens to be showing massive interest in you, is clearly trying to get with you and you're not letting him. What's your problem?"

I shrug as the familiar knot in my stomach begins twisting itself up. "I don't want to be 'got,' Pres," I admit. "To him, I'm a fun night, a good time for a couple hours. I really don't want to be another girl that he gets his hands on. Besides, I have school and soccer and the business to focus on. I can't let myself get distracted by some boy."

"That's real noble and all," Presley rolls her eyes. "But c'mon! I know you. When have you ever said no to a guy who's hella hot, who isn't clingy and doesn't do relationships, who wants to itch your scratch?" She raises an eyebrow at me, clearly referring to the partner choices I've made.

It's not like I've slept with a hundred guys, but over the years I've found three or four who live in close-ish cities and don't want sex to equal a relationship. We'd have sex for a few months but inevitably the guy I was with would start getting too attached and I had to end things, even though there wasn't much to end. Presley has always gotten a kick out of it and calls me a 'manizer.'

My most recent "break up," if you could even call it that, was with a guy called Leo who lives in a town about an hour north of Goldcrest. I ended things with him in July, about two months ago. I hadn't found a replacement since.

"But Pres, those guys all lived in different towns. It's not like I'll run into them in the produce section or see them every fucking day in the hallway. I would not be able to handle the drama and emotional-ness of that shit," I shake my head in clear refusal as Presley heads to the checkout with her dress.

She pays the cashier and saunters out of the store with me in her wake. "Well, I think that the next time he uses his magic man-powers on you, you should give in. God knows I would if it were me," she laughs as she lays out the dress in her backseat. She turns to me and looks me up and down with a pleased expression. "I mean, you're sexy as fuck, you're young and you've got all year to focus on school. Let yourself have some fun, Fal. Live on the wild side. Let Goldcrest's bad boy take you for a ride. Or, take him for a ride," she winks at me before slapping my ass and dashing into the driver's side of her car.

I'm convinced that he's not as crazy about 'getting me' as Presley says he is, but even the idea of Jayce wanting me still lights an annoyingly bright fire inside of me.

After Presley's oh-so-inspiring speech, a part of me is excited for when I see him again, and I hate that I am. I think back to the way he looked at me last night, the way his words sent electricity through my entire body, the way his breath on my neck had made me weak. I know he's a danger to everything I want. But for some reason, in this moment, I don't care.

He's arrogant. He's cocky. He's charming. He's way too handsome for his own good. But he's also got passion, and an enigmatic undercurrent that I seriously want to understand.

I really fucking hope I'm not getting myself in over my head.

~~~

Read on for chapter 5!

⭐️Tap the Star if you're liking Jayce and Fallon's interactions so far!⭐️

💬Comment your thoughts! Has your ship sailed?! I wanna hear from youuuu.💬😘

♥️