Page 9 of Broken Butterfly
He’s not going to answer me. “You are so frustrating!”
For the third time, he asks, “Where do you want to go, Elizabeth?” He drinks his beer while watching me. Waiting.
I bite my lip and look at him, so many thoughts and possibilities run through my head.
“Elizabeth, I’m serious about doing this for you.” His phone rings and a strange expression crosses his face when he looks down at the screen. “Sorry, I’ve got to take this,” he clips and gets up.
I lean my head back on the deck chair and scan the night sky. I can see so many stars. You never realize how much of the night sky you miss out on when you live in a town. The night sky is usually obscured by light pollution from streetlamps and buildings. Gazing upon the star-filled expanse above me makes me think of the night Ryder took me out to his quiet place where we danced under the moonlight. I remember the night of my first date with Jayson when he lit up our tree and we perched on top of one of the branches as we cuddled among the fairy lights. God, I already miss the boys so much. But there’s my problem in a nutshell; the reason I ran to Fallon for help. The old and new parts of me are battling for control inside my mind, leaving me yearning for both Ryder and Jayson. This insane idea of Fallon’s is my chance to decide who I want to be and who I want to be with once and for all. Will Old Elizabeth win out, or will I choose the new life I’ve been creating with Ryder these past several months?
I stand up to stretch my legs and walk around. Fallon’s yacht is gorgeous. He let me explore it a little before dinner. I think tomorrow morning I’ll try out the fitness room. I’m so used to running with Julien in the mornings that I’ll probably be up before five anyway, so I might as well. I stroll around the deck and see Fallon walking back, his head down.
“I said I’m handling it.” He looks up and sees me. “Look, I’ve got to go,” he tells the person on the other end and hangs up.
“What if I want to go to Europe?” I call to him as he slowly approaches.
“Done.”
This guy. I could probably tell him to buy me a tropical island and he would give me the same response.
“Which city?” he asks.
“London. Paris. Venice.”
“Okay.”
I scoff at his easy acceptance. I continue, “Reykjavik. Amsterdam. Barcelona. Sydney.”
“Fine, even though Sydney’s not in Europe.” He smirks. “We can take the family jet. I’ll call and get it ready. We’ll fly out of JFK.”
“I will never be able to pay you back.”
“I would never ask you to, nor would I let you.”
“There’s something I’ve been wondering, Fallon.”
Fallon stops in front of me, the wind ruffling his hair in every direction. “And what would that be, kitten?”
“Why me?”
Even though I had tried to ask him something similar to that earlier, I don’t think he was expecting me to ask again, point blank.Why me? Two words. So simple yet packed with so much meaning.
He takes a lock of my hair and rubs it between his fingers. “I could say that it’s because you’re Ryder’s girl and I owe him one, which means that I’m being a good friend to him by helping you. Or I could say that I’m a nice guy who sees someone in trouble and wants to help out of the kindness of my heart. Instead, I’ll give you a partial truth because you wouldn’t be able to handle the whole truth.”
I snort at his last words. “You did not just semi-quoteA Few Good Mento me.”
Fallon chuckles for a second when he realizes that I’m right, but then plows on. “Why you, you ask?” he casually questions while twining the lock of my hair around his finger and giving it a slight tug to bring my face closer to his. “Because Elizabeth, Ry and Jay aren’t the only ones who want you.”
I literally gasp in surprise. “Fallon, you can’t say things like that to me.”
“Too late. I just did.”
Holy shit. Either Fallon is just messing with my head, playing those cat and mouse games he loves so much, or Julien may have been right about Fallon’s interest in me. I flip back through my memories of Fallon and I decide it’s best to assume he’s just toying with me. Besides, I have too many other things to concern myself with other than Fallon’s maybe, not-really-sure desire for me. The guy is a total man-slut who has had sex with who knows how many girls from both my school and his, and who knows how many more at CU. The fact that I was never interested in him would be like dangling chocolate cake in front of a starving person, making him want me because he could never have me. So, I do the only thing I can at this moment. I ignore his remark.
“I have one condition, Fallon.”
“Name it.”
“You have to either call or text Ryder, Julien, or Jayson every day, so they all know that I’m okay. Otherwise, turn the boat around and take me back.”
