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“Oh my God.” Fallon’s jaw drops. “That’s evil.”
I shrug. “We were kids!”
We’re laughing our asses off and when Fallon leans into me, I feel her body heat and smell her shampoo. I’m tempted to wrap my arm around her and pull her closer.
“That kind of reminds me of something that happened to my older sister when I was a kid. But to make matters worse, she had snuck her boyfriend over instead of her best friend,” Fallon says with a grin. “There was another time my mom caught them making out on her bed. After that, there was a strict open-door policy, and no boys allowed in our rooms. You’d think they were having sex or something by the way my mom acted, but they weren’t.”
“Oh man. I bet that was embarrassing for her,” Oakley says.
“It’s okay, though. My sister actually married that boy, so it all worked out.”
“I bet your mom had countless stories to tell at the wedding,” Oakley says.
Fallon gives a small smile that doesn’t quite meet her eyes. “Unfortunately, no. She passed away before she got the chance to do that.”
Awkwardness fills the room, and Oakley apologizes profusely. I’m angry with myself for not knowing this and somewhat hurt that she didn’t tell me. Not that she owes me details about her life, but she already knows so much about me and my life.
“I’m so sorry,” I offer.
Fallon shakes her head. “No, it’s okay. I forgot for a moment that you guys don’t know about my past. I’m so used to everyone knowing, and I just got lost in the moment.” She pauses for a moment. “Guess my sister is right. I really am the grinch and am apparentlyreallygreat at ruining good times. Please forgive me.” Fallon sets her half-full glass on the coffee table and smiles.
“You’re not a grinch,” Oakley speaks up, quickly changing the subject. I’m appreciative of how intuitive she is. “Now this guy, he was the grinchiest grinch I’d ever met.”
Finn furrows his brow. “Am not.”
“Bullshit. You still are sometimes. Get this…” Oakley says. “When I first arrived, he was so damn rude. Didn’t even introduce himself! He picked me up from the airport, and it was an hour of pure awkward silence.”
“That must’ve been uncomfortable as hell.”
“It waspainful,” Oakley admits, laughing at Finn.
“Okay, I think you might actually have me beat,” Fallon concedes.
“Pfft. You literally pepper sprayed me in my own house,” I argue. “I think you might win this one.”
Fallon beams. “And you were naked.”
“It was mybedroom,” I remind her, though she doesn’t need it.
“Imagine a strange naked man walking toward you in a place you thought you just rented. I thought he was there to murder me! What would you do?”
“I don’t blame you one bit,” Oakley agrees. “Too bad I didn’t have any Mace on hand when I met you,” she directs to Finn.
“For what? I let you stay in my house—sleep in my bed, rather,—and I drove your ass around,” Finn reminds her, and Fallon and I laugh.
“Yes, but you were grumpy about it the whole time.”
“Well…” I grin. “Not thewholetime. You two were pretty handsy.”
“I eventually won him over.” Oakley beams.
Finn turns to Fallon. “Have you tasted his famous gingersnap cookies yet?”
“The ones at the shop?” Fallon asks.
“Yep, those are the ones,” Finn confirms. “But no one knows how to make them. The top secret recipe has been in their family for seven generations. You basically have to be a White or marry one. Apparently being his childhood best friend wasn’t even enough to get it.”
Fallon snorts.
