“What are you going to do to me if I refuse?” I wondered, and he took in a deep breath.
“I’m becoming fond of you, Aspen, so let’s not discuss that. I’m certain we can come to an agreement that suits us both.”
“Look,” I said quickly, ignoring the sudden racing of my heart as very rational fear bloomed in my bloodstream. “I get where you’re coming from. You’re worried he won’t stay on track or whatever. But,” I continued before he could respond. “He’s doing everything right as it is, and we aren’t dating or anything. So… Nothing has to change, right? As long as I… Stick around?”
“Go on,” he invited, though I could tell he wasn’t totally sold.
“We work together,” I repeated. “And we’re in a bunch of the same classes. I’m at his house basically every Friday night. It’s not like I could avoid him even if I was trying.”
Faulkner let out a light sigh, like he was thinking about it. On the table next to me, my phone screen lit up with a text message. It was from Caelyx.
Come over tonight. I haven’t seen you since the party.
It was innocent-ish enough, if he hadn’t immediately followed it with another message.
I can’t stop thinking about how hot it felt when you were coming in my hand. I want to feel with my tongue next time.
My arm whipped out from my side so I could grab my phone and flip it face down, smacking it back onto the table. My pulse was rampaging as heat flooded my whole body. You let a guy put his hand down your pants at a party once, and suddenly he feels empowered to sext you on a random Monday. Fucking pervert.
“Was that him?” Faulkner wondered, tilting his head, and I thanked all the gods that he couldn’t read it from his side of the table.
“No,” I lied. I knew my face was probably redder than a tomato.
“Really?” He asked, that smug expression returning, like he knew I was full of shit.
“My youth pastor sends me daily bible verses,” I responded flatly. He raised an eyebrow, smiling politely.
“Oh, I’m sure.”
“Anyway,” I said, squeezing the bridge of my nose with my fingers to try and ward off what felt like a massive incoming headache. “Like I said, even if I wanted to, there’s no way for me to just dip out on him, okay? You don’t need to worry about that.”
He shifted in his seat, tapping his fingers on the table as he seemed to consider my words. I waited silently, hoping he would believe me, and wondering what the hell I’d gotten myself into. Or more accurately, what Caelyx had gotten me into.
“I’ll, once again, be transparent in that this is not how I wanted this conversation to go,” he eventually said. I didn’t know if it was blind optimism, but I thought I could detect a note of resignation in his voice, which meant he was at least considering that he wouldn’t have to literally force me to date his son. “But I understand your side of it, too. I want to think that I can trust you, Aspen.CanI trust you?”
“Yeah,” I answered instantly, hoping it sounded convincing. I wasn’t lying. I didn’t have any plans of packing up and disappearing. “You can trust me.”
He nodded slowly, pursing his lips. “Then it sounds like we won’t have any problems. But I will be watching,” he warned me. “And I will intervene if I have to. And I don’t think you want that.”
I shook my head quickly. “N-no. There’s not going to be any problems. Nothing’s going to change.”
“Well, let’s hope that any changes are changes for the better, hm?” He mused, and I wasn’t exactly sure what he meant, but I nodded anyway.
He picked up his phone, typing on it, before mine vibrated next to me.
“That message is from me,” he said. “I’ll reach out to you when I need to. It should go without saying that Caelyx can’t find out about this.”
“Of course,” I agreed. “I won’t say anything to him.”
“Then for now, I’m glad we’ve come to a… Compromise.”
He was being civil about it, but it was obvious he wasn’t used to being told no. I really hoped he wouldn’t resent me for it, because the last thing I needed in my already precarious life was for some powerful billionaire sitting in his mansion seething over me.
“Um, yeah, me too.”
When he was ready for us to part ways, he reminded me that we’d probably be speaking again soon, but told me not to dwell on it.
Easier said than done.
