Page 41 of Secrets We Fight
“There has to be a way,” Declan wondered.
There was, but the only one I wanted to be with couldn’t be out in the open with me. My friends Tyler and Hayden had dealt with a similar situation when they were messing around while Hayden was our professor. They had almost gotten caught by the school, but they hadn’t. They didn’t have to wait even a year to be out together, and I had four long years if I kept seeing Rhett.
As I continued to drive and my friends chatted amongst themselves, I realized even though Rhett and I couldn’t go out to dinner as a couple or kiss under the trellis in Christopher Columbus Park, we could do other things out in the open that wouldn’t get questioned. Or at least I hoped that would be the case.
Could we go to a movie with Rhett sitting next to me while the other agents sat a few rows back? Could we watch a play at the opera house under the same circumstances? Maybe take Poppy to the chocolate factory and say my dad arranged a private tour. We could make our own chocolates and include the other agents, but also share stolen glances and secret touches. We could go ice skating on Frog Pond, and I could accidentally fall on top of him.
So many ideas swirled through my head, and I wasn’t sure if any of them would work, but I had to try because the last few days had been torture. I hated it. I felt as though I couldn’t text him back right away because I didn’t want him to know I was happy he’d texted. I missed him, and while it had scared me before, I had to think something more was possible, given he was the only man I had ever wanted to date.
I suddenly didn’t want to go to the club anymore, but since I had my friends in tow, I figured I had to. I didn’t even have the prepaid phone with me so I could occupy my time and text Rhett.
Since the Secret Service was following me, they had instructed me to pull my Mustang up to the front and wait while they went inside, then an agent would take my car to park it. I did just that and, like the time I came with Rhett, I walked into the nightclub with Agent Bernard at my side. This time, my friends were following, and we all beelined for the bar.
My friends and I ordered our drinks, I paid, and then we turned to watch the dance floor.
After several minutes, Luca asked Declan, “Anyone catching your eye?”
“Not yet.”
“What about you, Fallon?” Luca turned to me.
“Nah. You?”
“There is one hottie out there.”
He pointed his finger toward someone on the dance floor, and when I saw who it was, my mouth hit the floor. The guy dancing was a former fraternity brother of mine at Hawkins U: Ford Mahoney. He’d been in the closet and had dated Tyler on the down-low at the beginning of our senior year. Ford had caused a big stink when he caught Tyler and Hayden together and almost had Hayden fired from HU. When I found out what he’d done, I kicked Ford out of our fraternity since I was the president. It didn’t matter much. A few weeks later, all of us graduated and went our separate ways, but at the time Tyler was pissed. So was I, because even though Hayden was breaking the rules by dating Tyler, their love was real. So much so the two were getting married.
“Don’t do it,” I told Luca. “That guy’s bad news.”
“Really? You know him?” he asked.
I nodded. “We were in the same fraternity. We were friends until he tried to fuck over my friend Tyler. It was a whole thing, and I haven’t talked to him since.”
“That’s a shame,” Marco chimed in. “He’s cute.”
Ford was good-looking, but looks had nothing to do with how much of an asshole he was back then. He hadn’t always been that way. Sure, he was a cocky frat guy who banged any chick who wanted to be with him, but he was also fighting with himself about his sexuality. If he hadn’t tried to get Hayden fired—because he somehow thought it would make Tyler want to get back together with him—then maybe we would still be friends. Since he was in a gay club, I had to think that things had changed in his life, but I wasn’t about to go chat with him—or more.
“He’s too young for me,” Declan stated. “I’m thinking I want to try someone older. Maybe have them teach me a few things.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t mind finding a daddy,” Marco agreed.
My watch vibrated with a text from an unknown number.
Come to the bathroom
I glanced across the club to where the restrooms were in the back. Rhett was there, and he nudged his head for me to follow. Since I didn’t have the prepaid phone, he’d texted my regular one.
“I need to hit the little boys’ room. I’ll be back.”
“Already breaking the seal?” Declan razzed me.
“Fuck, I know.” I chuckled. “Can’t help it.”
I downed my vodka soda and placed the empty cup on the bar. Agent Bernard followed as I headed toward the restroom. My watch buzzed again.
Let Bernard do a sweep and then make him stand down the hall
I took out my phone and replied:
