“I’ll help you find Kelly.” He held onto my arm to steady me.

I held up my hand, breathing heavily. “Don’t. I'd rather not be seen with you and have your girlfriend gunning for me too. There are too many people who want to see me fall right now before I take over my company.” God, this nausea was killing me.

Tucking my phone to my chest, I tried to stand up to move past him but was stuck behind his arm.

He rubbed his free hand across his face, a little bit of blood smearing from the cut on his lip. “You don’t need to worry about her or anyone else for that matter. I can handle it.”

“You should also clean up your hands and face. Probably before you see anyone else.”

His face softened further, and he got far too close to me. His eyes were still wild enough and his jaw muscles flickering with his thoughts. A hand came up to my face while he was still leaning over me, arm over my head. “I should.”

My eyes flicked down before I could look at his mouth. “Yeah, you should.”

“Mhm,” his lips brushed mine.

I obliged his mouth with mine, tasting the copper flavor of his blood on my tongue. What am I doing?

“Uh, guys?” Kelly’s voice made Brent stiffen and turn to face her. “What the hell happened to your face?”

​Chapter 27

Fallon

“So...what happened?” Kelly shut the door to her car.

We decided to go to the festival after all. I wanted to go and have fun despite the chaos swirling around. Dodging Alexander would be a challenge, though.

I bit my lip and played with my hands. “A lot happened.”

“Clearly,” she scoffed, “I see you getting dragged away by Garrett, and then come find you kissing Brent with a bunch of dudes in the background stomping each other out.”

Clicking the lock button on her key fob, we went to stand in line at the entrance booth for the festival.

“Things are a bit weird,” I admitted as the employee put on my wristband.

“At least he’s hot, right?” She chuckled.

I rolled my eyes and grasped her hand, swinging our arms as we walked through the gate.

The festival was beautiful. Cold air wrapped around me with the smell of smoke, cinnamon, and wood intermingling, making Halloween feel even closer. Traditional fall festival booths were scattered around, a corn maze boasted a few acres of confusion, and there were plenty of snacks to try.