Falcon Point : Deception Read online

  The back door swings open and I see a flash of blonde hair. I turn my attention over, Holy shit. She is beautiful. I know who she is, Blu’s cousin, Steeley Smith. I haven't seen her in years. I remember her being a pretty girl back then but now, she is gorgeous. Her skin is tan like she just came off the beach, her long blonde hair goes over her shoulder hanging almost to her belly button. Her green eyes are probably the purest I have ever seen. She’s petite, but her figure is perfect. They say dynamite comes in small packages. I am smiling, looking directly at her and she is looking right back at me. She almost looks stunned, am I staring? Shit.

  I rip my gaze away looking back over to Jake. She walks over, thumps him on the head and plops down in the lawn chair.

  “I’ll remember that” Jake mumbles as he rubs his head where she thumped him.

  She laughs, and again, Holy shit. It sends a really weird feeling straight through to my damn toes. Blu comes out with his cutting board of veggies with two girls behind him. I recognize them both, Sloan Anderson and Willa Tate.

  “Girls do y'all remember Pace McCoy?” Blu says as he dumps the veggies on the grill.

  They all say yes and my eyes dart to Steeley to see if she remembers.

  “Y’all glad to be out of that place?” I ask all of them in general.

  “God yes,” Willa responds. “I was over it.”

  I have heard of Willa’s reputation; I hear she can party with the best of them.

  Sloan chimes in, “it’s so nice to not have to worry about all the bullshit anymore.”

  “Agreed,” Steeley says, crossing her legs. “The only thing I’m going to miss is cheer.”

  So, she’s a cheerleader. Nice.

  “Me too, I enjoyed the view of those short skirts y’all pranced around in,” Jake says winking at Steeley.

  “You're such a perv,” she says while rolling her eyes.

  “Speaking of pervs, how's Owen?” He asks with a shit eating grin.

  She narrows her eyes. “He is fine, and he is not a pervert.”

  Who the hell is Owen?

  “Please, I can spot one a mile away, that boyfriend of yours ain't all he seems,” Jake argues.

  So, she has a boyfriend. Of course, she does.

  “I am not having this conversation with you Jake,” she says, folding her arms.

  Blu intervenes, “okay you two let's not spoil this lovely dinner I have prepared by making a hostile environment.”

  We laugh as we stand and begin to make our plates.

  I don’t get to talk with Steeley one on one directly, but we are all in conversation together. I learned a few things about her, one she has a boyfriend, two she is going to Nolan Community College, three she is eighteen, Praise God. And she apparently wants to be a private investigator.

  “Do you remember the time we went undercover for Terryn Jones? She thought her boyfriend was cheating on her and wanted proof,” Sloan says.

  “Oh my god, yes that was great. He had no idea we were following him. Let's just say I don’t think a medium coconut was the only thing he was getting from the snow cone stand,” Steely says, wagging her eyebrows.

  The girls are laughing uncontrollably.

  “He was a douche anyway,” Blu hollers from the back door.

  With Blu having all sisters he’s pretty protective of them and these girls. Hell, he doesn’t like any man disrespecting a woman. Steeley continues to laugh, and I watch her. She seems so innocent, so good hearted. I know for a fact I would ruin her. I'm not the devil but I am definitely no saint. Plus, she has a boyfriend so it’s not even an issue I should worry myself with, right? As of now she is off limits, so that makes it a little easier for me to pretend I don’t have this feeling in my gut. Steely Smith has no idea, but the minute she walked onto the back deck, I was royally screwed.

  Chapter 5

  Steeley

  I finally let out my breath and managed to sit down. I enjoyed the evening, except for the fact my eyes kept involuntarily looking over at Pace. I pray he didn’t notice. I shouldn’t even be looking; I mean I do have a boyfriend. A very handsome boyfriend, but his eyes don’t make me lose myself like Pace’s. Dear lord, get a grip Steels.

  We head into the house to help the guys clean the kitchen, Willa and I are standing at the sink washing plates while Sloan is putting up the pans we used. Willa keeps looking at me funny and I have a feeling I know what she is thinking. She reads me too well. I'm standing at the sink when a tall body slides behind me reaching over to grab the paper towels. Out of the corner of my eye I see its Pace.

  “Excuse me,” he says with a wide smile.

  As he puts the paper towel roll back, his hand grazes my arm and I'm pretty sure an electric current just shot through my body. What the hell. I try to hide my reaction, but I know Willa has seen it when she smirks. I ignore her and wash the last plate.

  Once all the plates are put up, we tell the guys goodnight and load up to head back to the house. As soon as we get in the car,

  “Girllll you are in trouuuuubllle,” Willa sings.

  Sloan starts laughing while I roll my eyes at the two.

  “I have no idea what you are talking about,” I say.

  They both give me a pointed look.

  “WHAT?” I yell.

  “Don’t think I didn’t notice the way you looked at him.”

  “Yeah, and the way he looked at you,” Sloan adds.

  “Oh please, I highly doubt a guy like Pace McCoy would give me a second glance,” I mutter.

  “He didn’t need a second look, he had his eyes glued to you the whole time,” Sloan laughs.

  “It doesn’t matter, Owen, remember? Or did you two forget about him?” I bite back.

  “Owen shmowen, kick his ass to the curb, Pace is hot!'' Willa shouts.

  “Ugh why am I even friends with y’all??” I say, shaking my head. “Where has he been? I haven’t even seen him in like five years!”

  “He’s been here, working for Judd’s dad, but the last few months he has been up in Wyoming,” Sloan informs me.

  “Girl I would be tapping that in a heartbeat,” Willa says, doing a dance in her seat.

  “There will be no tapping of any kind!” I tell them with a stern look.

  They know I am full of crap.

  We roll up to the house and head to our rooms. It's already past 10:00 so we are calling it a night. I shower, wash my hair and tug on my oversized T-shirt. I lay there, visions of Pace running through my mind. This is bad. Not only do I have a boyfriend, but Pace is also out of my league. He is older, experienced, and has no interest in “the good girl.” I need to get over this little attraction as quickly as possible and get my focus back where it needs to be. I give myself only one night to dream of him.

  The following week goes by pretty quick; we are doing last minute things to get ready for school. Since we are not having to pay rent or utilities, we only need spending money mainly for food, gas and the extras. We have all been blessed that our families are well off, not rich by any means but don't mind giving each of us an allowance while we are in college. We sit down and go over our budget for food, cleaning supplies, and the extra category where the occasional mani and pedi can be squeezed in. I ain't gonna lie it's me, I'm the pedi girl.

  We have a good system, Sloan does all the cooking, so Willa and I do the kitchen clean up. I handle the bathrooms and dusting while Willa handles the trash and the floors. We all do our own laundry. At least once every two weeks is a deep clean day, we don’t want Aunt Della taking back her generosity.

  It’s Friday night,

  “Dinner at Tucker's!” Willa hollers from her room.

  It’s not really a question but a statement. On Friday nights they have a live band, so we usually go hang there, sometimes Jake and Blu come to join us.

  “The guys are meeting us there,” she hollers again.

  The guys. Wonderful. Does that mean Pace? Panic mode has officially set in. I grab my phone and shoot a text to Owen inviting him along. I need him there. He replies agreeing to meet us.

  Willa pokes her head in my room. “Wear the Judy Blue jeans you have, they make your butt look good,” she winks.

  “Go away!” I yell, laughing to myself.

  I go ahead and slip on the jeans, putting on my light olive tank top and my sandals. My hair is down and curly, it's kind of a blessing and a curse. It's naturally curly but not kinky, more like beach curls. This Texas humidity doesn’t help. I put in a little hair spray and grabbed my cross-body fringe purse. Let’s do this.

  We take my car since I am always the DD. Sloan sits in the front turning up the radio, Miranda Lambert’s “Kerosene” blaring through my speakers.

  “I invited Owen,” I yell over the music.

  They both eye roll in unison.

  “Don’t y’all dare give me that look, he’s my freaking boyfriend!”

  She turns the music up louder. We pull into Tucker’s, and I mentally prepare myself. I’m about to have to spend the next few hours with Pace, again.

  Chapter 6

  Pace

  After the girls left, we hung out a little longer finishing off the twelve pack I brought home. I'm sitting in the recliner when Blu heads back to take a quick shower.

  Jake looks over his shoulder to watch Blu shut the door, he smirks at me. “So, anything you want to tell me?”

  I raise an eyebrow. “No.”

  He laughs, “right. No one caught your eye tonight huh?”

  I take a long drink ignoring him.

  “All right man,” he shakes his head as he gets up heading back to his room.

  I stare up at the ceiling. Shiiiit.

  The next week is hot as hell. I've had swamp ass for three days. I toss the last square bale onto the trail
er and head across the pasture. My phone rings.

  “Yeah,” I answer, it's Jake.

  “Go shower up gramps, we’re headed to Tucker’s tonight.”

  “What time?”

  “We are meeting the girls at 7:30.”

  The girls.

  “I may hang in tonight.”

  “Steeley will be there.”

  “And why would I care about that?”

  I do care. I have thought about her all damn week.

  “Don’t give me that shit, be ready by 7:15 lover boy.”

  “Fuck you, Jake.” I hang up and drive to the house.

  I hop out of the shower putting on my plain grey pearl snap and jeans. I walk by Blu’s room of course he is in his turquoise paisley print button down shirt. Not my style, only Blu could pull that shit off. At 7:15 we load in the truck and head into town. I'm trying to get my head on straight, I am about to see her again, and I remind myself she has a boyfriend, so I don’t even need to waste my time.

  We walk through the doors shuffling across the old wood floors. The antler light fixtures hanging from the ceiling are dim and the walls are covered in pictures of old country music stars. There is a small stage in the back left corner. We slid in the U-shaped booth near the stage. The girls aren’t here yet, thank God because I need a beer.

  I'm about halfway through my Miller Light when the door opens and Willa walks in. She is a pretty girl, tall with a nice body but not really my type. Sloan is behind her, the no bullshit attitude written on her pretty face. Then in walks Steely, beautiful as always wearing extremely tight jeans. Damn it. Before she comes over to our booth, she walks over to another table full of teenagers and talks to some brown haired girl. Sloan and Willa wave, making their way over to our table.

  Willa slides in by me while Sloan sits on the opposite side by Blu and Jake. Steeley comes over sitting on the end by Willa.

  “Hey guys,” Sloan says.

  We all throw out some “Heys” to all the girls. I notice Steeley’s hair tonight for some reason, it looks wavy and natural. I think I like it. Why the hell am I noticing her hair? Sloan comments on Blu’s shirt with a smirk.

  “Don’t hate the player, hate the game,” he responds with a wide smile.

  Sloan arches her brows at him.

  About five minutes later the door opens again and some blonde pretty boy walks in. He has an arrogance about him, and I can already tell he’s a douche. He is heading right for us, then it clicks as he smiles at Steeley and bends down to kiss her on the lips. The boyfriend. As he kisses her, I feel like someone sucker punched me in the stomach. My hand squeezes tight around my bottle and I turn away. I have been around her all of forty-two seconds and I'm already losing my shit. Get a fucking grip McCoy. I’m a nice guy, I would never go after a girl I know was taken, I do have morals. Unlike Jake, who is giving me the side eye at the moment.

  “Owen, you remember Blu, Jake, and this is Pace,” Steeley says, waving her hand towards me.

  He nods. “Sup guys,” and slides in by her, putting his arm behind her on the booth.

  We small talk for a little while, Otis or whatever the hell his name is, sees some guys he knows across the bar and heads over to talk to them. Georgia brings out the onion rings and fried pickles the girls ordered, and they devour them before Jake makes it back from the can.

  “What the hell?” He says, throwing his hands up. “Who ate all the damn onion rings?”

  “You can buy your own Jackson,” Sloan barks.

  He glares and heads to the bar giving her the double birds.

  “One thing you don’t come between is a girl and her food,” Steely says laughing.

  Noted. I noticed Sloan and Willa have had margaritas and Steeley just had a sweet tea.

  “You the DD tonight?” I ask her.

  Willa and Sloan went to the bathroom, Blue is dancing with some random senior citizen and Jake is still at the bar. It’s just us.

  “I'm always the DD,'' she says.

  She looks down, almost embarrassed. “I don’t drink, like at all,” she says quietly.

  “Really? I'm impressed, I don’t recommend starting.”

  “You drink,” she states with a laugh.

  “Yeah, but like I said, I have already started, and my daddy didn’t raise no quitter.”

  She laughs out loud, and I can’t keep the smile from spreading across my face.

  That smile is wiped off when the one person I could give two shits about seeing walks through the doors. Tasha. I huff out a sigh knowing the shit storm that’s coming my way since I have ignored her texts for the last three months. Hopefully she won’t see me back here. She scans the room, and her eyes fall on me. Fuck my life.

  About that time the girls have made their way back to the booth and Blu stopped flirting with Francis who is gotta be like seventy-six.

  Tasha stalks towards us, “Pace, I haven’t heard from you in a while,'' she says with a fake smile on her face.

  I can tell she's scanning the girls before locking eyes with me.

  “The working girls are across town sweetheart, are you lost?” Jake beams as he slides in with his onion rings.

  “Fuck off Jake.”

  “Such a lady,” he taunts.

  “Can we talk?” She asks me.

  “Sure.”

  I don’t want to. But I'm also not a complete ass. Willa and Steeley let me out and I follow her to the hall where the bathrooms are.

  “So, you just ghost me?” She shoots.

  “Ghost you? We broke up like six months ago, Tasha.”

  “Hmmp didn’t seem like it right before you left.”

  I roll my eyes. “Tasha, you knew exactly what that was. We are not together.”

  “You got a new girlfriend now or something? One of those bitches at your table?” She hisses.

  “No, I don’t have a girlfriend, quite frankly I don’t have time for that bullshit.”

  It's a lie. I just don’t have time for her.

  “Whatever, you’ll come crawling back before too long.” She flips her Auburn hair over her shoulder and storms off.

  Well, that went better than expected.

  Chapter 7

  Steeley

  We walk into Tucker’s, the first thing I see is a head full of brown hair I’m very familiar with. I walk over to the table, sneaking up behind her placing my hands over her eyes.

  “Guess whoooo?” I sing song.

  She laughs pulling my hands off. Quincy is my younger sister; this will be her senior year at Falcon Point High. We are total opposites. She has long brown hair, brown eyes and is a 100% rebel. She is probably the bluntest person I know but keeps you belly laughing on the reg. Anyone messes with me, it's her they have to worry about.

  “What are y'all doing?” I ask the group at the table.

  “Fixin 'to go to the field, it's the first football game of the year, gotta represent,” she says.

  “Cool, I'll come by this week before my classes start so we can hang out and watch scary movies or something.”

  “I’m down, love you,” she says as they get up to leave.

  “Love you too!” I holler waving as I walk to the booth the guys are seated in.

  Willa slides in by Pace, who looks freaking gorgeous. Uhg. I try not to make eye contact as I sit down beside her. I'm awkwardly fidgeting while Sloan and Blu do the usual back and forth. I keep checking my Fitbit wondering where the hell Owen is.

  A few minutes later Owen walks in. Thank God. He saunters over and places a kiss on my lips, which for some reason feels odd to do in front of Pace. I introduce him to the guys. I know they know him, but it’s been a while and they were not exactly in the same “group” when we were in high school. It takes all of fifteen minutes before Owen sees some of his friends and whispers he will be right back in my ear.

  All of a sudden Willa and Sloan slip off to the bathroom. I know on purpose, while Blu is on the dance floor like always. That leaves Pace and me at the table together. I’m a nervous wreck. I don’t know why he makes me nervous; I feel so inferior. Then he asks me if I am the DD.

  “I’m always the DD,” I say.

  Then I proceed to tell him I don’t drink at all. Lovely. But as dumb as I feel, he actually makes me laugh. His reply eases my embarrassment and I finally start to feel comfortable. I almost forgot Owen was even here until I heard him whooping and hollering with the guys at the bar.