Page 57 of Magic or Madness

I think about what Ozzy would do if he were here, and I channel his power when I decide in a split second to defend myself.

If he thinks I’m asleep, and nobody is looking, he’ll do it again if I don’t set a clear boundary.

“Excuse me?” I sit up, and he freezes as he picks up the last of the dirty dishes.

He doesn’t say anything, and none of the other guys are within earshot.

“You just whispered something when I was asleep,” I say, my voice growing louder with each word, and he shakes his head nervously.

“You might have been dreaming, Fallon.” He turns toward me, a smug look on his face as he rakes his eyes over my body in a way that makes me shudder internally.

Lex and Oliver come back in the room and see us caught in a heated stare down. He can deny it all he wants, but I’m not backing down.

“Was I dreaming when you touched my ass, and rubbed my legs, too?”

I can see his mind scrambling, and he’s visibly anxious as he can’t find a lie to get him out of this.

“We good here, Fallon?” Oliver asks, coming closer to me and giving me the confidence to use my voice.

“No, we’re not. Tell them what you whispered, or I will,” I say, not taking my eyes off Journey.

“She’s insane. I was nowhere near her.” He backs away, standing on the opposite side of the coffee table.

“He called me Cinderella and whispered that Ozzy doesn’t deserve me, before touching my ass and legs over the blanket.” I cross my arms over my chest, feeling ripped open and vulnerable with everyone’s eyes on me.

“Journey?” Lex asks, and Oliver’s eyes shift between the two of us.

“I have no idea what she’s talking about. I didn’t go near her.” He doubles down, and I shake my head, fully prepared for them all to call me crazy.

“How’d she get the blanket then?” Oliver asks, picking up the throw blanket from the floor, and relief washes over me.

They don’t think I’m lying.

“You’re going to accuse me of doing something insane like that? Believing thisbitchover me?” He yells, and my body tenses in response.

The last person to take advantage of my body and call me a bitch was my stepfather, and I refuse to be reduced to the person I was at that point in my life.

Without thinking, I react, snatching one of the guns off the coffee table, and pointing it directly at Journey.

“Fuck!” Lex yells, and Oliver steps closer to me, resting his hand on my shoulder.

“Fallon, do you know how to use that?”

Admittedly, I don’t. But nobody else needs to know that. This is about me taking a stand, and I feel pure power cascading through me.

“Call me a bitch again. I fucking dare you,” I say calmly, keeping my aim steady.

“Jesus fucking Christ, what is going on?” Max joins us, and behind me I can hear Lex filling him in.

“Fallon, you don’t have to do this. I’m sorry you think I touched you,” Journey says, but it’s not enough.

His attempts to deflect and pin this on me as if I imagined it aren’t going to work. I know what he did, I heard what he said, and this isn’t over until he gets it through his head that I’m not interested.

“You did touch me. I’m not yours to touch, and youdon’tcall me Cinderella, do you understand?”

All eyes are on me, and everyone is holding their breath, waiting for my next move. I could shoot him, put a bullet in his leg, or maybe his arm, not enough to kill him, more like a warning shot. I could drop the gun and bury the hatchet, but none of those scenarios feel like the right way to end this.

“Alright, Fallon. You’re right, I did touch you, and I’m sorry. I lost my head for a minute,” he confesses, but I don’t lower theweapon, keeping it trained on his chest, deciding not to let him get away from me without regretting ever laying a hand on me.

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