Falling for My Billionaire Best Friend

TRINITY

The clock seems to stop ticking, and everyone is anticipating the result to see. Though whatever the result is, I know it won’t affect how much they love Bash. But Bash needs to find out the truth.

The expression on his face changes–he looks shocked. Is this what I think it is? I suddenly feel an ache inside my chest.

His mom calls him. I can’t move, and it seems that everything is in slow motion.

 Then he laughs out loud, his voice echoes in the entire office. He rushes to his mom, yanks her up, and spins her in the air. Finally, Lizzy and Uncle Seb release a huge sigh of relief.

 He hugs her mom tightly. “Mom, I love you much, and after all that you’ve been through you still nurture me and love me unconditionally. You’re the best mother in the world.” A tear fall from his eye when he releases his mom, then he moves to his dad and hugs him.

 “I’m sorry if doubted you as my dad, and the reasons why I did this because.” He takes a deep breath. “Honestly, I was so hurt when I heard you talking to Mom, and I want to prove that I am your blood and that I deserve the name you gave me.”

 It’s the happiest moment for this family. I wipe my tears away when I see Lizzy shake to cry.

 “I never doubted you even a moment that you’re my real brother, Bash. When I found out what happened to Mom, I really wanted to help and prove to the whole world that you’re my brother. When I heard that your life was in danger, I felt like the world is falling apart. I love you so much, baby brother. Stop giving us a heart attack already, and I don’t wanna die young. I still want to have children,” Lizzy chuckle in the end.

 “Are you saying you’re pregnant?” Bash asks a little harshly.

 “Whoa! I just told you to stop giving us a heart attack and look at what you just did?” Lizzy hits her brother on his arm.

 “I’m sorry. Are you pregnant, Lizzy?” he asks again.

 Lizzy rolls her eyes. “No, Bash, but we talked about having family and all that stuff. Don’t tell me you and K never talked about your future?” Lizzy’s words are making me freeze.

 I can feel their gazes on me, but Bash doesn’t look surprised, he’s grinning at me. He never mentioned having family in the future. He never told me about moving in with him, but he invited me to sleep in his penthouse, and we’ve just dated for less than a month. What’s the rush anyway?

 Though we know each other long enough, I like to think of having a good conversation about our future than making a wild guess. Does he even want to go further?

 “Then what are you waiting for? For another millennium?” Lizzy talks with exaggeration.

 “Shut up, Lizzy. We’re taking it slow,” Bash defends himself.

 “Taking it slow? You’ve waited for eight years, and you still want to take it slow?” Lizzy presses.

 “Drop it. And we need to celebrate,” Bash says dismissively.

 “You’ll regret it, and I want my children to have playmates,” Lizzy retorts.

 “Enough of that, Lizzy,” Uncle Seb finally talks.

 “Whatever, Dad. You should talk to your son.”

 “Hello, people. Am I some kind of an invisible right now?” I wave my hands.

 “You’ve never been an invisible, Tri.” Bash comes to me, kissing my forehead.

 “Congratulations! You’re officially a Hughes!” I roll my eyes.

 “We’ll play a game later,” he whispers.

 “What game?” I pretend I don’t know what he’s talking about.

 “Simon says,” he answers.Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

 I bark out laughing. “Very original.”

 He laughs with me, too. “Do you prefer Bash says, instead?”

“I think of doctor and nurse, instead,”

He shakes his head. “Doctor-patient?”

“Nah.”

“Master-slave is better.”

“You two stop with your innuendos while we’re around. Respect the elders. Ever heard of that?” Lizzy cuts in.

“No, Lizzy. I think it’s our cue to leave. This is soundproof right, babe? Just like your office?” Aunt Abby asks her husband. Bash and Lizzy look at their parents with wide eyes.

***

Hughes throws a great party for Bash. They invited their close family friends, and of course, our friends are here.

The wide lawn of King’s mansion is decorated with hundreds of pumpkin-shaped lanterns. It’s is an early Halloween party. There are pumpkins scatter around the place with artificial spider webs, plastic human skeletons, masks, and of course, artificial smoke.

Even food is very Halloween-y in skull shapes, bones, and fangs. The drinks are green, red, and black.

I wear the DC character supervillain Harley Quinn costume with wigs because Bash did not agree to dye my hair while Bash wears a Daredevil costume with a masked horn head.

“Shouldn’t you two wear at least a match costume?” Ryker asks. I think he’s Edward Cullen tonight with a thick foundation to look pale and red contact lens.

“Ryker!” I launch myself to hug him.

He laughs. “Easy there, Harley. Our last encounter wasn’t pleasant. You don’t wanna make this party a real Halloween, do you?”

“Ryker, thanks for coming,” Bash says.

“Thanks for inviting me, man.” They shake hands with a manly hug. “This is really cool,” Ryker adds, glancing at the well-decorated place.

“Thanks. That’s mom’s idea. Enjoy yourself. Where’s Luke?” Bash asks.

“He’s with the guys. I’m actually going to use a restroom.”

“It’s on the left. That’s the nearest.”

“Thanks.” Ryker walks away.

I can’t help but sways to the music played by the DJ. It’s a remix of the song of Thirty Seconds to Mars, a very Halloween-y remix.

“Stop swaying your ass on me, Tri. Your skirt is too short,” he chuckles.

“But Lizzy said it would look good on me.”

“It is, and that’s the problem. I could grab you to the nearest tree if it wouldn’t hold on long enough.”

“What wouldn’t hold on long enough? Jeez, you’re always raunchy!” I say half-laughing.

“Raunchy?” He laughs, then he moves closer to me. “But you love it when I’m raunchy,” he whispers, and that makes me giggle.

“Hey, you two stop flirting. Come here already.” It’s Xandry calling us. I wave my hand towards them. They’re at the table with a fake skull on top.

“Hey, guys! That’s a nice costume you have there, Pyke. The Flash, huh?” He looks good with the costume.

“Thanks, K. And you look hot in, Harley.”

“Stop flirting with my Harley, Pyke,” Bash butts in.

“How about me, K?” Saph asks, wearing a wonder woman costume with complete accessories from her head to toe.

“Like we didn’t buy that together, but you look hot dressed up.”

“Good evening, Everyone!” My head snaps to where the voice comes from. Lizzy is on the stage with a microphone. The DJ lowers the volume, allowing Lizzy to talk.

She’s Maleficent, “We’ll play a little game, and everyone should participate. We placed a lot of glow-in-the-dark small pumpkins everywhere on this lawn. Only in this area, not inside the house. It has a small piece of paper inside, and the prizes are written on it, but some of them are empty.” She pouts.

Everyone laughs. “But we have to close all the lights for the little pumpkins to glow. So, is everyone really to search for the amazing pumpkins?”

We yell with excitement.

“Ready? The moment the lights turn off, the search will start, and once the lights turn on, it means the searching ends, got it?”

Everyone says yes in unison.

“I have other plans, baby,” Bash whispers.

I elbow him. “Shut up. I want to join the search for the magic pumpkins.”

He looks amused. This is my first Halloween since he came back, and I want to enjoy this night.

“Fine. I won’t join you. I will be here waiting for you at the table. Hust bring us pumpkins, okay? Have fun.”

I nod, then the lights turn off, and now it’s pitch black. Bash kisses my lips before he lets me go.

My eyes finally adjust in the dark. The trees are painted with glow in the dark. This looks cool just like in the movie Avatar, only a little bit darker.

I walk towards the nearest big pumpkin with artificial vines surrounding it. I pick up the first pumpkin, but it’s empty.

A few minutes later, I notice everyone is having pumpkins in their hands. I walk far to where they hadn’t search yet.

I reach the tree near the concrete wall. It’s dark in here, and I feel goosebumps crawling in my skin. Maybe it’s because of the weather, and I wear a little skimpy dress. I see another one, but before I can grab it, someone has it, making me groan louder.

“Give that to me. I saw that first!” I say through gritted teeth, offering my hand to hand the pumpkin to me.

“Not so fast, Kiara.”

My head jerks up to see a man in a hood. “What are you doing here, Sean?” I ask as I recognize his voice. I can’t see quite clearly because he is wearing an Arrow costume with a cloak and mask. He has a bow sling across his chest as well.

“I come here to talk to you,” he says in almost a whisper.

I scan the place, and we’re far from everyone. I suddenly remember how he threatened Bash. “I don’t think we have left to discuss, Sean.” I walk away from him.

He grabs my arm a little tighter before I can walk far.

“Let go of me!” I warn him, but he keeps ahold of me.

“Do you love him, Kiara?” he asks.

“Yes,” I answer immediately.

“Then you should value his life,” he says casually.

“What does suppose to mean?” I quickly ask. My stomach twists sickly. “Do you think I don’t know that you were the reason why the jet crashed down?”

“Honestly, I didn’t do that, Kiara. I just told him out of anger,” he says in a tense tone.

“Then what do you mean by what you just said to me?” I demand.

“He has something that belongs to someone else.”

I laugh at his absurdity. “You sound like in a movie, Sean. Try a little more convincing.”

“Don’t make a noise, Trinity. I’m serious. Do you think I would be here if it’s not serious?” He says in between hisses.

“Don’t call me that!” I warn him. “Then you should go, and tell him that.”

“I can’t get inside. He warned everyone.”

“Ask for an appointment at his office.” I roll my eyes.

“I’m being watched, Kiara. Are you even listening?”

“What do you mean?” This time, I feel he’s not joking anymore.

“We don’t have much time. I need a book that Bash has. If he will not hand it to me, either I’ll die first or him.”

My eyes widen. My heart nearly stops. “You can’t joke something like that, Sean.”

“Steal it from him and hand it to me. I will contact you.” He hands me the pumpkin, then he’s gone.

The lights turn on, indicating the game is over, but I’m still glued and terrified at what I just found out.