Page 22 of Free Fall

He laughs and then sighs happily. “You’re too funny, Briar. I think you need to learn that your life isn’t your own right now. It’s ours.”

I glare at him, which only makes him laugh louder. Fucking asshole.

Then, he pulls me to my feet. He’s dressed in a completely different outfit. He’s not in his shirt and tie, and he’s not in his football jersey. He’s in a tank top with large arm holes so that when he turns, I—and everyone else—can see his hard physique.

I flip through the images in my mind when I first walked in and try to think if I saw every bit of Cade. Sadly, no. I would’ve remembered. Then, my mind automatically goes to Reid. No on that front, too. He had a towel around his waist, shower water dripping from his chestnut-colored hair. Just a brief glimpse before I slammed my eyes shut.

“So, you’re making me go to the party?”

“We’re making you go to the party. Come on. You can’t pretend you didn’t have fun in previous years.”

I can’t, really. I always had fun, but that was because my brother always included me in shit. He always watched over me to make sure I didn’t go overboard, and the best part was, he didn’t seem to mind. “You really want to babysit me, Cade Farmer?” I smile. I definitely have a plan now. This is going to be their big mistake. This is going to make them rethink their whole plan about making sure I do everything their way. “Let’s go,” I tell him, slipping my arm through his.

We emerge, and thankfully, everyone is dressed now. Reid watched us approach, his stare stuck on our linked hands. His jaw ticks when he looks away. He slams his locker shut. “Let’s do this, boys. Briar’s riding with me.”

Cade slips his arm from mine with a small chuckle. My lips thin. I know this ride to Reid’s house would be much better with one of the other guys. For one, Reid seems to despise me more than the others. My current choices seem to offend him most.

When Reid leaves the locker room, he doesn’t even look back to see if I’m following him. All the way to the car, he’s a few steps ahead of me. When we finally get to his Escape in the lot, he immediately goes to the driver’s side and gets in. I feel like spinning around and taking off in the other direction, but I also know I’d just be delaying the inevitable. I have no doubt that Reid Parker would jump from the vehicle, chase me down, and forcibly place me in the passenger seat.

As it is, I get demoted to the backseat when one of his teammates says he needs a ride. Reid keeps checking on me through the rearview mirror, so I pull my cell phone out of my bookbag to ignore him. I smile when I notice I have a message from Ezra.Missing you. Need more pics. Maybe something risqué…He sends a winky emoji next. Just three short sentences, but my body heats immediately. I don’t know what to say to that.

I bite my lip, thinking about it, then type out:I’ll probably be getting drunk tonight, so I might just have enough liquid courage to do it.I also end mine with a winky face and wait to see his reaction.

Ezra and I haven’t taken our online relationship there yet. Don’t get me wrong. I had high hopes that when we met in the city, we’d be doing all that and more, but it just didn’t work out that way.

“Who are you texting?” Reid asks from the front seat.

“No one,” I immediately answer. Right away, I know it’s the wrong answer. His gaze slices through mine in the rearview mirror.

“Wrong, Briar. And before you say it’s none of my business, you are my business now.”

I roll my eyes for show. I know he means every word of it. “My mom, okay? Telling her I’m with you.”

After that, I pretend like I get another text and then actually do send my mom a text telling her I’m with the guys in case she’s wondering where I am. But I also send it because Reid might be crazy enough to check in with my mom to see if I’m telling the truth.

It doesn’t take long to get to Reid’s house. He lives in a relatively large house just on the outskirts of Spring Hill. It’s literally on Spring Hill itself, at the top, overlooking the fields below. It’s not that great of a view. Spring Hill isn’t that tall, but they had to find something to name the town after and must be Waste of Space was taken.

When we get out of the car, the party is already in full swing. Every single light is on in the Parker household. I can hear the house music pumping away as we start up the walk toward the front door. I’m not unfamiliar with Reid’s house. I’ve been here plenty of times. “Where are your parents?” I ask.

“Business trip,” he says. His parents own an online fitness business, so they’re gone a lot, meeting with various clients. If the guys don’t party here, they party at Cade’s family’s camp, but that’s a little further outside of town, so they prefer here.

As soon as we get in the house, a body flings itself at Reid. Reid catches Sasha, and she slides down his body, looking like a model from a music video. “I put an outfit for Briar up in the main bathroom.”

I look down at my clothes, wondering why the hell I can’t just wear this. It wasn’t my decision to come here, and I doubt anyone will pay attention to me anyway.

Reid nods toward the stairs, then is vacuumed up by Sasha’s lips, so I head that way. I have little hope for what Sasha has brought me to wear. It’s probably a brown paper bag, but I can also raid Reid’s mom’s closet if I have to. I really want to make them pay for making me come here, and I know the guys will hate to babysit me, so that’s my plan—making their lives miserable.

When I get to the bathroom, no one else is in there, thankfully, so I pick the shirt up that’s on top. I notice the gold glitter first. When I hold it in front of me, I see the word “skank” in big, block letters. I smile at that. Of course, Sasha would have a shirt that said that. It was probably a joke gift from one of her friends that she thought would be perfect for me. I don’t even glance at the bottoms she left for me. There’s no way in hell I’m putting anything on that may have touched her vajayjay.

I slip out of the bathroom, taking the skank shirt with me, and go directly to the Parkers’ master suite. I close the door softly behind me, then turn on the overhead light. I’ve been in this room a time or two. Mrs. Parker always wanted a girl, so when I was little, she used to let me dress up in her clothes. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind letting me in here right now for that very same purpose.

I look through the selection, and when I spot a black skirt, I stop. I can roll up the hem of the flare skirt and pair with the skank shirt, but not before I make one alteration.

After taking the skank shirt and Mrs. Parker’s skirt, I slip down the stairs one more time and go to one of the side rooms. It’s Mrs. Parker’s craft room. It looks like she barely uses it anymore, but once upon a time, she fancied herself a crafter. I look through the cubby holes and the desk, and miraculously, I find just what I’m looking for. I thought she had tried to design their own t-shirts once, and I was right.

I lay the shirt out on the crafting table, and underneath ‘skank’, I write ‘suck’ then add an s to skank. I smile down at my masterpiece.

Skanks suck.

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