Page 32 of Free Fall

The thought makes me smile, looking out at the very spot the volleyball net is still located.

“Whoa, are you delirious, Briar?” Cade asks. “Because I could swear you’re smiling, but you’re not known to do that these days.”

When I look up, I catch Reid’s eye over the top of his car. Coincidentally, he’s smiling, too, but when I see him, I drop my gaze and look away. “You’re mistaken, Farmer.”

“Of course. Can’t let anyone see that you’re happy,” he deadpans.

He’s not wrong. If people see that I’m happy, they’re going to think I don’t miss Brady and that’s not true. I miss him so much it hurts. “Are we doing this or what?”

“You sure know how to have fun, don’t you?”

“Fuck off.”

He gestures toward me. “Exhibit A, Jury.” He leans over, brushing his shoulder with mine. “Come on, Briar. It’ll be fun, I promise. I’ll swim with you out to the platform.”

I smile again even though I don’t mean to. There’s a diving platform out toward the middle of the lake. The swimming area is sectioned off with buoys. The shallow area ends at about five feet, but when you keep going out, you can’t touch at all. My parents would always get worried I wouldn’t be able to make it, so that was there one rule: Brady, or one of the others, would have to swim out there with me. They usually would, but they always would if there happened to be a cute lifeguard on duty. “I don’t think I need your help anymore, Cade, but thanks for offering.”

I already texted my mother on the way here, letting her know I’d finished my work and that we were headed out to the lake. She told me to have a good time. I get the feeling she doesn’t care where I am as long as I’m with these guys. If I were out by myself, then she’d be calling or texting every half hour making sure I’m not headed toward Calcutta—the big city where I’m bound to get raped and murdered and taken advantage of.

I lean back into the backseat of Reid’s Escape. He threw together a bunch of beach towels in a bag his mom had. Lex takes it from me as we walk toward the sand. There’s a little concession stand to our left along with a store where I’m hoping I can find a decent bathing suit. The guys didn’t want to waste time to stop at my house, so I could find mine. Instead, I’ll be buying a new one. When we find a good spot near some other football players with a huge cooler, I tell them I’m going to go to the little store.

“Cade,” Reid says, motioning toward me with his head.

Cade sighs, then wraps his arm through mine. “Babysitting duty.”

“I don’t need you to go with me to the store.”

Cade turns my head, and I find Sasha with her crew there. Sasha is glaring daggers at me, sitting there in her hot pink bikini. “If you want to be left alone, fine by me.”

It’s not that I can’t handle Sasha by myself, but she’s a ruthless bitch. She doesn’t care about the scene she makes, and I know for a fact that when Cade or one of the other guys are with me, she won’t be tempted to start her shit. “Fine,” I tell him. “But please don’t say babysit. I’m grown up now. I even showered by myself this morning.”

“So I noticed.”

We walk past the concession stand, the smells of grilled hamburgers and hot dogs assaulting us. I might have to get something to eat here sooner rather than later because I only had cereal so far today.

The little shop is exactly as I remember it. It’s just big enough to sell towels, bathing suits, and beach toys. I head to the rack in the back with the sign that reads fifty percent off End of Summer Blowout Sale with a black Sharpie. There isn’t a lot to choose from and even less so that matches my size, but I settle on a plain turquoise suit. It’s a mix between a one piece and a two piece. The part connecting the bikini top from the bikini bottom is a flimsy see-through mesh. I take it into the very small room in the back that just has a curtain that you pull across to try it on. It’s a little small on top for me. My breasts spill out a little, but it fits perfectly in every other way.

I walk out of the room wearing it, taking my clothes with me. Cade is talking the girl at the counter up. When I get to the register, he turns toward me, the little pout in his lips falling for a brief second. “Looks good.”

I smile back at him and then pull the tag off the suit to show the girl. She rings me up, looking between Cade and me, probably trying to decide if we’re together or not. I go to pay her, but Cade takes out his wallet instead, further confusing her because she most definitely thinks we’re together now. “Thanks,” I tell him, genuinely shocked. He didn’t have to do that. When we walk out of the store arm-in-arm, I turn toward him. “You know she thinks you’re with me now, right?”

Cade slides his Aviator-like glasses down his head and over his eyes. “She wasn’t my type.”

I smirk at that. “I’ll pay you back,” I tell him.

He shakes his head. “Don’t bother. Just think of it as me paying for the price of admittance for all that’s about to go down.”

“What?” I ask, thoroughly confused.

He shrugs. “Don’t worry about it, Shortie. The suit looks great on you, and you deserved to have it.”

Reid and Lex both eye me as we walk up. Lex found me first because he was looking, but Reid was in mid-conversation with another football player when he saw me. I look down, making sure I’m not once again slipping a nip or anything, but I’m all put together, thankfully. I’m kind of worried about that with this suit.

“Look confident, Briar,” Cade whispers to me. “You own that suit.”

I do as he suggests as he walks me to the towels they laid out. I find the sunblock in the bag and start to rub it all over my skin, even under the meshy part of the bathing suit because I’m not sure if the sun is able to get through that material or not. By the time I’m done, I lie down only to have a big shadow fall over me. I look up to find Reid there. “Yeah?”

“Volleyball?”

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