Page 42 of Free Fall

“Stay in your lane, and we won’t have any problems. Do you understand?”

“Ooh, you’re threatening me now. The gravy wasn’t enough. Or the skank shirt, or any of your other little petty tactics.” She’s growing angrier and angrier by the second. “Just stay away from me, Sasha.”

“You’ll see,” she says. “Reid won’t always be coming to your rescue once he finds out some things about you.”

I roll my eyes. There’s nothing she could possibly have on me. I’m literally an open book. What? Is she going to tell him that I lost my shit after my brother died? I’m pretty sure he had a front row seat for that.

“Plus, you can’t satisfy him like I can, so you should just back off now.”

I fake frown. “Did you just call yourself a slut? I’m not sure.”

“You fucking bitch,” her hand raises like she’s going to slap me, but Lex steps his huge body between us.

His brown eyes capture mine right away. “Don’t engage with her, Briar. She’s petty and spiteful, and you’re better than that.”

I bite my lip while I look up at him. Every rational thought decides to run away in that moment, so I just end up staring at him slack-jawed. I can’t believe he just said those things about Sasha for anyone to hear. She makes an annoyed sound behind him, but we both ignore her. His sleeves are rolled up to his elbows again, which instantaneously makes him five times hotter. The whole sleeve thing is something I wish more guys knew. Then again, they may not be able to pull it off like Lex.

He leans over me. “Did you hear me?” Concern flickers in his eyes.

I nod, then I groan inwardly. How loquacious of me.

He smiles down and places the flowing curls Jules was able to give me with a curling iron around my ear. “I’m trying not to bring it up again, but have you thought about what I said to you at the diving platform?”

My tongue feels too swollen to make words. I lick my lips. “A little,” I tell him.

He keeps his eyes on me. Not a hint of disappointment darkens his gaze. “I know you have a lot on your mind. It’s okay.”

I reach up to grab his forearm when it looks like he’s going to turn away. “Are you and Reid okay? We didn’t get a chance to talk about what happened at school on Monday?”

His gaze flicks to where I’m holding him, then back to my face. “We’re good, Briar. We’ll always be good. You don’t have to worry about that.”

I nod, but there’s no way I won’t worry about that. When Reid punched Lex, it was like the world as I knew it began to crumble. It was then that I realized I had basically set my life up around these guys. Then, when the world felt like it was going to shit around me after Brady’s death, I tried to block them out. It made everything worse. I should’ve realized sooner they were staples in my life.

Lex cups my cheek, sending my heart racing. “That goes for us, too. If you decide we’re better off like this, I’ll still be here. You don’t have to worry about that. I don’t want you to worry about anything.”

I give his arm a squeeze.

Loud cheers erupt around us, making me jump. When I look over at what’s caught everyone’s attention, I see Sasha and Reid going at it on the dance floor. Sasha is all over him, causing my hackles to rise. She dances to the floor, sashaying her hips. Her head is aligned with his junk, and I swear to God her tongue darts from her mouth, licking the bottom of his fly to the top of his belt while she dances back up his body.

And she somehow calls me the skank?

Lex mutters under his breath. Reid looks blissed out of his mind, his head tilted toward the ceiling, his eyes closed. “Is he drunk?” I ask.

“No,” Lex says adamantly. “He’d never drink the night before a game.”

I thought so too, but he clearly looks high on something.

He dips her afterward, then follows, kissing the copious amounts of cleavage the dress she’s wearing today displays.

I look away after that, and Lex notices. “He’s…” Lex trails off. “He’s…healing, Briar. In a different way than all of us.”

I can’t believe Lex is standing in front of me explaining away Reid’s actions. It’s like he wants me to know that Reid doesn’t really like Sasha. Why would he do that if there’s a little bit of competition between the two for me?

Maybe I read everything wrong.

Or, maybe Lex is just that good of a guy.

The song switches to a slow one, causing several of the football players to groan that their free show with Sasha and Reid is over. “Do you want to dance?” I ask Lex.

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