Page 57 of Free Fall

Reid entwines his fingers with mine. “Not for a long time, but yes.” He blinks once. His hair is still sleep-mussed, making him look adorable right now. “Are you jealous?”

I’m trying not to be, but hell yes, I am. Reid Parker’s mine. I’m almost positive we’ve claimed each other in any way we can over this past weekend.

Reid tilts my chin in the air and kisses me, making me forget all about being embarrassed and jealous, wrapping me up in him until he pulls away. “Do we have to go to school today?” I ask, blinking my eyes open as if these past couple of days have been a dream.

“I’m afraid so,” he says. “I’ve got practice tonight, getting ready for the game this weekend.” He squeezes my ass. “Why don’t you take a shower? I’ll drop the clothes you brought in here, and I’ll go downstairs to try to head off all the questions we’re about to get.”

“Your mom,” I say, smiling. “She didn’t seem to mind that I was in your bed.”

“If I’d known I wouldn’t get in trouble for having sex in the house, I would’ve brought you here earlier.”

I laugh at that, but then he nudges me toward the shower.

I hurry through my morning routine, not wanting Reid to have to brave his parents for too long by himself. I pull on a pair of jean shorts and a nice t-shirt, throw on a layer of foundation and some mascara before padding downstairs. I peek around the archway to find Reid huddled over a plate of pancakes, the steam rising from the stack going out and over his tousled hair.

“You were safe?” I hear Mr. Parker ask.

“Yeah, Dad,” Reid says. And the funny thing is, he doesn’t even sound embarrassed or exasperated. “Though, Briar will have to be put on birth control now.”

“You were her first?” Mrs. Parker asks, excitement clear in her voice.

“Shh, Mom,” Reid chastises. “The shower turned off. She’ll be coming downstairs any minute now. I doubt she’ll want you talking about that.”

He’s right. My face is already all sorts of red right now.

“It’s just so sweet,” she says. “Ugh, I just knew you two would be perfect together.”

Sweet?I think. Her son can be far from sweet, especially when we’re talking about sex. But we’ll just let her think there were candles and roses involved instead of a game where we stripped naked in front of one another.

I clear my throat and decide to walk in. Reid shouldn’t have to deal with this alone. Next to him, there’s already another plate filled with pancakes. “Hi, Mr. Parker,” I say when his dad rises to his feet to greet me. “I’m so sorry—”

Mrs. Parker says. “No need for that,” at the same time Reid says, “Would you quit saying that?”

I shoot him a look. His dad looks thoroughly uncomfortable now, so I just sit down at the table, and his parents follow suit. None of us say anything for a long while because I’m sure what’s on all our minds is the fact that Reid and I are fucking. I know it’s on my mind, and I’m sure as hell not going to bring it up.

I’m about halfway done with my pancakes when Mrs. Parker says, “You do things your way, Briar, but I think your parents need to know what’s going on. They’re probably going to feel differently about having you stay here now that you and um…you and Reid had sex—are dating? You twoaredating, aren’t you?”

My heart lodges in my throat. I peek over at Reid, wanting to see his reaction. He’s annoyed. I can’t tell if it’s because of the question or because his mom is asking the question. He looks up. “I’m sure Briar will tell her mom when she’s comfortable.”

Briar sure as hell is not saying shit to her mom.

Mrs. Parker worries over her lip. I can tell she doesn’t want to misuse my parents’ trust.

Reid stands, his chair scraping against the floor as he takes in his mother. “Oh, Jesus. I’ll stay away from her for the rest of the week. Okay? I don’t want to piss off the Pages either.”

I watch as Reid walks to the sink to rinse off his plate. Mr. and Mrs. Parker both relax with that sentiment. In fact, everyone else in the room seems calm now, but not me. I don’t agree with this staying away from each other bit. When Reid and I get in his car so he can drive us to school, I tell him that.

He side-eyes me, then winks. “I’m sure we can find ways.”

He pulls my hand to his mouth and brushes a kiss against my knuckles while still watching the road.

He takes a right into the parking lot and pulls into the closest parking space to the front entrance. I go to get out, but he stops me. “Once people realize we’re together, rumors will spread everywhere. Sasha won’t be happy but leave her to me. If you need anything, go to me, Cade, or Lex…or hell, any of the guys on the football team for that matter. We’ll all be there for you.”

“People are going to know?” I ask. This is a lot different conversation than we had last week.

His mouth twitches. “I think they’re going to realize when I can’t keep my hands off you.”

That makes me smile. “So, we’re going to make it official?”

---