Page 58 of Free Fall

He gives me an inquisitive glance. “As far as I’m concerned, it was official as soon as I was free. My hearts been yours for a while, Briar, even when you didn’t know it, and even when it was trapped.”

Speaking of hearts, mine’s melting right here in the car. For everything Reid Parker is and has been, he just etched his place onto my heart. No matter what happens, he’ll always be there.

“You ready?” he asks.

I take a deep breath and stare up at the school. I’ve come a long way from the girl a month ago who didn’t want to go to classes, who felt like no one was by her side, and who didn’t care about anything anymore. But somehow, I’m getting a lot of the same feelings. The school looms intimidatingly and nerves strike inside me. But when Reid meets me out in front of the car, slipping his fingers between mine before walking to the school with me, I leave all that shit behind.

I’m not going at it alone anymore.

25

It feels as if from the very moment Reid and I make things official at school, Ezra starts messaging me again like some sort of cosmic practical joke. He seems off, too. Not like the guy I poured everything out to, but some incessant gnat that won’t go away no matter how many times he gets swat at.

Pic?He sends on Wednesday morning before school. I have to hide my phone screen away from Reid while we’re eating breakfast together with his mom staring at the two of us. It shouldn’t matter that I had an online relationship with someone, but at the same time, I see how territorial Reid is, and I honestly don’t want him to know Ezra is part of the reason why I ran away. I wanted to meet him. I feel so differently now though. Now, I don’t even want to answer him. On the way to school, he sends another message.You used to send me pics all the time.

I’m getting frustrated now. I’ve already told Ezra I’m dating someone not through a cell phone screen, but he won’t take the hint. I feel bad for wanting to block him because he did so much for me, but I don’t know if I have another alternative right now. I’ll probably try to talk to him at least one more time, see if I can’t get him to back off.

“Who’s that?” Reid asks.

“Um, Jules,” I say before turning the screen off and putting my cell in the front pocket of my bookbag. I hate lying to him, but the alternative is to get into a huge and lengthy conversation this early in the morning. I’m also embarrassed. I don’t want Reid to know about Ezra, and I especially don’t want Lex to know about Ezra. He’d be so hurt considering I was talking with Ezra at the same time I was doing things with him.

Surprisingly, Lex has been okay about Reid and me. He’ll look away when Reid kisses me at lunch and other things, but he’s hanging in there, which I appreciate. I didn’t realize how much I needed these three boys in my life. Yes, Cade too. All six-foot ridiculousness of him. His thing now is telling me that it’s only right he and I have a sexual encounter since I’ve done things with both Lex and Reid. Reid doesn’t find this funny at all. For that matter, neither does Lex. Cade’s usually the only one who laughs, which is fine by him. He’s busy sticking his dick into one of Sasha’s friends to be serious at all about screwing me anyway. Not that he would. He would never jeopardize his relationship with Reid for sex. He just likes to get under people’s skin.

Jules has also adjusted well to mine and Reid’s new relationship. When we walked into school that first day, she couldn’t keep a smile off her face. I tried to ask her if Brady ever said something about not wanting me to be with Reid, but she couldn’t think of anything. The only thing she commented on was how fiercely protective Brady was of me.

Pretty much the only one who hasn’t taken Reid and mine’s new relationship well is Sasha, but I’m not shocked about that. The skank comments have significantly increased as well as the rank faces she throws my way. It’s amazing how someone so pretty can twist their face into something so awful. None of the guys on the football team will touch her after what happened at the party following the homecoming game, so instead, she’s dating someone from the lacrosse team, though she seems too preoccupied with Reid to even bother to pay attention to her boyfriend. It’s sad, really. The guy is cute, and he seems nice. It just makes me wonder how long that relationship is going to last.

After school, I walk out to the bleachers like normal and watch the football team practice. I’m not the only person who does this. There’s usually a steady stream of admirers. I swear the guys could jog off the field, pick a girl, and bang them just like that. Since I’ve always been so close to the team because of my brother, I’ve never really seen the appeal. I do now though. I wonder if any of these girls have gotten a taste of someone like him. Maybe they’ve fucked Cade. Maybe they wait at the edge of the fence to see if he’ll even remember their name. I think I would. If Reid left me… I’d wait at the gate. I’d follow him after school. I’d text his phone. It all seems so needy, and it is. I need him. We’ve gone so far past the realm of friendship that I would never want to go back, which scares the shit out of me. When I think about it, my chest constricts. But when I stare into his eyes, I can see he feels the same way. Whatever hold we have on each other is overpowering for both of us.

Like I’d hoped, we haven’t paid attention to his parents’ warnings about not having sex in the house. We’ve just been extremely secretive about it. Either him or I sneak into the other’s room at night, testing the boundaries with one another. When I have to go back to sleeping in my own house, I’m going to be so lonely. I don’t ever want to go away. I want to be trapped in Reid’s embrace forever.

I’m sitting on the bleachers thinking about that, my foot tapping against the seats in front of me when a figure sits down next to me. I see the ribbed colors of the cheerleading skirt first, then hear the rustle of pom-poms. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Sasha just found her way to me. I sigh and look over. She’s staring ahead at the field, her lips thin.

“What do you want?” I ask her.

“I want Reid back.”

My hackles rise. For her to even think she could get him back boils my blood. “Not happening.”

A vicious scowl parts her lips. “You underestimated me. So did Reid.”

I shake my head at her. “I see you watching him still,” I say. “Why would you even want him back? He clearly doesn’t want you.”

“You don’t know that.”

I shrug. I think I would know considering it’s obvious he wants to be with me, but I’m not going to turn this into a bitch fest. “Let’s say for argument’s sake that he doesn’t. Sasha, you can have any guy at school.” I look around her, seeing if her boyfriend is anywhere near. “You got that new guy.”

She makes a disgusted sound in the back of her throat. “He’s a baby.”

I’m pretty sure the guy is only a year younger than us. Actually, that would make him my age, so what does it matter? I look away, obviously trying to reason with her isn’t working, and I’m not going to fight with her either.

Like I’ve just been sitting here musing, Reid and I are meant to be. I can feel it deep in my bones, and when we’re together, it just feels so freaking right.

“I don’t know how you got your hooks in him, but you need to give him up. Break up with Reid.”

“Not happening,” I tell her, a shocked laugh forcing my lips apart

“Oh, you will,” she says, a small smile playing over her ever-present scowl.

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