Page 162 of Built to Fall
“Hey.” I catch her elbow as she opens the door. “Are you sure?”
“I just don’t want it to be weird,” she says quickly.
Like my sisters’ training has taught me, I follow her lead. If she doesn’t want to make this a thing, then I’m not going to.
Still, I have to give hersomeassurance. “Savannah and I are friends. Everything’s fine and perfectlyplatonicbetween us.”
I know the doubt she’s feeling isn’t because of me. She knows that if I wanted to keep fucking around and uphold my playboy reputation, I very well could. She knows that I don’t want that.
Her uncertainty comes from her ex. The dickhead who cheated on her with her best friend.
It would be almost the exact same situation if I were to cheat on Lina with Savannah. That’s what is going through her mind. Knowing Lina, she’s not spiraling about it the way someone else might.
She doesn’t overthink—at least not in the way that makes her question everything a hundred times. Her thoughts are more matter-of-fact, stripped down to logic. And from a strictly logical standpoint, it tracks. Her brain goes:this happened to me once, so it could happen again.
It’s not about trust. It’s about history.
And history has a way of making even the most rational minds brace for impact. I can attest to that fact.
“Yeah.” She snaps out of her daze, pushing the door open further. “I know.”
My hand moves from her elbow up to her shoulder, desperate to comfort her to a greater extent. “I would never intentionally hurt you, Lina,” I say strongly, leaning down so we’re eye-to-eye. “Not in the way he did.”
The words land heavy between us, heavier than I meant them to, but I don’t take them back. Because I mean them. Every damn syllable.
She holds my gaze, like she’s trying to decide whether to let them sink in or slide off.
Then she exhales softly and steps inside.
I follow, carrying all of the bags into the kitchen before setting them on the counter and beginning to unload them.
The sound of the door shutting has the girls trickling out of Meredith’s bedroom, all of them talking over one another. It’s the kind of chaotic, overlapping noise that somehow makes sense to them, but not to anyone else.
I’m still preparing to make grilled cheeses when I hear Eden call out, “Lina, can you help me pick out an outfit for tomorrow?”
At the same moment, I make the mistake of glancing up, only to find Eden waltzing into the living room in nothing but a bra and panties. She’s got her hair twisted up with a claw clip that’s already slipping, a makeup wipe dangling from one hand, and she’s somehow balancing a Diet Coke between her elbow and her hip like it’s a skill she’s mastered.
I blink, immediately looking back down at the bread in my hands. “Jesus, Eden! Put some clothes on, would you?”
Meredith and Savannah are right behind her, neither batting an eye.
It’s like stepping into the eye of the storm—loud, half-dressed, and completely at ease with each other’s chaos.
Lina enters the kitchen behind me, brushing past with a look that’s equal parts amused and unbothered, like this isn’t even in the top ten weirdest things she’s seen today. She reaches into the nearest bag for the tomato soup and sets it on the counter next to me.
Eden shrugs. “Nothing you haven’t seen before.”
Jesus Christ.
That makes Lina wave her off. She had asked me about Eden and me the other night, and I told her the truth.
Eden’s a girl who loves hookups. It’s as simple as that. What went on between us freshman year was before I even knew Lina and nothing more than a fleeting moment.
Honestly, I haven’t thought much about it since it happened. Eden asked me not to.
I go back to slicing the sourdough. Better to focus on the food than on the fact that I might be the only one here who still cares about social norms.
When the room quiets just enough, I realize I’ve officially become the only guy in a room full of girls who forgot they weren’t alone.
