Page 20 of Feels Like Falling
ELLISON
“Did he get settled all right?” I ask as Montana comes into the bedroom and closes the door quietly behind him.
“Yeah, I left a note for Celeste in the morning to let him sleep if he’s not up at his usual time.”
I bite my lip, suddenly guilty for throwing off his routine. “That’s okay with all his medications?”
“Eddie, he’s fine,” Montana says as he drops his jeans to the floor and pulls on a pair of mesh shorts. “And stop starin’ at my ass,” he scolds without looking at me.
“Can’t be helped.”
And I’m not lying.
Montana has always been the absolute man of my dreams with his shaggy hair, shit-eating grin, and the most gorgeous brown eyes I’d ever seen in real life. His body has changed from a boy’s to a man’s in the years we’ve been apart, and every part of me has taken notice.
He was everything I’d never been allowed to have, and while we could have dated in secret, it never sat right with me. Montana was someone that deserved to be flaunted around for the world to see.
He’d been severely underestimated his entire life both in mind and spirit, and I loved him with everything I had.
I still do.
But I hadn’t been willing to subject him to the kind of scrutiny that would have come from my parents. Not back then. We were kids, and Montana didn’t deserve their ignorance, and he didn’t deserve to be cut down by them at every turn.
So, I’d made a deal—an olive branch of sorts.
I promised my parents that Montana and I would bejust friendsand in exchange, they would leave him alone. It wasn’t a perfect plan, but it was the only way my newly teenaged heart knew how to protect him.
It was also the only secret I ever kept from my best friend, and while I hated it, I couldn’t regret it. It had worked and I’d kept him safe—I’d just thought he’d take the leap with me after we’d graduated.
I’d wholeheartedly believed that turning eighteen and having a freshly printed diploma would suddenly erase any and all obstacles.
It didn’t.
And Montana hadn’t followed me either—hadn’t chased after me. It was something that still bothered me. It wasn’t that he’d stayed in Blackstone Falls or even that he’d told me long-distance would never work. Montana hadn’t been honest with me, but I never knew why. I’d made plenty of mistakes too and we needed to hash it out.
Just not tonight.
Because tonight made me happier than I had been in a long time.
Singing along to “Hell Yeah” by Little Big Town, my car had barely crossed the county line before my heart had stuttered in my chest in anticipation. I was finally home. And an act of rebellion felt like the perfect way to make it official.
Without a lot of time to think about it, skinny-dipping had been the obvious choice. I’d taken a chance that Montana would be the one to investigate my evening swim, and the look on his face alone had been worth it.
It had been exhilarating.
But not quite as exhilarating as being in his bed—even if it’s just to sleep. I’ve probably riled him up enough for one night, but tomorrow is a brand-new day.
Entranced, I watch as he pulls a shirt over his head, then pout as it covers the tattoos on his perfectly sculpted torso. The man has been shirtless all night; seems ridiculous to put it on now.
“What’s the face for?” he asks as he climbs into bed next to me.
“I like you better shirtless.” I say the words because they’re obvious—but it’s only a half answer and Montana knows it. Shrugging one shoulder I add, “I just missed being here. Missed you and Grandad, but it was hard coming back here too.” I look up and see confusion marring his handsome face. “I’ve missed so much, but it was just easier to stay away rather than breaking my heart every time I would’ve had to leave Blackstone Falls.”
Wrapping his big arms around me, Montana pulls us down the bed and maneuvers us until our heads are on the pillows and our legs are tangled together.
Like this.
I missedthisso much.
