Page 44 of Quietly Falling
“It’s fine, but I’ll just take a quick shower if that’s all right.”
“Sure.” I nod instead of asking him if I can join him because wedefinitelydon’t have time for that. “Of course.”
Without another word, he turns and walks back to the bedroom, the door shutting with a quiet snick, as I continue to stare after he’s out of sight.
“Wow,” Eden mutters, a knowing smirk on her face as my head whips in her direction, “you’ve got it bad.”
“I donot,” I lie because I totally do. My denial only lasts a minute before I spread my arms out wide. “Okay, I totally do but can you blame me? I meanlook at him.”
“No use,” she teases, “because he only has eyes for you.”
“What about beingjust friends?”Roman presses.
“It’s all so new and we… I don’t know. We ended up here and it’s just been one thing after another this trip and we haven’t had time to talk.”
“I don’t think he wants to talk as much as…” Widening his eyes, Roman makes some inappropriate hand gestures that have me laughing and throwing my balled-up napkin at his head.
He dodges it with ease, a look of triumph on his face.
“Hilarious,” I deadpan.
“I’m serious!” he insists, making me worry my bottom lip.
“You don’t think it’s just because we’ve been trapped together?”
“Hell, no, you’re a catch.” Roman winks, and my thoughts swirl as we wait for Bodhi to emerge. Because I want this to be real.
It already feels like it could beeverything.
* * *
BODHI
Just friends.
I didn’t know that those two words could hold so much weight.
I didn’t know there’d ever be a time when I cared.
But wiping the steam from the mirror in some cabin in the mountains of North Carolina, I can’t think of two words I despise more.
What did you expect?
Too much, apparently—and at the end of the day, none of it is her fault.
I thought what happened in the hotel room meant something more than it did and that’s on me. Dragging my hand down my face, I try and pull in a couple of deep breaths before I have to go back out into the living room.
What the fuck was I thinking when I agreed to go to the bar?
Because you know she wants to go and she won’t if you stay here.
And that’s what afriendwould do.
Maybe she only wants a friend with benefits—like a vacation fling or some shit.
Dammit.
Maybe this is what happens when you build your walls up too high. When you let people make assumptions about you and don’t bother to correct them.
