Page 15 of Lessons in Falling
Lacy Halloway published an entire article on how damaging college hookup culture was, because you didn’t want to goout with her—Iknowyou didn’t sleep with her.That makes it worse, dude.
I let my head fall back with a groan, hands placed on the pool deck behind me.How does that make it worse?
I don’t know what you do to these girls,he continued, completely ignoring my valid comment.But I don’t think Valentina is the casual type.Please don’t sell her this Caden-fantasy bullshit, only for you to rip it away once you’ve slept with her.
I was starting to get offended here.I didn’t sell…fantasiesto anyone.I didn’t trick or deceive or play an act to get what I wanted.That’s not who I was at all, and that’s not who I’d been when I hooked up with Valentina, either.
And yet, she seemed plenty interested in casual—contrary to Mike’s belief.
I shook my head regardless.There’s no need for you to worry.She’s not going to sleep with me.
She’d cut my dick off before ever considering the possibility again.
CHAPTER 7
VALENTINA
Number one: sleep outside.
It was an easy enough objective to tick off the list.Something to get the ball rolling, start building momentum for the more courageous items like skinny-dipping or breaking a law (I’d decided the speeding did not count).
And now, it came with the added bonus of avoiding Caden.
When I got back to our room—it must’ve been around eleven—he’d been in the shower.The water was running, steam escaped from below the door of the adjacent bathroom, and my first thought had involved me in therewithhim.Which catapulted me toward my decision to sleep outside.Away from him, and my thoughts, and any more temptations.
I’d changed into my warmest pajamas, grabbed my blanket, wanted to take my bucket list-notebook (that was literally blank, save for the list), then realized I couldn’t carry it all and threw the book back onto my bed.I’d been standing on the ladder to my bunk, sheets bunched up in my arms, when the bathroom door unlocked.
Damn it, I hadn’t even noticed the water stopped running.
There was a click that made me unwillingly straighten, very—too—aware of myself, and the situation he was about to find me in.Before Caden could even say anything, I warned,Don’t.
I really tried not to look at him, but five seconds and one glance later, I’d failed.Caden leaned against the dresser by the bathroom door, arms crossed in front of his bare chest, dark blue towel hanging dangerously low on his waist.Failedspectacularly, judging by the way I had toforcemy gaze off him.It snapped back to the blanket, which I pressed closer against me, and carefully climbed (alright, ungracefully jumped) off the bed.
My plan was simple: head low, avoid eye contact, and escape this situation without saying another word to him.
Sharing a room with me cannot seriously be this bad,he said, amused.The corner of his lip tipped up further—and I’d already failed steps one and two of my plan, because I was looking right at him again.Where are you going to sleep?On the couch?Above the garage?he guessed.Are you going to squeeze between Annika and Mike tonight?
And step three followed:None of your business.
My tone wasn’t snappy, per-se, but it was… careless, in a way.Maybe because I actually was.Because there was no need to put up an act and convince him of how great Valentina Rhodes was.For the first time, I didn’t havePlease, love mewritten on my forehead and the desperation that came with it.
Caden should’ve taken offense at my tone, the dismissiveness in my voice.He did not.It’s not,he agreed instead.Nodding pretend-thoughtfully as he went to grab somethingout of the drawer.Underwear, I realized.My gaze darted away from him, back to the blue blanket in my arms.And yet, when your friends find out I made you flee the comforts of your own bed, it’ll be my head on a spike.Not yours.
I snickered.There will be no heads on spikes,I assured.They won’t even know—or care enough.Just Valentina being Valentina,I trailed off, but the look on his face made me do a double take.
Incredulously, he huffed,I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but these people would die for you.The way he said it was very… matter of fact.Not a single trace of humor in his tone, which was rare.The sincerity in his gaze made me honest-to-God uncomfortable.Made me want to run the other way only to get away from it—in the best of cases, before I could read more into it.
I tried my best to laugh it off.Great.Thanks for the pep-talk.Then fled the room.
Unfortunately, PJs on, nothing but a thick blanket in my arms, it took about thirty seconds to decide this had been a terrible idea.I hadn’t even made it outside, and I regretted the entire plan,maybe the entire list,already.
I didn’t have a pillow, I forgot to bring mosquito spray, and—I stopped.In my tracks, at the bottom of the staircase I’d been… swiftly walking down.
Fuck.The notebook.
Resting on top of my mattress, exposed for all the world to see.Which was, primarily, the guy tall enough to easily peek at the top bunk.Something told me Caden was the nosy type.
My cheeks were a blotchy, embarrassing red even before I’d made it back to the room, and that couldn’t have taken longerthan fifteen seconds, because I’d sprinted.Back up the stairs, around the corner, toward the first door on the right.I was panting when I basically threw myself against it.
