Page 55 of Lessons in Falling
Well—
And you’re not hooking up?
Okay.I nodded to myself, my lips thinning into an apologetic expression.Maybe it is what it looks like.
Valentina!he repeated, and now his hands were on my shoulders, too.There was less outrage in his voice, and more… excitement?
No.I shook my head.Looked at him for a second, and then shook it again.No.No, no, no.This isn’t a good thing, Alfie.I fucked up.Majorly.
But the smile on his lips was irreversible, and I knew its implication, even before he said anything.How was it?How is he?His eyes trailed behind me, and he gave an impressed expression when he looked back at me.Valentina Rhodes, I’m truly impressed.Not a bad catch.
Alfie!I groaned.How good it was is not the point.If—
Good, then?How good, would you say?Scale of one to ten?
Alfie!My head fell back, and another groan fled my lips.Once this guy smelled gossip, he suddenly liked being a journalist at his dad’s college paper—as if he’d print every scandalous situation in next week’s issue of theHall Beck Post.Eleven, but that’s not—
Oooooh,he whistled lowly.Well, damn.Your ratings usually don’t go above a six, Valentina.
I shook my head, tried to ignore his tangent.Alfie, listen to me.You can’t tell anyone.If Iris finds out, and she really meant what she said about him being part of the group—
She said that?At least he’d calmed down enough to hear me.
Yes.On, like, day two.
He shook his head.She can’t have meant it.We didn’t even know the guy.
And if she did?I shrugged at my own words, let the truth of the matter consume me again.
I’d tried to ignore it since the first time Caden had touched me.When I’d realized I wasn’t physically capable of keepingmy distance from him, and when I’d realized no matter what I did, and how much of an asshole I was, he wasn’t keeping his, either.
Alfie deflated at my realistic hypothesis.No fraternization,he sighed, like it was more of a burden for him than me.But don’t you think—His eyes flicked to Caden sleeping behind me once more, then back.Maybe she’d understand.It’s beenyears.She knows we’d never leave her.She knows you wouldn’t—
I don’t want to find out.Because I had no idea how Iris would have reacted if she’d been the one to accidentally walk into this.I tried to tell you guys, and then Jason happened, and the moment passed.Now is not the time to hurt her even more, right?She needs us.
I needed her.After realizing my family would never truly care—who else did I have left except her?Except Iris, and Anni, and Alfie.
At the mention of his name, the latter’s nose twitched.Fuck that guy,he snickered, just for the sake of it.I agreed.He always messes her up worse than anyone else.
Which is why I don’t want to hurt her more by telling her I’ve been lying—Since the second we’d woken up on Oakport the first time, really.Please don’t say anything?
Not sure how it was possible, but Alfie deflated more.Leaned against the door behind him, and sighed loudly, like he might actually have understood where I was coming from.Morning, Caden,he said absentmindedly.This really is a mess you’ve put us in.
I whirled around to find Alfie hadn’t lost his mind talking to people who weren’t conscious.Caden sat up, slowly blinkingat us.Confusion and sleep narrowed his eyes, and they jumped back and forth between us.What’s going on?he asked, and the roughness of his voice almost let me forget this entire problem.
Made me, at least, want to forget Alfie still in the room with us.Alfie knowing, and Alfie being the biggest blabbermouth on campus.I focused back on him.
I’m being serious, Dunbridge.Don’t tell anyone.You can’t tell anyone.My finger hovered threateningly in front of his chest, and I poked it once—for good measure.
You’ll have to, eventually.
My head shook, and I wanted to askWhy?Explain that this wasn’t anything serious, and it wasn’t going anywhere and that in a few weeks, we’d probably never see each other again.Caden would hopefully move to Boston, I’d do my grad program at HBU.Our paths would not cross.But everything about it felt wrong.The thought, then voicing it.Knowing Caden was awake and would hear.He probably couldn’t care less, but I kept my mouth shut, anyway.
Promise?I asked, glaring at him until he gave me the answer I was waiting for with an eye roll.
Promise.Once more, his attention flicked to the bed behind me.Congrats, Caden.You’ve got yourself a great girl.And with that, he leveled me with another look before leaving the room.I closed the door behind him, then turned around.
Humor played in the blond’s expression.His eyes narrowed and his lips quirked.Alone again, at last.
