Page 8 of Lessons in Falling
Valentina had excused herself from breakfast after a single piece of bread and a forkful of eggs.The hangover, she’d said, but it was obviously not the alcohol that had spoiled her appetite.
It was me, and whatever silent conversation had happened between us beforehand.Whatever had been going through her beautiful head, right before the corners of her lips fell back into a straight line.Right after she’d lied to her friends and told them my presence wasfine.
They must’ve had no reason to assume otherwise, which led to my observation:You didn’t tell them.
What?She asked, distractedly rummaging through a tote bag on the windowsill.She’d showered and gotten dressed in the meantime.Her cherry-red hair was still wet, and she was wearing more than that fucking T-Shirt she’d walked around the house in earlier.
I cleared my throat to steer away from the image; stay clear of anything that could make this conversation very awkward, very fast.
A boner, for example.
You didn’t tell your friends,I repeated.About us.
What us, asshole?A voice in my head screamed.It damn-near pleaded with me to get a fucking grip.But, in the past twelve hours I’d found out that every time I looked at her, reason went out the window.Her brown eyes met mine, and all I could think of was the way she’d looked up at me when I’d been buried deep inside of her.That it had been four months since then, and I desperately needed to see her that way again.
She finally turned around, and a zing of awareness shot from the tip of my toes to the crown of my head when our eyes connected.Embarrassing, I thought,how predictable the effect she had on me was.
About us?She repeated my words slowly, maybe because she was just as confused about my desperation.Maybe because she took pity on me.I’d never have taken you for the kind of guy who’d care about whether I did or did not tell my friends about…us.
And usually, that would be spot on.
I was not the kind who cared.In fact, I was the guy who appreciated his business not being spammed across various group chats and close-friend stories.But alas, here I was.Caring, for some reason.Kind of annoyed that she hadn’t told them, for another one altogether.
You’d be right,I confirmed, although reluctantly.I just thought that’s what girls did after—I hesitated, unsure whether I should’ve led the conversation where I just had.The sun was out, it was barely noon, and I was about to bring up the way I’d fucked her.It seemed tactless.
After?
After great sex.I crossed my arms, satisfied with the blush across her cheeks.Maybe I did still have an effect on her, no matter how hard she tried to play it off.
Valentina swallowed thickly, but to give credit where it was due, she maintained eye contact.Was that what we were having?she asked, batting her eyes innocently.Great sex?
It was a cruel attempt at riling me up—in every sense of the word.Her teasing voice, long lashes, and the way she tilted her head, just slightly, like she was deliberately trying to draw my attention to the spot she had wanted my lips and teeth that night.
You’d disagree?I asked, only to be saying something.
I knew she wouldn’t, but I was still relieved when she shook her head.Her gaze fell down my body once, quickly, like a silent invitation.
Which was what my legs took it for, anyway.They moved without asking my brain for permission first—knowing it would’ve said,don’t you dare.But everything seemed like an age-old instinct I couldn’t turn off when it came to her.
The way I stepped closer, almost crowding her against the windowsill.The way my eyes flicked to her lips.Over and over again.
At least she couldn’t help her body’s reaction to mine, either.Like they’d been waiting to be back in each other’s orbit for months.
No,she confirmed.But I don’t kiss and tell, Callahan.
I shook my head, wanted to roll my eyes.There was a smile on my lips, and I had no idea where it came from.You guys don’t seem like the type of friends to keep anything from eachother.It wasn’t hard to grasp; a second with all four of them in a room and you could tell.
Valentina thought for a moment, then huffed—still so close I could feel her breath against my skin when she did.We’re not.Her eyes flicked across my face, considering me.Not that it’s any of your business,she prefaced.But the guy Iris was dating ended things out of the blue.Because ‘he didn’t want a relationship.’She put air-quotes around the statement, then rolled her eyes.Two weeks later, he had a girlfriend.I’d gotten home and she just found out.It seemed rude to brag about the life-altering one-night stand I just had.So, no, I didn’t tell them.
I couldn’t help the sound that squeezed past my lips.A deep, satisfied hum of approval.
Life-altering.
Still, I managed enough restraint to dismiss the thought and say,That sucks.About Iris.
And I meant it, but my sincerity was hard to portray when the wordslife-altering one-night standstill floated around my head, and when it took everything in me not to push that damp strand of hair behind her ear after she shook her head.
Just so we’re clear, though.I wish Icoulddisagree,she added, circling back.I wish you’d been terrible, and I wish I wasn’t still thinking about it every time I look at you.
