A Safe Place To Fall (The Fall Book 1)

by Jessica Kile

  He chuckled. “We’ll keep things above the clothes. You seemed to like that a lot.”

  Lana’s face flamed.

  “But for now, we have some words to define.”

  Relieved she had not managed to ruin things between them, Lana allowed him to pull her back to the couch.

  Chapter 8

  Drew sat on the end of his couch, his right arm wrapped tightly around Lana. They were watching some horror movie. It had been about a week since any unwanted text messages had been sent to her phone. He could only hope the threat was gone.

  Lana squealed when the white masked killer broke through an upstairs door. “Why do they always go upstairs?” She dug her hand into his shirt in anticipation. “I mean, really, does she think he can’t climb steps?”

  Just then the killer slashed the scantily clad woman’s throat.

  Her “bimbo down,” was muffled against his shirt.

  “What’s the point of watching this if you’re just going to hide your face at all the good parts?”

  Not that he was complaining, he was all for anything that had her pressed this close to him. However, having her this close had him constantly shifting in his seat to position himself better. His body reacted strongly when she was around. Just hearing her voice would send his memory back to when he had her beneath him on this couch.

  There would come a day when she didn't push him away when things got too heated. He had no doubt that her body wanted him just as much as he desired her. It just got tricky whenever her brain joined the party. Her memories of the rape were too strong still. Patience was the key. One day she would be his completely.

  “Everybody likes a good scare,” Lana replied, turning to look at the screen once again. “As long as it isn’t real.”

  Drew tossed a piece of popcorn, from the bowl sitting on his lap, into his mouth. “Still the blood is the best part.”

  “You’re demented,” she accused.

  “Maybe I’m secretly a vampire,” he suggested. Popcorn scattered onto the floor as he lunged at her. His teeth raked the surface of her neck where her pulse beat a fast tempo. Not being able to resist, he traced that vein with the tip of his tongue.

  He chuckled at the shiver that ran through her body.

  Before he could act out what he really desired, the door opened and shut.

  “If we ignore him he’ll leave,” he mumbled against her neck.

  Chris held his hand over his heart. “That kind of hurts, man.”

  “You’d have to have a heart first.” Drew moved away from Lana, preparing for what he knew would follow his remark.

  There was a moment of pure man stupidity. Fake kicking, punching, and grunting.

  “What do you see in this man?” Chris asked Lana. “Do you see the way he treats his friends?”

  Settling back against the couch Drew busied himself playing with Lana’s hair. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

  “Nope.” Chris flashed a grin as he flopped down on the chair. One of these days the cushions were going to give out. “I don’t have a woman warming my bed.”

  Drew felt Lana stiffen against him. He really wanted to kick his roommate’s ass. She'd been so relaxed tonight. The dumb-ass just had to go and open his mouth.

  “Ignore him,” he directed to Lana. Then to Chris, “Shut up, or get out.”

  Chris sat back against the chair legs spread in a relaxed pose. “What are we watching?”

  “We are watching Halloween,” Lana replied in an annoyed tone.

  “Boring.” Their unwanted guest sat up quickly. “Let’s go to Lux.”

  “We’re kind of busy here,” Drew said.

  “Who cares? You can see that movie anytime you want.” The guy just did not take a hint.

  Lana wrinkled her nose up. “I don’t feel like dealing with crowds.”

  “I’m guess I’m not going to be able to talk Mr. Lame into it either.” Was he actually pouting?

  There were no words for the man’s stupidity.

  “Fine, I’m going to call Tammy,” Chris announced. “She’ll go with me.”

  Drew groaned at the mention of his sister’s name. Chris had been running with his sister for the last six months. Tammy insisted that they were just friends. He should be happy that his sister was starting to come out of her shell again. But did it really have to happen with Chris?

  “Nothing better happen,” Drew warned.

  Chris looked up from texting on his phone. “Dude, you know it’s not like that. You know, I’m just trying to help her move on and have a life.”

  “The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” Drew muttered.

  “Whatever, man.” He pocketed his cell and headed to the door. “Catch you losers later.”

  Lana sighed. “Are we going to have to deal with him bringing someone home tonight?”

  Drew cringed. “We better not! He’s going out with my sister tonight.”

  She giggled. “That doesn’t mean anything.”

  He covered his ears with his hands. “LALALALA! I can’t hear you.”

  A full laugh escaped. “What’s the big deal?”

  “That’s my sister we’re talking about.”

  “Doesn’t mean she isn’t sexually active,” she said.

  “She’s not ready any more than you are,” he stated.

  Her mouth formed a silent ‘oh’.

  “But I don’t want to talk about that.”

  There were a million things that he could think of to do. Talking about his sister having so much trouble moving on after some douche bag raped and beat her in a dark alley was not one of them. It would just cause Lana’s own memories to take center stage again. Then he would want to track down and kill two asses tonight.

  Lana stretched out across the couch, resting her head on his lap.

  His body immediately reacted to having her close to the part of him that craved her touch. Damn. This is freaking awkward.

  Think baseball.

  That proved to be worthless when he envisioned Lana in the uniform, which fit her like a glove.

  “Do you have other brothers or sisters?”

  Talking family. He could do that. That would definitely take his mind off of her body. At least for a few minutes.

  “We have a brother. He’s a quarterback in high school.”

  “Are you close?”

  “Depends on the day,” he answered, rubbing circles on her stomach with his thumb. “He’s got a good chance of getting a full ride with a football scholarship. If he will pull his head out of his ass long enough to realize how good he really does have it.”

  “Oh?”

  Why was he telling her all of this?

  “He’s giving our parents a hard time. Half of the time he lies about where he’s at. I don’t think he’s doing drugs, but what the hell do I know? It’s not like I can keep tabs on him.”

  “Maybe it’s not as bad as you think,” Lana suggested.

  “He’s drinking,” Drew informed her. “I could smell it on him the last time I went home.”

  “Don’t all guys his age at least try alcohol?”

  It was a valid point. Drew had gone home drunk more than once his senior year, but he hadn't had so much to lose. Adam had a future in football to think about. To make it to the NFL you had to live, drink, eat, and sleep football. If his brother kept going down the path he was headed down he could kiss his football career good bye.

  “He needs to get his act together,” Drew stated.

  “Hey,” she said, sitting up and turning to put her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t stress out over something you can’t control. He’s practically an adult. Obviously he hasn’t messed up too bad since he’s still on the team. Right?”

  “Well, yeah,” he admitted.

  “Then relax and let things happen the way they are meant to.”

  As her mouth lowered to his, he wondered if they were still talking about Adam.

  Her next words were whispered again
st his mouth. “Good or bad.”

  The kiss was tentative, sweet. He wanted more, but for once he refused to listen to his body. The ball was in Lana’s court. She had complete control. The last thing he wanted was to run her off.

  It was Lana, who moved to straddle his lap and deepened the kiss. His shirt was pulled over his head by her hands. All was forgotten when her hips began moving causing her parts to move against him. He gripped her ass in his hands pulling her closer.

  He was into torture like that.

  Too much clothing was in between them. He wanted to rip her clothes off and feel every inch of her against him. She was driving him crazy with each movement of her hips.

  The pounding at his door was a blessing and a curse at the same time.

  “Drew!”

  Damn. He knew that voice. What the hell was Adam doing here?

  Chapter 9

  “You’ve finally decided to grace me with your presence?”

  Lana tossed her empty water bottle at Ricky’s head but he ducked before it hit him. “It’s not like you've been here anymore than I have.”

  “True, true,” he admitted, tossing her water bottle into the trash by the kitchen counter. “So, why are you insisting we go to a movie tonight?”

  She shrugged her shoulders as she skimmed through the latest Cosmopolitan magazine. “His brother showed up last night. He’s upset about his girlfriend moving away.”

  “Oh, so I’m the consolation prize.” Ricky bit into an apple. “I can live with that.” His eyes got wide as he swallowed. “So, tell me about this brother. Is he yummy?”

  “How am I supposed to know?”

  “You do have eyes,” he reminded her.

  Lana rolled her eyes. “I’m sure there is a law against checking out minors.”

  “Not when you’re not even nineteen yourself.”

  There was just something disturbing about the thought of checking out the kid brother of the guy, who she had just been making out with.

  “You’re not his type,” she pointed out. “Straight. Remember?”

  Ricky pouted. “Bummer.”

  “The movie starts at seven,” Lana said. They needed to get away from the topic of Adam. “So, we should get going.”

  “Is Tracie meeting us there?” Ricky asked, once they were in Lana’s car.

  Lana pulled out into the flow of traffic. “We’re on our own tonight. She’s got a date.”

  He perked up. “With who?”

  “Some guy that came into the coffee shop.”

  “Is he yummy?”

  Lana glanced quickly at him then quickly directed her eyes back to the road. “I haven’t seen him. He came in before I got there.”

  Ricky groaned. “I am so out of the loop anymore.”

  When Ricky was not assisting a local photographer, he was either out taking his own photographs, or out scouting for someone to hook up with. There were times when all three of his activities joined forces.

  Yet, he wondered why she had decided to spend most of her free time at Drew’s.

  Speaking of Drew. Was he thinking about her; or, was he having too much fun on his own to even allow her name to cross his mind?

  He had joined forces with Chris to take Adam out for a night on the town. As if that would help the boy forget about his broken heart. It was a better idea than letting him run around on his own. The kid was drunk when he showed up last night.

  Last night.

  Lana didn't know if she should be upset, or happy that he had showed up. She had come really close to losing control. Drew's touch seemed to turn her into a puddle, but last night she had been in control. How far they went had been all up to her. For a moment she was able to let go of the past.

  “What's got you all fifty-shades of red?” Ricky asked, holding the door of the theater open for her. “Did Drew go all Grey on your ass?”

  Lana groaned at his play on words. He had probably been holding that line for weeks since he had gotten a hold of the popular book.

  “No, he didn't.”

  “He can tie me up anytime he wants.”

  She rolled her eyes, but refused to reply to the remark. Ricky was a total horn-dog.

  They bought tickets from the weird guy at the counter and made their way into the dark room, where the romantic comedy was about to begin.

  During the movie she got a text from Drew. Adam and Chris had convinced him to play paint ball tag. The idea of Drew getting shot with a paint ball made her nauseous. She also found the whole thing ridiculous.

  Boys will be boys.

  “Let’s go get some Sweet Frog,” Ricky suggested, as they left the movie theater.

  All she really wanted to do was go home and crawl into bed. This was Ricky’s night though. So she found herself turning the car in the direction of Sweet Frog. The frozen treat sounded tasty.

  “So, how are things going with Drew?” Ricky interrogated.

  “Good, I guess,” she said, turning the car into the parking lot. “We haven’t really said we’re together or anything.”

  They had gotten out of the car and walked into the building before Ricky continued the conversation. “Are you telling me you haven’t had the DTR talk?”

  What?

  “What the what?”

  “The define-the-relationship talk,” Ricky informed her, as if she was an idiot.

  They got in line behind a woman with three screaming kids. Poster kids for birth control right there. “We’re taking things slow. There’s no need to rush into anything.”

  “You mean you haven’t fu...” The mother turned a glare on Ricky halting his speech.

  “If you really must know,” Lana said through gritted teeth, “no, we haven't.”

  “I don’t know a single guy who will go that long without...” Ricky looked at the mom and finished with, “having fun.”

  His words confirmed her fears. How long would Drew go without sex? Could she stand to see him with someone else; or, had she already allowed herself to fall too far?

  Before she could ponder too much further, her cell buzzed with a new message. A smile broke out on her face at the thought of Drew texting her again while he was out with the guys.

  The smile died seconds later.

  He’s not good enough. I'll be there soon.

  “Who was that, Sugar?” Ricky had a concerned look on his face.

  “It's nothing you need to worry about,” she said, taking the number one spot at the counter to place her order.

  Ricky waited until they were seated at a small table before he continued his interrogation. “You look like you've seen a ghost.”

  “I told you, it's nothing.” Lana forced a bite of the fruity treat down to prove all was well.

  He reached across the small table and grabbed her cell phone out of her hands. “Who the hell is this, Lana?”

  Things were serious when he called her by her real name.

  She avoided eye contact, not wanting him to see how serious things actually were. “It's just some guy.”

  “Does Drew know about this?”

  Lana nodded. “He wants to call the cops.”

  His eyes narrowed. “How many of these have you gotten?”

  “A few.”

  “Maybe you should listen to him.”

  No longer hungry, Lana shoved her frozen yogurt to the side. “I'm not talking about this.”

  Ricky sighed. “Fine but if this continues I'm going to make you do something about it.”

  She snorted but lacked the energy to put up much of an argument.

  Chapter 10

  The next day Lana felt like the walking dead. She hardly slept the night before. Just when she thought things were going to go back to normal Shawn reminded her that he was still around. He was close. She could feel it.

  All she had wanted was to crawl into bed beside Drew and just be held, but with Adam being at his place it hadn't been an option.

  The kid had enough issues. The last thing that
he needed to witness was Drew having an overnight female guest.

  A knock on the door had her staggering to answer it.

  Drew stood there in a pair of light blue jeans and a WVU football jersey. He'd brought breakfast and coffee.

  He just might be her hero.

  Lana greedily took a coffee, taking a long drink. “You’re a lifesaver.”

  Drew raised an eyebrow as he moved passed her heading for the kitchen. “Too much fun last night?”

  She sighed and followed him. “I wish.”

  Deciding the evidence spoke for itself she handed him her cell phone.

  His eyes scanned the text message. “Why didn’t you call me?”

  “You were busy with Adam,” she said. “It’s not like you could've done anything.”

  “I want to call my dad,” he told her. “This prick is harassing you.”

  She shook her head. “It wouldn't do any good.”

  “Eat,” he demanded, handing her a breakfast burrito. “You look dead on your feet.”

  “That’s how I feel,” she admitted, “and I have to be at work in like an hour.”

  Drew put his hands on her waist, easily picking her up, and sitting her on the counter. “Call in sick. We’ll spend the day together. We can binge watch that show you love so much on Netflix.”

  An all-day Mattie-a-thon. It was way too tempting, but she had rent and bills to pay. Besides drooling over a guy on TV while snuggled up in Drew’s arms would be awkward. The MTV show would just have to wait.

  Lana bit into the burrito as she wrapped her legs around Drew’s legs. “We’ll have to take a rain check.”

  He rubbed the top of her thighs as she devoured her breakfast. “Fine but come straight home after work. No gym.”

  “But...”

  “No arguing,” he demanded. “You’re going to come home, get into those sexy pajamas, that I like so much, and we’re going to watch Netflix.”

  “What about Adam?”

  “Already headed back home.” He took the empty wrapper, balled it up, and tossed it to the trash. “So, it’s settled. Tonight you're all mine.”

  Lana bit her lip at the image his words brought to mind.