A Safe Place To Fall (The Fall Book 1)

by Jessica Kile

  The walls were already beginning to close in on her. Drew wanted her to stay in. She understood why. Honestly she did. But each breath came harder and harder.

  Grabbing her car keys she headed to the one place that gave her comfort.

  It was around ten at night when Lana finally stepped away from the tread mill. Sweat dripped off of her face. Sending thanks that Drew was not here to witness her appearance she used her shirt to wipe her face. One sniff told her that her shower couldn't wait until she got home. So, she headed to the locker room.

  Lana closed her eyes against the spray. The water pounded down onto her tensed muscles. Slowly her body began to relax. It was as if all of her troubles were being washed down the drain. There was nothing like a night at the gym to make things seem okay with the world again.

  She was just about to step out of the shower when she heard footsteps out by the lockers. Wrapping the towel tighter around herself, she listened to see where the footsteps would go. After a few seconds the footsteps headed back the way they had come. The door slammed behind them.

  Brows wrinkled in confusion, Lana slowly crept out to the locker area. Her heart pounded. It was crazy really. Someone probably left something and came back in to get it. It was a gym that kind of thing happened multiple times a day. Still she couldn't help the fear that edged its way in.

  Her breath caught in her chest and she came to a complete stop. The dirty clothes, along with the clean outfit he left spread on the bench were gone. In their place sat three red roses. Each had a message.

  You are mine.

  Never forget.

  I will have you.

  Forgetting that she was in a towel, she ran out of the locker room and straight to where she knew Chris would be. The boxing ring.

  He was holding the punching bag while a woman took jabs at it, but let go as soon as he saw Lana. Eyes widened and having trouble staying on her face, he walked over to where she was standing. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “He…He..was in there,” she stuttered. “There were roses. Drew's at his grandma’s. I just freaked.” She was pacing back and forth in the very short towel. Breathing was still almost impossible.

  Chris grabbed her by the top part of her arm and drug her to a small office. He tossed a boxing robe, from a small closet, at her. “Put this on.”

  She obediently put the robe on around the towel and tied it. “Drew told me to stay home. But if I had done that Shawn would be winning. I thought it was safe to come here.”

  He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her gently. “Lana, slow down. What the hell is going on?”

  Was it possible? “He didn’t tell you?”

  He studied her face clearly confused. “What are you talking about?”

  She closed her eyes, sighing. “The messages, the keyed door. I thought when he told me to call you if I had problems while he was gone that he had told you.”

  Chris released her and backed away. “Are you saying someone is stalking you?”

  Wrapping her arms tight around herself she nodded. “I had to get out of the house.”

  “I’m calling Drew,” he said, reaching for his cell phone.

  “No!” she shouted, reaching to take his phone. “You can’t call him. If you call him he'll come home. His grandma needs him right now.”

  “And he’ll kill me if I don’t call him,” Chris replied.

  “I’ll tell him as soon as he gets home,” she promised. “It’s just roses, nothing I can’t handle.”

  He raised his brow. “So you normally run around the gym in your towel when you get flowers?”

  Lana blushed. “He took my clothes.”

  “You have to report this,” he told her, going over to a closet. A minute later he turned back around and handed her a pair of sweatpants and a huge t-shirt. “Put these on.”

  She accepted the clothing and headed to the door he pointed to. Reporting it meant that she would have to call Drew’s dad. God this was so embarrassing. His dad would hate her.

  Two hours later Chris walked her into her apartment. Ricky was gone of course. In the end Chris did a check of the apartment, room by room, to make sure nobody was there. Had he not just seen her in a towel, she would have been embarrassed when he spotted the thong laying on her bed.

  “Are you sure you’re going to be okay here by yourself?” He seemed almost reluctant to leave her alone.

  Lana gathered courage she didn't feel and nodded. “I’m just going to watch some TV. and then go to bed.”

  “Call me if you need anything,” he said, backing to the door. “I wish you would've said something sooner. Hell, I could have been walking you to your car when you were there by yourself.”

  “It’s not something I like to talk about,” she told him. “I just want to be normal.”

  “Normal is overrated.”

  Then he was gone.

  “I found this outside our door,” Ricky said, tossing a big envelope on the table in front of her.

  Lana groaned. Please don’t let this be another surprise. With trepidation she tore it opened. Inside were pictures.

  Oh God!

  The pictures were of her and Drew. In one, they were leaving the gym and Drew was behind her looking at her ass. That had been the night he had gone and gotten her tacos.

  The second one showed them dancing. Drew’s hands had drifted down to her ass. The sexual tension could be seen even in the picture. Shawn had been at Lux watching them.

  In the last one they were at his family farm in another embrace. He had just shown her how to shoot a firearm.

  A lump formed in Lana’s throat. Shawn had been in all of those places. He had been so close to her. How could she have not seen him? Then she remembered the night at the mall.

  Chapter 13

  Drew tossed the pictures back onto his coffee table. “Why didn’t you call me?”

  Lana swallowed. He was angry; she had known he would be. “We called your dad.”

  “Maybe you misunderstood,” he growled, pacing in front of the TV. “I told you to first call Chris, get him to you and call my dad. Then you call me!”

  “You said Chris was closer,” she defended herself. “And you never said to call you if something happened.”

  “It was implied, dammit.” He stopped and stared at her. “He was within feet of you both times! You didn’t see the need to call me?”

  Her shrug was lame.

  He chugged what was left of his beer and threw the bottle in the direction of the kitchen. “I should never have left.”

  “You needed to go,” she argued.

  “I’m going to kick Chris’ ass,” he threatened. He was back to pacing.

  “He wanted to call,” she admitted, “but I wouldn’t let him.”

  “YOU WHAT?” he yelled, causing her to jump.

  She had never seen him this angry before. Not angry at her anyway.

  “I just wanted you to spend time with your grandma,” she whispered. He intimidated her when he was like this.

  “You told me that you would stay home,” he bit out.

  “I couldn’t take it anymore,” she cried out. “Ricky took off. I was alone anyway!”

  “Is it impossible for him to stay home for two days?” he ground out. “I only needed a couple of days!”

  “I don’t need a babysitter,” Lana fired back. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself!”

  “You’re doing a hell of a job at it,” he spat out. “You led him right back to your house!”

  Her eyes widened with tears. “You know what,” she said calmly, getting up. A calm she did not feel. “I didn’t ask for you to get involved. You got involved all on your own.”

  “What was I supposed to do?” he asked, coming to a stop by the window and looking down onto the street. “Just let you face this on your own?”

  It felt as if a fist had tightened around her heart. With each squeeze her heart cracked a little more. Was that the real reason he
was with her? Did he have some twisted need to be a hero?

  How easily she had been fooled. She had let herself believe it was possible for someone to look past her damage and care about her. When was she going to learn that nothing good would ever happen to her? She could be so stupid!

  The pressure on her chest was making it hard to breath. The truth hurt too damn much. She needed to get out of here before she made a complete fool out of herself.

  “Don’t worry,” she said, turning to head for the door before he could see the tears. “I’m not your problem anymore.”

  “Damn it! Honey!”

  The door slammed cutting off his words.

  Ricky was in his chair when she ran through the door. All of the tears she had been fighting came busting loose on a sob. His arms waited to offer brotherly comfort. Comfort that she had not felt from her own brothers in a while. She curled up on his lap, drowning his shirt in her tears.

  For the longest time neither one of them said a word. He just sat there holding her close, rubbing her back, and letting her cry her broken heart out.

  When it seemed as if she ran out of tears, Lana pulled away from his lap. “I’m sorry.”

  Ricky eyed her. “Wanna tell me what that was all about?”

  She worked at breathing slowly, through the pain. “I broke up with Drew.”

  “Why did you go and do a stupid thing like that?”

  Lana curled up on her spot on the couch. “He was getting too clingy.”

  “He’s doing the only thing he knows to keep you safe,” Ricky told her.

  “I don’t need protection,” she said.

  “Bullshit,” he argued. “You have a freak following you around.”

  “I can handle that,” she asked in a whisper.

  “No, you can't. Now stop trying to find a reason to push Drew away. What happened before you came here sucked but not all guys are like that guy.”

  Oh God! He had known this whole time. Why hadn’t he said anything?

  “How did you know?”

  “You talk in your sleep,” he said. “I didn’t know there was more to things until those pictures showed up.”

  She hugged her knees. “I thought he would stop at the messages. I didn’t want to worry you over nothing.”

  “This is not nothing, Lana.” Ricky sat up. “You can’t push Drew away right now. You need him in your corner.”

  “He doesn’t want to be in my corner,” she cried. “He sees me as a problem.”

  Before he could respond someone started pounding on the door.

  “Lana,” Drew shouted, through the closed door. “Let me in!” More pounding. “Let me in! Come on, honey, I know you’re in there.”

  Lana shook her head. “I can’t talk to him. Don’t make me talk to him.”

  “Oh, you’re talking to him.” Ricky got up and walked to the door.

  Drew shoved passed Ricky as soon as the door was opened. “Where is she?”

  Lana closed her eyes. He was still angry. Probably even more so since she had stormed out on him. Why couldn’t he just give her space?

  If she kept quiet maybe he would not see her sitting there. She could just blend in with her surroundings. The couch was black. She was wearing black. It could totally work. Yes, she knew she was being a total coward at the moment.

  Drew came around the couch, sat down on the coffee table, and eyed her. He seemed to be gathering his words carefully. “You’re not a problem.”

  She started to interject but he put a finger over her lips to stop her words.

  “What I mean is your problems are my problems,” he told her tracing her lips with his finger. “I’ll admit our relationship hasn't gotten an easy start, but we work. It’s all of this other crazy shit... when I think about how close he got to you while I was gone.” His hand had made its' way to the back of her head and under her hair. “I should have been here.”

  “But you shouldn’t have to deal with this,” she told him. “You didn’t sign up for this.”

  He took hold of her hand with his free hand and pulled her onto his lap. “Neither did you.”

  She took a calming breath, wiping the tears from her eyes. These days her world was so crazy she did not know what was up and what was down. It would have served her right if he had brushed his hands of her. He came after her. That had to count for something, right?

  “I’m here because I want to be,” he told her, holding her close. “Don’t ever think that you have to deal with anything on your own.”

  Lana tensed against him as the weight of her situation finally sunk in. Drew was right. Shawn was out there, watching, and waiting to pounce. Taking off by herself was stupid. Her enemy seemed to know her every move. How long had he been watching before he reached out to her?

  “Is it ever going to be normal again?” she asked, almost hating to hear his response.

  “We’ll catch him,” Drew promised, playing with a strand of her hair. “He will mess up, and when he does I will be there.”

  “What do I do until then,” she asked pulling away from him, pacing around the floor and tidying up the place. “Stay locked up in my apartment?”

  “Of course not,” he replied. “Just no more sneaking off. He won’t make a move if you’re not alone.”

  “I wasn’t alone at the gym,” she pointed out.

  “Chris had no idea you were even there,” he reminded her.

  “He’s taking my life away,” she complained, folding her throw.

  Drew walked over and wrapped his arms around her pulling her back against his body. “I want to kill him for making you go through all of this.”

  She sighed allowing her head to fall back against his shoulder. His arms felt like home to her. What would she have done if he had not come after her?

  “So, are we good?” he asked, dropping a kiss on her temple.

  Closing her eyes she cherished the simple touch. “Don’t leave me.”

  He paused in the process of kissing a path down her cheek heading for her neck. “Not in a million years.”

  Sighing in contentment, she whispered. “I meant stay here tonight.”

  He groaned into her neck. “I have to play a show tonight. Why don’t you and Ricky come along?”

  She opened an eye not believing what she heard. “I thought you couldn’t stand him?”

  “True,” he admitted, breath warm on her shoulder. “But Chris has to work tonight and there is no way I’m leaving you here without protection.”

  “What if Ricky stays here with me?”

  “No,” Drew refused. “He likes to take off too much. If you guys are with me I will at least be close.”

  The last thing Lana wanted was to be alone tonight. Even as she told Drew Ricky would stay here with her, she knew that the chances that he would were slim.

  “It’s a small mom and pop bar,” he informed her. “You’ll be safe.”

  Lana bit on her bottom lip as she nodded her head. Going to a bar to watch Drew’s performance was better than sitting around alone.

  Mike’s was packed that night. Lana sat as close to the stage as she could get ignoring Ricky's relentless teasing. She couldn't help it. There were so many people there. Shawn could be hidden anywhere watching and waiting to grab her.

  Why did she think it was a good idea to come here again?

  The band started in on a song about scars and trying to fix someone. The lead singer Ryan was filled with so much passion. He made the song his own. Buried emotions were definitely coming out in the song.

  Lana loved watching Fallen Angels perform. She loved seeing Drew in his element. Loved how he lost himself whenever he got behind his drums. Each member of the band played their hearts out on the stage.

  “Do I need to remind you how yummy the singer is?” Ricky asked voice sounding dreamy.

  Where Drew had long blonde hair, Ryan's hair was short dark black and spiky. Tattoos traveled up both arms. Lana had never gotten close enough to the guy to be able to
say just what decorated his arms. He seemed nice enough but he always kept his distance. Maybe he sensed the turmoil that was constantly going on in her mind.

  “I need a drink,” she announced. “Come with me?”

  Ricky shook his head. “I’ll stay and keep our table.”

  He had a point. If they both went to the bar they were sure to lose their table. It was the best table in the place, almost right against the stage. Soon she would be able to smell Drew’s sweat. That’s how awesome the seats were.

  “OK, I’ll be back,” she hollered pointing to the bar behind them.

  His only response was an absent nod as he continued to drool over Ryan.

  Lana elbowed her way through the crowd laughing to herself. That boy was too ridiculous. All this time she thought she was hopeless. At least she wasn’t the one constantly obsessing over men that she couldn't have.

  “Hey, sweet thing. Who let you out of the house alone?”

  Lana moved farther down the bar ignoring the drunk older man. He seemed harmless enough; however, she wasn't in the mood to deal with some drunk.

  “Leave her alone, Vance,” demanded a too familiar voice.

  Ice traveled through her veins. She knew that voice too well. That voice had haunted her sleep for months.

  Shawn.

  Lana shook her head slowly as she backed away from the bar. Would Drew be able to hear her if she screamed? With the crowd gathered tonight he probably couldn’t even see her. She needed to get to him before Shawn could get to her!

  “Lana,” Shawn shouted as he came around the bar toward her. “Wait!”

  “No,” she cried. “Leave me alone!”

  She bumped back into a guy just as Shawn shoved his way passed a couple dancing, if you could call it that. It looked more like foreplay.

  “I need to talk to you,” he told her.

  “I have nothing to say to you,” she seethed. “Stop following me!”

  The next thing she knew Shawn had her by the wrist pulling her to a stop.

  **************************

  Lana felt good against him. All female and soft. Before his arms could reach out and pull her to him, his cousin pulled her away.