Page 2 of Free Fall

“I’m crabby because you’re sitting next to me, Coley.”

Our parents, best friends since our dad’s met in high school, were by the barbecue across the yard, under the bright porch lights, catching up — like they hadn’t spent the day together — and cooking dinner. We were going on one of our big family vacations soon, straight after Christmas, and they were in deep planning mode.

It was fine, always was. They were a stalwart in my life, the Diaz’s. Growing up wouldn’t have been the same without them in the hotel room next door or in the same row at recitals. They were family in all but blood.

Until Halloween, whenUncleLuca had fucked me. Masked and depraved, and I’d been thrown through a loop I was still tumbling around.

“Show me what you’ve got, then,” I demanded of Cole, who definitely had drugs on him. Whenever he offered a pick-me-up, it was drugs. Jules’ eyebrows flew up her head when Cole grinned and rummaged in his pocket.

Truth was, I’d planned to mess with Luca tonight, to wear his ring, to play with the twine I had in my pocket, to eat a punnet of cherries in … anything, one or all, wherever the vibe took me. Wherever revenge wanted me to go. But as soon as I saw him, heard the voice I should have recognized two weeks ago, watched his ring-less fingertips run across the short beard on his jaw… I froze up. He’d bro-hugged my dad, kissed my mother and sister on the cheek, and thrown me a comfortable wave because I happened to be on the other side of the room.

Would he have kissed my cheek too, if I’d been closer?

He acted the same. Exactly the same.

If it wasn’t for the ring burning a hole in my pocket, I’d have convinced myself I made it up.

Cole clicked his fingers in front of my face and brought me back to reality again. “Maybe she’s already high on something.”

“Fuck off,” I spat at him again.

He laughed. “Only words you can say tonight?” He shrugged, grinning at his brother, who watched with curiosity. “Definitely on something. No pick-me-ups for you.”

I huffed and rolled my eyes, standing from the fire without grace and turning on my heel.

“Oh, come on!” Cole called after me. “You can have whatever you want from me.”

“You’re foul,” I told him before charging away, my legs taking me toward the pool. It was a fair distance away from everyone, at the bottom of our yard, so I could get a damn minute to myself.

“Why you running?” Cole teased, catching up to me with annoying ease, his footsteps heavy on the poolside tile.

For fuck’s sake, he was almost as bad as his dad for inappropriate behavior. Actually, no, that was a laughable comparison. “I told you to fuck off, didn’t I?” I kept walking, slower though, just trailing along the edge of the pool. It was November, too cold to swim, but the water was still lit up, all blue and glowy, tempting me to dive in… or throw one of the Diaz men in.

“Many times.” Cole caught my arm and spun me, making me lose my footing. I yelped as my foot slipped near the corner of the pool, but Cole held me steady, not letting me tumble in ass over tit. His hands snaked up to my shoulders as I replanted myself, and I shuddered at his touch.

I stared up at him, studying his features for the briefest moment. How much he looked like his father. He had the same smirky handsomeness, with dark hair tumbling over a pretty yet masculine face. His hair was shorter, darker, not long enough to tie up like Luca’s, but otherwise, it was almost uncanny. If Cole grew a beard, he’d be his father’s double.

The mischief behind his gaze matched mine from earlier, before I’d crashed and burned without doing anything. The shenanigans I planned fell away, but his eyes were ablaze. Cole knew something. I’d spent enough time with him to see he was plotting, to see he had knowledge he shouldn’t. In the past, I’d been right there with him.

“What is it?” I asked, the tension between us still high, exploding from where his hands remained on my shoulders, his fingertips digging in.

As I spoke, someone wolf-whistled from across the yard. Jesse. The little shit. “Knew you’d snag a Diaz eventually!” he yelled.

“Go eat a dick!” I snapped back, my words carrying on the breeze.

“Zelda Summers!” my mother gasped, but her voice hardly registered. My eyes had wandered from her to Luca, who was glaring at us with such deep intensity that even from across the way, with water between us, I could feel the heat of it. He looked furious. That green-eyed envy pushed bad thoughts to the surface. His body poised, seconds from charging over, walking on the water to get to us quicker, and murdering his son for touching me.

It brought those feelings back. The vengeance. The memories of what he’d done to me. Still at war with myself, I slipped my hand into my pocket, wrapping my fingers around his ring.

Cole snorted at his brother. "He's high," he told me. "Couldn't face another evening with you Summers gang."

"Wha- why?" I asked, but then shook my head. I didn't care. I returned my gaze to Cole, looking up to meet his gaze.

“What are you doing?” Cole asked, the humor in his voice turning husky. The smile on his lips rose with mine, then I grabbed his hand from my shoulder, holding it tight as I pressed the ring into his palm. I watched his brow furrow, his eyes dip and take in what I was handing him. “Why’d you have this?”

“You know what it is?”

“Of course, I do. The assholes over there have been tearing the house apart looking for it. Mom’s threatening to leave him if he doesn’t find it.”

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