Page 100 of Falling

He catches my wrist in his hands and pulls at the sleeves of my shirt, dropping it to the floor. I hear the rustling of tissue paper and then I feel a soft fabric stretch around my head and he pulls my arms through it gently, tugging it down on my stomach. “Can I open my eyes now?”

“Yeah.”

He's grinning at me with that smug face of his when I open my eyes. I look down at the shirt he pulled over my head. It's a white shirt, the same one that Miles wore at my showcase with a bright-red heart. Instead, it says, “I ♥? my boyfriend.” He dusts off my shoulders, holding onto them as he looks down at me.

“Now we can match,” he says.

“This is ridiculous.”

“You’reridiculous.”

I can't control the laugh that escapes me as I look up at him. “It's perfect. Thank you,” I say, and I can tell how hard I'm blushing. I shift from one foot to the other, feeling irritatingly uneasy under his gaze. “I didn't get you anything.”

He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, smiling so hard that lines form on his cheeks. “You didn’t need to. I'm spending the next week alone with you. I think I'll survive.”

After we finish cooking dinner,we set up a mini buffet on the kitchen island. Everybody lines up, taking a paper plate to save washing dishes, and gets the food they like. We probably made enough food to feed a whole football team, but I know the girls will live off this for the next week while I’m in Palm Springs. I stand at the other side of the island, waiting for everyone to get their food first.

“Save some for the rest of us,” Evan mutters to Scarlett, who’s taken one of the last pieces of bacon in the foil tray. She looks over at him, her face plastered into a fake smile.

“You’re right, sorry,” she says sarcastically before picking up her bacon and shoving it into his mouth. He doesn’t fight back. He lets her shove more into his mouth until he can’t take it anymore. “Do you want some syrup with that?” He shakes his head vigorously, but he smiles behind his full mouth. Hesmiles? Weird. “Yeah, I thought so.”

I tear my eyes away from them because I’ve never seen two people that crazy before. I’m waiting patiently for the day that whatever is going on between them will eventually bubble over and they’ll become… friends? Or something.

We eat mostly in silence until we’re all so stuffed we spread out in the living room. Everything feels so natural here, like we were all made to be friends in some weird way. Evan and Xavier lie out on opposite ends of the couch while Kennedy sits in her beanbag with Scarlett’s head in her lap. Miles and I sit on the smaller couch, my head resting on his shoulder as his fingers draw lines up and down my arm.

I knew that moving into this apartment with my girls would make this place feel like a home, but now, it feels even better. As if theword “home” is screaming off the walls at full volume. I look around at everyone, and it just feels perfect.

Home.

“So, what did you guys get for Christmas?” Xavier asks. Evan sits up with a smug grin on his face. “Not you, Branson. Nobody wants to hear about what car Daddy bought you.”

Evan slouches back down, and I giggle, feeling the champagne running through my body.

“You guys did Secret Santa, right?” Miles asks, and we all hum in agreement.

“I got these books from Scarlett,” Kennedy beams, holding up her new prized possessions. I know she’s not going to shut up about this until Jasmine’s new book comes out.

“I got an all-inclusive access to my favorite hotel from Wren and Daddy Hacks,” Scarlett says proudly, flashing a toothy smile at me. “If you’re lucky, Miles, maybe she’ll sugar momma you too.”

Everyone bursts out laughing at her remark, and I stick my tongue out at her. I keep quiet. Saying what I got in front of these boys might be the stupidest thing I could do, so I keep my mouth shut.

“What about you, Wren?” Xavier asks when the laughter has died down.

“What about me?”

Evan's eyebrows raise. “What did you get?”

“Uh, nothing,” I reply, cheerfully.

Xavier and Evan look at me confused, and I swallow, looking around the room as I try to find something that I can say to change the subject. It’s too late to rush off and pretend the food’s burning. Miles rubs my shoulder, turning to look at me.

“I know my gift is pretty killer, but I don’t believe that none of your friends got you something,” Miles says, his eyes narrowing at me. I shake my head, bite my lip, and look away.

“I got her a vibrator. The best one in town,” Kennedy says, and Ishoot her an evil look along with Scarlett. “What? She was too scared to say it. A woman’s pleasure should not be an embarrassing topic.”

“You two having trouble in the bedroom, Davis?” Evan asks, laughing.

Miles ignores him, and the conversation around us moves on, but Miles’s grip on my arm tightens. It’s better that he didn’t say anything. It’s better thatIdidn’t say anything.

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