Page 87 of Falling

“See, that’s just cruel,” I say, the sob ripping through me unexpectedly. “I miss you guys.”

“We’re right here, Wrenny. And we always will be if you let us,” Kennedy says, looking at me with her gorgeous brown doe eyes. Then the waterworks are really flowing. God, I can’t get myself to stop. “More drinks!”

Then we drink more as the last few weeks I’ve had fade into a blur. I’ll have to see my mom at the show next weekend, and I can’t even stomach the thought of having to tell her about Austin.

Then my mind goes into a no-go zone. The Miles Zone. Suddenly, all I can think about are his brown eyes, his kind words, and the way his hands felt on my body. I can’t stop thinking about the fact that I’ve been slowly pushing him away and I ran away like a coward at the interview when things started to feel too much.

I do the stupid thing and pull out my phone, which opens up to a picture of the two of us. It’s a selfie he took while he was confiscating my phone as I studied. He’s got the cheesiest grin on his face and is holding the camera high so you can see me in the background, my head buried deep in books. By the time he gave me my phone back, this was the picture he changed the home screen to, and I haven’t had the energy to change it back.

I do an even stupider thing, and I call him.

He picks up on the second ring.

“Milesy,” I say cheerfully.

“Wren. You’re calling me,” he points out.

“I know.”

“Are you okay? What’s going on, baby?”

“Does something have to be wrong for me to call you?” I argue, playing with the keychain that hangs off my phone case.

“Actually, yes. You’ve hardly spoken to me since Sophia’s,” he says.

“I miss you,” I blurt out, the words coming out garbled. The girls throw me a skeptical look, and I turn away from them, walking toward the bar to sit down.

“I miss you, too, princess,” he sighs. The sound of movements on his end and a few mumbles confuse my senses, and I sit up straighter. “I’d miss you a whole lot less if you stopped avoiding me.”

His statement lands the blow he intended, and I sigh but recover quick enough to ask, “What are you doing? Who are you with?”

I hear him laugh low over the phone. “I’m on a late-night grocery run with Evan. What areyoudoing?”

“Drinking at a bar with Kenny and Scarlett,” I say through a yawn. I whisper as if it’s a secret, “I think I’m drunk.”

“Really? I couldn’t tell,” he replies, also whispering before returning to his normal voice. “Are you okay? I thought you didn’t drink. Barcelona and all that.”

“I don’t drink,” I say, hiccuping.

“But you are.”

“I am.”

He huffs. “What bar are you at? Let me come get you.”

“Shhhh.Stop shouting at me, or I’m going to kiss you.”

He laughs, but I don’t see what’s funny. “You’re going to kiss me? Do you mean kill, Wren?”

Oh. “Stupid autocorrect.”

“You can't autocorrect with your voice, baby.”

“Stop calling me baby, or Iwillkiss you,” I murmur, but I don’t think he hears me. All I hear is a sharp inhale, so I continue. “Can you come and get us, please?”

“Can you turn on your location for me?” he asks gently, and I fumble to change the screen so I can send him my location. “I’m on my way.”

Less than twenty minutes later, we’re still all very drunk and a little less sad than before, and the boys have arrived. Maybe I should have given Scarlett a trigger warning about Evan because she almost throws up when she sees him. Which I can’t tell is because of the alcohol or because of the disgust she has for him. Evan is dressed casually in pants and a crisp white shirt with a black tie hanging loose on his neck, while Miles is wearing gray sweatpants and a white shirt.

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