Page 89 of The Fallen Ones

“Uh, I-I think I’m good. I just need to soak in a bubble bath. I’ll be fine after.”

“I can do that too.” He winked at me and pulled out of his spot before heading to the main road.

“What sort of music are you into?” he asked.

“Uh, a little bit of everything. There’s this new band called Bishop I’m really enjoying.”

“Yeah?”

I nodded. “Yeah. It’s a female fronted rock band. I love her vocals. They’re so deep and soulful.”

“Sounds good. I’ll check that out. I like when women sing in rock bands.”

“Me too.” I relaxed a little bit more, feeling like I was maybe making the right choice by going through with this date. Brandon seemed nice. Maybe he was a little too flirty, but I’d been with Jace so I wasn’t new to rich, handsome guys pulling that out of their bag of tricks.

Jace.

His face popped into my mind’s eye.

I missed him.

Damnit.

“So after college I was thinking about maybe just traveling.”

“That’s sounds fun,” I said, careening back to the conversation. “I haven’t decided what I’ll do yet.”

“Hey, making it through college is paramount. I say take some time away if you need it.”

I smiled at that. “Yeah.”

We pulled into the restaurant and we got out. Jace used to rush to my door to open it for me. Brandon didn’t. Instead, he waited for me on the curb. When I reached him, he held his hand out to me, and I took it.

We went into the restaurant and were seated.

“So. I have to ask. Are you and Jace over?”

I put my menu down and shifted uncomfortably in my seat. “Over? I mean, we broke up.”

“He confronted me as I’m sure you heard.” He gestured to the fading black eye he sported and his slightly swollen nose. “Told me to stay away from you.”

My heart jumped at his words, and I swallowed thickly. “I’m sorry he did that to you.”

He scoffed. “Don’t worry. I hit him back too. I just wanted you to know I think you’re worth it.”

I offered him a strained smile and looked back to my menu, avoiding answering his question about if it was really over with Jace.

The evening wore out with comfortable conversation. By the time we finished the movie, I felt content that it wasn’t a bust and I’d had a good time.

Brandon walked me to my door and smiled at me. “I had a good time, Lily.”

“Me too.”

He reached out and tilted my chin up and leaned in. I held my breath as his lips brushed against mine.

“There’s a party tomorrow night at Cam’s again if you’d like to maybe go upstairs.”

I breathed out. “I-I don’t know. I don’t want to jump into anything right away?—”

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