Page 15 of Break Your Fall

“Did you hurt her? Huh?”

Landon’s eyes scoot past Julian’s shoulder, past my shoulder to Reyna after Julian spits the question and he shoves him back again, his grip tighter, his voice louder.

“Did you hurt her?”

Landon licks the blood from his lip, then spits it out at their feet. “She wanted it.”

Reyna’s hand starts to slide from my arm and I catch it with mine, squeezing, comforting her as best I can as Julian shoves Landon back again, saying through Landon’s yelp, “I told you to stay away from her.”

“We both know it wasn’t me who hurt her. She was already crying when she fell into my lap,” Landon says, the words sounding choked as Julian grips even tighter. “And I’m not about to turn down Reyna Stokes.” His bloody mouth expands to that smug smile. “You didn’t, either.”

I can’t see Julian’s face, but there’s a slight pause where I’m sure he’s making one before his knee slams into Landon’s stomach and Landon bends with a gurgled grunt.

“Nowit’s over,” Julian spits down at him.

A blue blur passes me, and before Landon can finish pushing against the wall to right himself, Banks hauls his fist straight into Landon’s jaw, knocking him to his ass. His lackeys finally decide to be a friend and shove through us to crowd around his groaning body.

“Fuck, that hurt,” Banks yells, releasing an actual yell after the fact as he shakes his hand out like a pom-pom. “What the hell is your face made of? Metal?”

“Trybone,” Camille says over Julian’s chuckle, then mutters, “Idiot.”

Banks ignores the insult and hurries around us to stop beside Reyna. “You could’ve used me,” he tells her, sounding so genuinely hurt that I feel myself start to laugh. But the sound halts in my throat when I catch Reyna’s flinch, and the word Banks said to describe what she had done ricochets between me, Camille, and Julian, the three of us holding eyes on Reyna.

“Unnecessary,” I blurt out at Banks, and he lumbers off without another word, still shaking his hand out.

“Banks,” Julian calls after him, his tone both a comfort and a reprimand, but Banks doesn’t stop until he’s past the cars and swallowed up by the night.

Reyna shakes her head, drawing my eyes back to her as her eyes bounce between the three of us. She locks stares with Camille for a short moment before they both look away, and she hurries off. The adrenaline that has finally sizzled out of me threatens again as my feet inch forward at the possibility of her running away.

But she doesn’t disappear into the night; she finds refuge in the passenger seat of my car.

The relief of knowing she’s behind my windshield, that she’s still picking me, flares to anger when I glance at Julian, that one look a reminder of where we are now. What actually brought us here, together, in the first place.

He meets my eyes and all he can do is sigh. Because the moment’s over. The fight is back to us.

Landon lets out a groan and we turn to see Nate helping him back to his feet.

“Let’s go,” Camille urges, taking Julian’s hand and guiding him back to the lot.

I follow close behind, splitting off down my own path once we reach the cars.

5

Wrong Choice

Thomas

An old Nada Surf song serenades us on the way to Reyna’s house—mostly to quell the silence between us and my overrun thoughts. But after a minute of listening, Reyna shifts in her seat and I shut off the stereo, the song hitting too close to home when we’re still two streets away.

My anger has fizzled out, but my guilt is a mass in my chest. Reyna waswithme last night. Me. If I had followed her, she wouldn’t have been with—

That was my wrong choice.

I turn a silent scoff toward my window at the thought that if I’d only followed her, I’d beherchoice.

Iwouldn’tbe her choice. I’m just a friend, and she was hurt by me. And that prick was just there.He was just there.And would I really want her to come to me for that?

Yes,I think without blinking, but then,No. I couldn’t. I can’t be the guy who’s just there. And I don’t want just one night, or even a few nights. I want every night.

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