Page 37 of Fall Hard

We walked inside the apartment and I kicked off my trainers before placing them neatly on the rack I’d insisted we buy. I hated it when the hall got cluttered up with shoes, whereas Jamie would probably have never even noticed them there.

I sank into the sofa, nudging Bryn’s pillow out of the way, and waited for her as I reached for the flash cards she’d already made and placed on the table.

Bryn plopped down next to me, exchanging her flashcards for the box she held in her hand. She almost looked… nervous.

“I picked this up for you the other day at the mall, it’s for item number five on the list.”

I immediately blushed. God. Item number five. What had I been thinking? I couldn’t believe I’d even written it down, let alone showed another living, breathing person.

“Now, I want you to know that there’s no pressure and no expectations. I just thought this might be a good way to tick that box without, um.” Now Bryn was the one who was turning pink as I watched in fascination. “...exposing yourself too much.”

I finally looked down at the little pink box and stared.

“You don’t need to use it with me,” Bryn said in a rush. “I could find you a date, or there might even be a manual mode so you can, ah, operate it yourself. Obviously, I’ll help if you’d rather it be a… friend.”

My mouth went dry. It was a small, vibrating egg—according to the description on the box anyway. It came with a remote control and—wow—seven different settings. I thought back to number five on the list and considered the toy, I guessed it did fit.

5. Have an orgasm in public

I wasn’t sure my blush would ever fade at this point. While I’d kissed in public, that was about as far as it had ever gone and I was… curious.

“Thank you,” I said finally, realizing I’d probably been silent for far too long. “Um, yeah. This could work.”

We looked at each other and burst out laughing. “I’m sorry,” she gasped as more giggles snuck free. “I just saw it and thought of you.”

I couldn’t control the laughter that spilled out of me, tears escaping my eyes as I wheezed for breath. “When should I use it?”

“I do have an idea for that.” The gleam in her eye had intrigue raising its head inside me and I nodded for her to continue, but she only smirked. “You’ll have to wait and see.”

“Fine.” I pouted and she rolled her eyes, shuffling through her flash cards while I went to leave the toy in my room. I grabbed a bag of candy from the kitchen on my way back before I sat down again. “Okay, now foryourbribe. One piece of candy per correct answer.”

Bryn had a ridiculous sweet tooth and the way her eyes lit up at the brightly coloured bag in my hands made me feel stupidly smug.

“When did you pick those up?”

I waved off her question. “No more stalling. Ready?”

She sat up straight, her face calm and focused in a way that even centered me.

“Ready.”

CHAPTERTEN

“Why arewe doing this today? We should be out celebrating your exams being over!” Bryn ignored me, keeping her eyes firmly on the road as I attempted to needle her. “Come on,” I whined. “Just tell me where we’re going.” I gave her my best puppy dog eyes and her lips twitched.

We’d been in Jamie’s car for about forty minutes already and I had no clue what Bryn was up to. She’d simply told me we were going out for the day and to pack some lunch which gave me… nothing to go off.

“We’re going,” she said finally as the car began to slow and she took a turning off the main road and onto what looked like a dirt path, “to kill three birds with one stone.”

I furrowed my brows, confused, until we rounded a bend and a gate stood in our way, blocking a dense patch of woods and, just visible through the trees, a glimmer of water. Bryn hopped out and unlocked the gate before driving us back through and locking it again.

Three birds with one stone? What did she—

We drove further into the woods and then I saw the glimmer of water was actually a huge lake, complete with a small dock.

Three birds with one stone.

We were in Jamie’s car. By a lake. Asecludedlake. Either Bryn was about to murder me or…

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