Page 119 of Falling Like This

And that’s the last straw. I’m out of my seat in a second and charging for the door.

I’m not letting this happen.

My heart is pounding so loud, it’s all I can hear. I’m not thinking anymore, just reacting.

He’s not doing this. Not with my girl. No goddamn way.

I grab his free arm and spin him to face me, fist raised, staring at his face, enjoying the moment when it turns from smug tooh shit.

That’s right, you’re not going in there. Not with my girl.

My fist is halfway to his face before I realize she’snotmy girl. But it’s too late. My fist slams into his face, and he tumbles backward. Rae spins to face me with fire in her eyes.

She’s not my girl, and this sure as hell isn’t the way to make her mine.

What the hell am I doing?

Screwing it up. Again.

“Aaron freaking Cooper!” she shrills, looking from me to Jesse, wide-eyed.

Miles grabs me from behind and pulls me backward, and I don’t resist. Joel goes to help Jesse up as Nick and Trevor step between us.

“I’m tired of fistfights,” Nick deadpans.

“And drama,” Trevor grunts.

I hear them, but my eyes are still on Rae, fawning over Jesse.

“What the hell is the matter with you?” Miles yells, drawing my attention to him. He shoves me a few steps away. “Seriously, when is it going to be enough? Stop torturing each other and fucking fix this. And by the way, that doesn’t mean go punch Jesse in the face for touching her. Especially after that shit you pulled with Caity. That shit isn’t you. Flirting with some other girl to get her attention is what desperate quitters do. You want her? Fight for her. Not with your fists, with your heart.” He jams his finger into my chest, right above my heart, to drive his point home.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Rae’s head snap in our direction. Determined, she marches over to us.

Miles flares his eyes at me, indicating I should say or dosomething.

As she gets to us, I say, “I’m sorry. Rae, I—”

I’m cut off by the crack of her palm against my cheek. “Stay the fuck away from me!” She storms off before I can say anything else.

She… she just… slapped me.

My cheek stings from the power of her slap. Tears well in my eyes.

Are we ever going to be able to fix this? Or is it going to keep getting worse until our relationship is irreparable?

I turn and see Miles staring at me, stunned. He opens his mouth, but I hold up my hand. I don’t need to be told how messed up all of this is again.

Instead, I stalk through the backyard toward my house. I need to be alone. Figure out how to deal with all of this. Because we can’t keep fucking it up.

When I get to my room, I collapse on my bed. My cheek is still sore and my heart is aching. I dig the present I got for her out from under my bed. I’ll give her space tonight. It’s the last thing I want to do, but I know I have to. Tomorrow I’ll go see her. Apologize. And pray that we can pick up the pieces of this shitty mess we made.

Rae

“Four stitches. Not too bad. Not a record, either.”

Jesse laughs from where he’s sitting on the bench next to me on his front porch.

“Not even close to what Jared has done to me over the years.”

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