Page 72 of Surviving Lies

“Becca!” he yelled. “What happened?” But then he slowed his approach when he saw Gage was already there, seeming to help.

“Hey, Ty,” Gage said. “We should probably lift Macie together and have her loosen Becca’s foot; that might be the best way to do this. I already looked for something to stand on, but there’s nothing.”

Ty and Gage lifted Macie onto their shoulders with ease. Her hands deftly loosened my foot, and they quickly put her down.

“Just let go, Bec. We’ll catch you,” Ty said with such confidence.

I didn’t think I had much of a choice – my arms were like jelly and ready to give out. My hands slipped away from the railing and I closed my eyes, praying the two men in my life would catch me as I crashed to the ground.

They did. Ty had me under the arms and Gage by the legs. Gage gently put my feet on the ground, allowing me to stand, though Ty hadn’t let go of me, making sure I was steady.

“How do you feel?” Ty asked.

He turned me toward him, my face in his hands, inspecting me, top to bottom. The worry etched into the lines around his eyes made my heart ache that I had done this to him.

“I’m fine, Ty, really.”

He pulled me into his arms, holding me tight, and that was when I realized he was shaking. “You scared the shit out of me, Bec. When I pulled up and saw you hanging from there, Christ, my heart dropped.” He pulled back and showed me the inside of my one arm. “You’re going to have a terrible bruise here, look.”

As I looked down at my arm that had been clinging to the railing, my attention was drawn to a retreating form walking away. Gage was heading to his car. He got in and closed his door, our eyes connecting for a brief moment. He gave me a nod and what seemed like his version of permission to be with Ty. I think he realized Ty needed this. My attention was brought back to my arm as Ty rubbed it and I jerked it out of his reach.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he said.

“It’s fine. I’m just mad at myself for being stupid,” I told him.

He scoffed at my insolence. “I would expect nothing less of you, Becca Reynolds.”

Macie came to our side, checking out my arm as well. “Oh Becca, we need to get you some ice. That’s getting swollen.” Her lips were drawn together as she stared closer at my wound. She furrowed her brows as she pulled out her phone, hoping someone would be home soon. Her face lit up once she checked her messages. “Lanie’ll be here in five minutes!”

Ty guided me to the front step, forcing me to sit. His hand was on my back, rubbing in small circles. I realized that since I came down, he hadn’t let go, touching me in some way at all times.

“Thanks for coming to help me, Ty.” Suddenly all the emotions I’d been feeling over the past few days came bubbling to the surface of my heart, my head. I felt as though I was either going to blurt out something I would regret or burst into tears.

That was when I saw Lanie walking up. Macie ran down the parking lot to meet her, I assumed to bring her up to speed with what transpired. Lanie picked up her pace, both of them standing in front of Ty and me.

“Are you OK?” she asked.

“Yep,” I said. “Just need to get inside, if you don’t mind.”

Lanie walked around us and opened the door. Macie and I almost raced one another through the door, as if we thought we’d never see the inside of our apartment ever again. When in reality, it had only been about thirty minutes since we had left it.

Ty and Lanie followed us into the kitchen, both watching as I made an ice bag for my arm. “I’m fine, guys, really.”

Ty came around, helping me tie the bag off and taking it from my hands. Turning around, I noticed that we were now alone, which kind of surprised me. He guided me to the couch, and as we sat, he wrapped the bag in a dish towel. “Here ya go.”

Even though I expected it to be cold, the ice startled me as I applied it to my arm. I flung myself against the back of the couch, the adrenaline catching up to me, exhausting me. The exaggerated sigh that came from my mouth made Ty chuckle.

“You good now, Bec?”

One of my eyes peeked open to look his way; I was too tired to open both eyes fully. “Mm hmm,” I told him.

He pulled my legs onto the couch while taking my shoes off. I nestled my head into the pillow as he covered me with a blanket, tucking it in around my body. He hovered over me for a moment, and I could feel him. “Are you going home for fall break this weekend?” he asked.

I opened my eyes to see his tall, muscular form, and it took my breath away. God, he was fucking hot. “Uhm, no, I’m not. I’m staying here.”

“Okay.” And he continued to stand above me, looking down at me. His whiskey eyes stared into mine, making it obvious he had something else to say. “So, I was wondering if we could maybe meet up, just to talk, nothing else, after break, when I get back.”

The tremulous tone in his voice made me take notice of how nervous he actually was. Sitting up a bit on the couch, I saw his trembling hands as they moved to grip the back of his neck.

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