Page 16 of Catch My Fall (Catch)

“Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck! Dammit, how upset is she?”

Therewas no way I was telling him that. I’d already told him enough, and I only did that so he’d make it right with Darby… and hopefully, he’d say something to Trace about it as well.

“You need to talk to her about that. It’s not okay for me to say anymore than I already have.”

He hung his head and looked at the floor uncomfortably for a moment before he looked back up at me. “Darby’s like a sister to me and I love her to death. I feel like shit that I did anything that wound up hurting her at all but I’m glad she’s got a friend like you, Mia. She’s had a lot of problems with so-called friends using her. Any one of her other“friends” would have blabbed out everything she told them when she was upset, but it means a lot to me, and I know it will to her too, that you have her back.”

I smiled at himand said thank you, but it hurt me to think of Darby being used by people. Darby’s a great girl, and she deserves to have true friends surrounding her.

Several of the other studentsfrom our class began walking between us, and that was our cue to go into the room ourselves. We took our regular seats, and I pulled out my iPad to type a quick message to Darby.

“Hey.”

God, even his voice was sexy.

Turning to look at him, I smiled. “What’s up?”

“I need your cell phone number. I wanted to text you last night but couldn’t. Which sucked.”

I felt the spark of hope in my stupid heart and I squashed it down. He wanted to be my friend, not my date. Plus, I don’t date. It’s better this way. And maybe if I tell myself that two hundred thousand times, I’ll start to believe it. Tristan is cracking the wall around me, and I’m surprised to find that I wish he were actually interested in me in more than a friendly way.

I gave him the number just before class started, and I startled a few minutes later when my phone vibrated on my desk. Picking it up, I saw that I had a message from a number I didn’t know. I bit my cheek to keep from smiling like a lovesick fool as I touched the screen and read a message from Tristan.

Tristan: This is my cell number. You can add me to your contact list under: WHAT AN AWESOME GUY. Wanna come over tonight?

Me: I’d be all by myself—Darby’s going out with her mom.

Tristan: I know—it’s their mother-daughter night. Do you not want to come over if Darby isn’t there? That’s not very friendly, Mimi…

Me: No! That’s not it at all. I just wanted to make sure that you knew that I’d be alone.

Tristan: You won’t be alone—you’ll be with me.

Me: What time should I be there?

Tristan: How about seven?

Me: I’ll be there. Now stop texting and listen to our instructor. We’re never going to get anywhere in business if we don’t know how to do the math. (ha ha)

After class I met Darby in the cafeteria. Taking a seat at the table, I hung my head as I tried to figure out how to tell her what I’d been dreaming about last night. I startled when she reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “Hey, you don’t have to tell me what all that was about last night. I want to know, but I want to know on your time. If you aren’t ready, don’t push yourself.”

I held back tears when I looked up to find her staring at me. “I’m not ready yet, but I will be. Thank you for staying with me last night until I fell asleep again. It means a lot to me.”

Waving me off, she laughed. “That’s what friends are for. I’m so happy to finally have a real friend, Mia.”

“I’m happy to have you, too.I’m sorry that your first real college friend is a nightmare-having freak, but I guess you’ll get used to it.”

The look on her face made my heart hurt. “I’ll never get used to hearing someone I care about scream in terror because they’re reliving something that is eating away at their soul. Trust me, I know of what I speak because Trace has nightmares. You just need to remember that I’m here for you no matter what. If you have a nightmare and you need someone to talk to, wake me up.”

“Thank you so much, Darbs. I can’t even tell you how happy I am that I got you for a roommate.” Fidgeting with my fingers I summoned up the courage to tell her that I had discussed her with Tristan. I felt stupid that I said anything to him at all, and I really hoped she wouldn’t feel betrayed by what I said.

“I have something to tell you and I hope it doesn’t piss you off. Tristan was waiting for me outside of class this morning and he was worried because you never texted him back last night. I told him it was probably because you were upset to find out that another friend had used you. That’s it, I swear. I didn’t say anything about Trace, or you crying or anything, but I thought he should know that you are upset.”

“That’s fine, Mia, don’t worry. I felt bad when I woke up this morning and realized that he had texted so many times…Tristan knows I’ve been hurt by the same damn situation playing out over and over again for years. He knows that I have feelings for Trace.”

That was news. “He does?”

Sipping her coffee, she laughed mirthlessly. “Of course. I’m not always subtle, ya know? Plus… god, this is embarrassing… the morning after I lost my virginity to Trace, Tristan walked in on us in bed together, still naked.”

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