Page 29 of Catch My Fall (Catch)

She sniffled softly as she wiped under her eyes before sitting up straight and focusing on the road in front of her. “Enough about me, I need a diversion. Spill and tell me why you called for a rescue. Is something going on with you and Trist?”

I tried to get out of it by pointing out that she was upset and that the focus needed to be on her, but she was having none of that. At her insistence, I spent the rest of the ride back to our dorm filling her in on everything that had gone on between Tristan and me since we met, but when she started to cry after pulling in and parking, I felt like the biggest bitch on earth for telling her that, today of all days.

“I’m sorry Darby, I shouldn’t have…”

“No, Mia, no. That’s not why I’m crying. These are happy tears. I’ve known Tristan forever and this is the first time he’s ever wanted someone badly enough to try at all. I wasn’t aware that he even understood the concept and I am in total shock that he showed you his journal. I know he writes in it every day but I’ve never gotten to read even one entry. Knowing that he wrote about you… I’m happy for him and I’m happy for you. Is there a part of me that wishes Trace would fight for me like that? Of course! But if anything, the fact that he never has even once in all of these years, but Tristan has put himself out there right away, is one more sign that we were never meant to be. I could see someone like Brandon pulling out all the stops for me, but never Trace.”

Wiping at her eyes, she turned to me and started talking. “Tristan’s had a very, very difficult life. If it weren’t for my family, I shudder to think about what would have become of him and Trace. I can’t tell you what his baggage is, only he can do that, but what I can tell you is that he’s got a metric fuck-ton of issues with his self-confidence. You’d never know it to look at him or Trace, but their grandmother really did a number on them. Just… be patient and gentle with him, okay?”

“I promise I will be. You already know that I’m nothing like any of the other girls he’s had… ah…ya know… Ugh…Oh Christ, why can’t I say that?”

Smiling at me she answered, “That’d be because you care.”

Chapter Fifteen

Tristan texted me a few hours after I got back to my dorm, and I know I got a sappy smile on my face when I saw his name pop up on my screen.

Tristan: Are you free to talk?

Me: Yep—Darby’s out and about so it’s just me.

My phone rang a few seconds later and I swiped the screen to answer.

“Hi, Stan.”

He laughed before answering, “Hi, Mimi.”

I got such a huge charge from listening to his throaty chuckle thatit was actually weird. I get what being turned on is for sure, and I’ve definitely gotten turned on before, but never the way I do with Tristan. The voice, the eyes, his scent, his body… oh yeah, all turn-ons. Major.

“Did you eat dinner?”

“Meh. I had a cup o’ noodles. Does that count?”

“Uh, hell no that doesn’t count. There’s like three freeze-dried vegetables in each cup and absolutely no protein. I’m going to Salad Land. You want me to pick you up?”

My stomach growled so loud that I’m surprised he didn’t hear it. “Mm, I am all about Salad Land. What time…” My words were interrupted by a knock at my door. “Hold on a sec, someone’s at the door.”

Swinging it open, I giggled like an idiot when I saw it was Tristan. Pressingendon the call he came into my room and smiled at me. “I was thinking now,” he said in answer to the question I’d only begun to ask before he knocked on the door.

Looking down I realized thatI was wearing a pair of yoga shorts paired with an old Maroon 5 concert t-shirt that was way too tight to wear in public, and my hair was done in two braids. I couldn’t look less attractive if I tried, which was really pathetic because Tristan looked perfect as usual.

“All right,” I said. “I’m into going, but clearly I have to change and redo my hair.”

The look he gave me was butterfly inducing. “You look awesome as usual, but I’m on board with you changing that shirt. I don’t want anyone else seeing my girl looking so sexy.”

My mouth dropped as my heart began to race, and I couldn’t help the dorky smile that spread across my face. Giggling nervously, I shoved at his stomach. “You’re too much. Now I’m going to grin like an idiot for hours.”

His response was to open his arms and pull me in for a hug. “Good, I’m glad. I want you to be happy when you’re with me.”

Wrapping my arms around him, I breathed in the sunshine and sea air scent that is Tristan Chamberlain and smiled because being with him made me feel normal. Nothing could make me happier than that. If things kept up the way they were, I thought he’d be seeing a lot of me smiling.

* * *

I’ve been at Tristan’s for six nights of the last ten. We finished our puzzle and have now moved on to a really intense game of Monopoly. We’re both crazy competitive and every night before I leave I take a picture of the board with my iPhone to make sure that he doesn’t cheat. That makes Tristan laugh, and he says that he finds my silliness ‘endearing’. No one’s ever said that about me before.

Surprisingly, Trace has been at home every night that I’ve been there. Even the nights that he was teaching the self-defense classes, he came right home after and spent the night sitting on the couch watching ESPN.

True to Tristan’s word, we’ve been taking things very slowly. We spend time kissing every night and he holds my hand whenever possible, but we’ve both been really diligent about keeping things simple. We’re getting closer each day though, and I feel so lucky to have found him.

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