Fall Forever (Fall For Me) Read Free

were
crying about the guy.”
    His husky voice came out as a
tortured growl, “We’ll count the kiss as your free pass—the one Finn gave
you. No harm done.”
    My heart dropped to the floor like
a brick. No harm done ?!
    No harm ?!! I clutched my stomach, my whole
body twisting with pain.
    It was as though he wasn’t
listening to my words—or he didn’t want to hear them…. Was that it? He’d
had his kiss—what he’d sought after for so long. Now the challenge was
over and didn’t seem worth all of the drama it would bring.
    A shattering ache ripped through my
insides—through my heart and entire soul. Was Riley really, truly the
player he had always appeared?
    Had I just been played?
    I didn’t want to believe it was
true—and deep down I didn’t. I knew Riley. I knew he wouldn’t take
advantage of me when I was aching and hurting from finding out Finn was
cheating on me. He wouldn’t take advantage of my vulnerability like that.
Though I knew players did that sort of thing—I knew he wouldn’t.
    Yet … here he was. He had kissed
me—and now he had second thoughts.
    No matter the spin on it—I
still felt played.
    And hurt.
    And abandoned.
    My throat and chest went tight. I
couldn’t breathe. Still, I managed to choke out, “But you just told me you want
me to be your girlfriend.”
    His eyes sparked.
    His breath drew in sharply. Then
sadness welled in his eyes. “I do, Jones. You know that.” He clenched his jaw
muscles, going pale. “Well, I hope you know that.” He murmured softly, “Maybe
you don’t. But that’s what I’ve wanted since the first time I saw
you—that’s all I’ve
wanted.”
    His eyes looked completely
defeated. “But Zoey, you have to talk to Finn first—you have to get
things straight with him. Believe me Jones, I’m praying you come back to me.”
He paled. “I’m just not sure you will.”

 
 
 
    CHAPTER 2

 
 
    Riley
    When we were in middle school, Zoey
had to stand at the front of the class and read a poem that she was supposed to
be writing in American Literature. No one else in the class had to do that. It
was a punishment from our teacher Mrs. Woodland to Zoey, because Zoey was
talking when she was supposed to be writing. Zoey was always talking. But she
didn’t do it because she was “bad.” She did it because she had a lot to say.
The girl was interesting. And beautiful…. And my best friend’s girlfriend.
    I had slunk down in my seat,
half-worried for Zoey, half-intrigued. What would her poem be about? Did she
even write one? She’d been
talking an awful lot, whispering with her friends, probably about Finn. Definitely not about me. Or, okay, it was possible she was
whispering about me. But if she was, it was only to complain that I’d tied her
shoelaces together while she and Finn were eating lunch. They hadn’t even
noticed I’d done it because they’d been in their own little world—as
usual. One that didn’t involve me—or the rest of the
school. Just those two—Zoey and Finn—alone
in love. It made my heart ache to see them together—let alone,
have to hang out with them. Every day. So, I tried not to. Only, Finn was my best friend…. And I was drawn to
Zoey. So, yeah, I was sort of sunk.
    After enduring Zoey’s poem, as soon
as the bell rang I asked Jade Silver to be my girlfriend. It wasn’t that I
liked Jade, though she was pretty. It wasn’t even that Jade was popular, though
she was. She was what the girls in our class called
“The Queen” of popularity. But the reason I asked her out was I knew it would
bother Zoey. And I wanted to bother Zoey—bad. ‘Cause
she bothered me.
    She was all I could think about,
all I wanted to look at. My eyes would follow her everywhere. Yet, she was
always looking at Finn. Smiling at Finn. Talking to Finn. That was why I was
able to tie her shoelaces together at lunch—she was in a world that only
involved Finn.
    And her poem … the poem made my
heart catch. Ache. She had