Fall From Love Read Free Page B

her ass. Jenna would kick my ass if I wanted to sleep with a
guy before dating him for at least six months, had met his parents, and had her
approval. She flipped when she found out that I lost my virginity to Adam after
almost eight months of dating. In the few years I’ve known her, she has always
been very protective like that. Sometimes it can be annoying, but overall, I
like knowing that she always has my back.
    Standing behind the
two blondes started out mildly entertaining, but I don’t know how much more of
it I can handle before losing valuable brain cells. The line moves forward a
few steps, leaving only Barbie #1 and #2 before it’s my turn. Just a few
more minutes, just a few more minutes , I chant to myself.
    “Holly?” I hear a
guy’s voice call my name from a distance, but I ignore it, thinking that he
must be talking to someone else.
    “Holly.” The voice
is right beside me now and I realize that I recognize it. Even though I don’t
want to and as hard as I squeeze my eyes shut, the memories come rushing in. My
heart hammers as I turn my head to see the face that matches the voice from my
memory. The same face I want to forget forever because it brings up too many
horrible feelings from that night. He’s about a foot away from me and my head
barely meets his shoulders. I don’t remember him being so tall, but I guess I
didn’t really want to remember a lot from that night. The light from the
hallway is directly above him, shining down on his sandy brown hair, casting a
shadow across half of his face.
    “How are you?”
Carter asks and seeing his sympathetic eyes makes my stomach turn, letting me
know that this is real and not a dream. This isn’t something I can wake up
from.
    “Fine,” I mutter,
swallowing hard. It’s not that I’m fine, I just can’t think of anything else to
say.
    “Do you have a
minute to talk?” he asks and, for a moment, all I can do is stare at him.
    “Um… I’ve... I’ve
gotta go,” I stutter, stepping out of the line and making my way back to the
booth, back to Jenna. I want to leave and go home. I’m not strong enough to
handle this. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do this—that I could move
on—but it’s clear to me now, I’m just not ready yet.
    “Jenna!” I shout
when I find her swaying to the music.
    “Beer for my lovely
date,” she yells over the music, handing me a fresh bottle.
    “I’m ready to
leave,” I lean over and shout into her ear.
    “What? Why? I
thought you were having a good time?” Her face falls more and more with each
passing second.
    For a split second,
it pains my heart to see her looking at me like this, but then I’m quickly
reminded of who is standing right behind me. I can feel him there. “I’ve had a
good time, but I’m ready to leave now.”
    Then her eyes shift
from my face to someone standing on my left. “Oh, shit.” She looks back at me,
her eyes wide and wearing a pained look on her face. “Okay, we can go.”
    “Holly, can I
please talk to you? Just for a minute?” Carter is beside me now, yelling in my
ear, wanting me to hear his pleas over the music.
    “We have to leave,”
Jenna shouts to him before I can even answer.
    “Please, I just
want to—” Carter begins again, totally ignoring Jenna, but before he can finish
Jenna pulls me away and we make our way to the bar.
    The memories from
that night are coming back at full speed. I’ve done such a great job of putting
them away—far away—and now, with one look at his face and one word from his
lips, it’s all coming back.
    “Hey!” Jenna yells
to the bartender, squeezing in between a few people, but never letting go of my
hand. “I need to pay my tab.” She turns back to check on me. “We’ll be out of
here soon, okay?”
    I nod and glance
around, refusing to look behind me, knowing all too well who is back there. The
guy Jenna had been flirting with earlier catches my eye. He’s sitting at the
bar just a couple seats down from