How a Star Falls Read Free Page A

against the cross, her hair and the shadows hiding her reaction. Something about the name lingered around him, like the feeling he sometimes got right after he woke up and had yet to register the screeching of the alarm on his phone.
    Gabrielle. He remembered the song that had played on his iPod on his way up the trail, right before he met... “Brielle.” Yeah. It fit.
    He caught the satisfied look she gave him as she sat in her white cloud of a dress, glowing like fog over a dark field, or maybe even the distant light of the stars. He grinned back at her. “Brielle, then?”
    The wild strands of her hair swept over her shoulders as she nodded and then rose to her feet.
    He followed. “Look, whatever your reason for being out here, you really shouldn’t stay.” He rubbed his arms, missing his sweater and hoping she would agree with him. “There’s got to be some place I can drop you off.”
    For the first time that night, her confident demeanor slipped. She glanced up the grassy clearing, which led back to the paved portion of the path. Her dress appeared to quiver in the breeze, and he caught her biting her lip. Out of uncertainty, or nerves?
    He shifted his weight from foot to foot. When she still didn’t respond, he blurted, “Do you need a place to stay?” He breathed in deeply, afraid she would say yes and worried she would say no. There was no way he could abandon her at this point, even though he cringed to think of his roommate’s reaction.
    She started walking, and he stood still for a moment, then rushed to catch up to her. “My apartment’s in McKinleyville, about fifteen minutes away. We have a couch—one of those type that pulls out into a bed, you know?” That bed had gotten a lot of use the past few months with all the people Scott invited over... Ugh. Hopefully, with tomorrow being a work day, his roommate just might come home peacefully, alone. If at all. Would that be too much to hope for?
    They walked in silence for a few minutes, and Derrick began to wonder if she even realized that he was still waiting for her answer. It wasn’t until they headed down the road toward the main parking lot that she responded. She paused and gazed at the town of Trinidad across the way, its lights coming on like a dark fir tree on Christmas Eve. He usually wasn’t out quite so late, and something about the scene made him feel almost...warm...like good things could happen in this place.
    “I’d... I’d like that.” Her voice was filled with tentative trust and steady femininity. Her hands fisted in the folds of her skirt, then relaxed as she glanced at him. “Are you sure it wouldn’t be a problem?”
    Yeah, it probably would be. But his own voice contradicted him. “No problem.”
    Somehow, despite the absence of his sweater, the wind didn’t seem quite so cold as he led her to the parking lot.

Chapter 2
    “Well, here we are.” Derrick punctuated the statement with the click of his seat belt and the slam of the driver’s-side door. Most of the apartment windows had their blinds down and shut tight, but a warm glow emanated from a few. He glanced up at the window of his and Scott’s place on the second floor. How would Brielle view the apartment? When was the last time they did the dishes...or vacuumed...or washed their laundry? He cringed. At least Scott’s car wasn’t here, although whether that boded well or ill remained to be seen. No use worrying now.
    He glanced at Brielle and found her struggling with all the silk or whatever it was surrounding her. He grinned as he rounded the hood and the open door, then leaned against the side of the car, arms folded.
    She spent a few more seconds pushing the pouf of her skirt this way and that, trying to find her feet, apparently. When she met his gaze, she gave a little shrug, smiling sheepishly. “I seem to be having some trouble.”
    “Really? I hadn’t noticed.” He didn’t move, didn’t blink, until she stuck out her tongue. Then he burst