Free Gravity (Free Falling) by Raven St. Pierre

worth getting caught if it came to that.  My main concern was him .
    “Did you really have to text first?”  He asked and laughed a little once I shut his car door behind me.  I blushed indiscreetly and didn’t respond other than shrugging my shoulders.  AJ stared, first at my face and then everything else, making it difficult to breathe.  I’ve never met someone who made me so aware of…..well, everything.  Every time he looked my way I worried about whether my hair was in place, or if I had something in my teeth, or if my clothes were straight.  What he thought of me was important – probably more important than it should’ve been considering the fact that I didn’t even put that much thought into my appearance when Antonio came around. 
    AJ reached toward my neck and I jumped like he was coming at me with a knife.  He smiled and tried to contain the laugh that almost slipped out.  “I was just gonna look at your necklace.  Relax,” he said calmly.  He looked me in my eyes to make sure I wasn’t about to freak out again and then back at the necklace as he picked it up and left his hand resting on my neck a little.  When his skin made contact with mine, I felt my pulse beating against him.  Hopefully he didn’t pay any attention to how fast it was racing, but I doubt that it went unnoticed. 
    “It’s nice,” he said once he finished observing.
    “Thanks,” I replied and then cleared my throat. 
    AJ was silent for a second and then asked, “ He get it for you?”  I knew he was referring to Antonio by the tone he took when asking the question.
    “Last month,” I admitted softly.
    “Hmm….cute,” he replied condescendingly before letting the charm fall back to my collar, implying that he could’ve done better.  He rested his head on the back of his seat and looked straight ahead through the windshield.  “Yesterday was fun.” 
    “Yeah, it was,” I replied and briefly relived the day again in my head.
    “We should hang out again sometime,” he suggested.  I wanted to look over at him, but couldn’t make myself do it. 
    “Yea h……..we should,” I said in a guilt ridden tone.  Again, I thought of Antonio and how horrible a person I was for not letting my relationship with him stop me from whatever I was starting to feel for AJ.  As soon as I thought Antonio’s name, he breezed past AJ’s car, but luckily didn’t even turn in our direction.  That brought our brief rendezvous to an abrupt end.
    “I should go,” I said quickly and reached for the door handle. 
    Just as I was stepping out, AJ reached for my hand and didn’t have to use much force at all to convince me to wait.  When I turned around to see what he wanted, he’d leaned in slightly and immediately grabbed my attention with his gaze.  I looked at his lips, then back at his eyes, then again at his lips longingly.  Is he about to kiss me?  Would I try to stop him like I knew I should, or…..just let it happen?   In the midst of my questioning, he smiled and lifted my bag from the floor of the car.  “Don’t forget this,” he said.
    I felt myself blushing again because I was pretty sure that he knew what I was thinking.  “Oh…….right……. my bag………thanks,” I said and then turned away to reprimand myself for being such an idiot.  I couldn’t even look back at him as I paced away, fearing that I’d find him laughing at my expense.  Of course he wasn’t gonna kiss me!  He barely even knows me!  And why would I be thinking like that anyway?   I needed to keep my mind off of AJ and back on Antonio.  Inside, I found him posted against the wall at the front entrance, apparently waiting for me.  I was skeptical at first when I thought about how close he was to AJ’s car.  Maybe he did see me with him.  “Morning,” I said and then looked away quickly to avoid eye contact.
    “Hey,” he said and furrowed his eyebrows together questioningly.  “I saw your car out there, but