Free Falling Behind (Falling Series) by Dee Avila Page A

bra and he was unbuttoning my pants.
    I stepped back and pulled my shirt down. “I better go. See you tomorrow.” I turned and walk away.
    He let out a grunt and whispered, “Yeah, see ya.” I could hear the frustration in his voice. But I wasn’t about to let it bother me, tonight.

 
    C hapter Eight
    Titus
    I lay in bed for twenty minutes with my phone on my chest. She was supposed to call me. He should have been gone, already. She asked me not to be mad at her. I wouldn’t be. But I did need to know what she had done. Was it about telling about Candice and how George ended up at Alex’s house? Reese did the right thing, whatever it was.  Or was there something else? Gah, I wish she would call me, already . Closing my eyes, I told myself to relax, give her five more minutes before I called her.
    I was lying under the old willow in my backyard and there someone next to me. Not so close that they were pressed against me , but close enough that our fingers brushed each other. Turning my head I saw Reese staring at me, with a nervous half-smile gracing her soft pink lips. “What’s going on?” I asked.
    “Ty, I’ve liked you for so long. Now that Josh and Candice are out of the picture , we can be together.”
    I looked at her in confusion. Josh and Candice? She was just with him tonight and Candice isn’t going anywhere. “What do you mean now that they’re ‘out of the picture’?” I sat up, pulling my hand from hers. No matter how much I wanted this, I would not be with her while she was dating Josh and I couldn’t break my promise to Candice.
    “It’s over between us. I broke up with him. I lo”—
    A cell phone rang, interrupting her. Was she about to say she loved me? I waited for her to answer her phone. She looked at me, expectantly. I fished my cell out of my pocket. It wasn’t ringing. But the ringing continued.
    The vibration on my chest combined with the ringing finally woke me.  “Hello?”
    “Ty? It’s me. Were you asleep?” Reese’s voice sounded rough and thick with emotion.
    “Yeah , I dosed off. What time is it?” I sat up pushing my fingers through my hair and rubbing my eyes open.
    “Midnight. You just left, like a half hour ago. Mom wanted to talk more after Josh left.”
    “So , what happened?”  I swear I heard a sniffle on the other end of the phone.
    “I-I ruined my friendship , Ty. I put her life in danger for my boyfriend by not insisting we go out to The Orchard. I’m so stupid. I told Mom all about Candice’s bruises and then I sat there while she called George. I took him over to Alex’s and watched the hatred flare in her eyes when we picked her up. She didn’t say a single word to me. Sh-sh-she ha-a-ates me.”
    “Reese, listen to me. Okay?” I waited , but I didn’t hear anything except her continued sobs. “Are you listening?”
    She squeaked . “Yeah.”
    “Good. Candice is upset right now. She got caught lying to her parents. She was caught at her boyfriend ’s and it was obvious that you had ratted her out. Once she’s no longer grounded for the lying and she’s talking to someone about the abuse, she’ll realize that you potentially saved her life. And you definitely helped her get out of an abusive relationship. I know it hurts to have her mad at you, but it won’t last.”
    “Thanks , Ty. But if I would have been at The Orchard, instead of being with my stupid pushy boyfriend at the dance, things could have been different. I could have come home to my house with Candice and we could have told my mom, together. She would have never gotten busted and she wouldn’t be pissed at me, right now.”
    “Reese?”
    “Yeah, Ty?”
    “What do you mean by pushy boyfriend? Is… is he pushing you to do things that you aren’t ready for?” I hope he isn’t forcing her to screw him.
    “No, no, not at all. I said ‘pushy’ because I really wanted to go out to the party and keep an eye on C─ to make sure she came home with me. Josh wanted