Free Falling Into Us by Jasinda Wilder Page A

Nell actually told you I had a crush on you.”
    “In her defense, it was only to convince me to ask you out. I wasn’t going to, mainly because I had a feeling you’d react pretty much exactly the way you did.”
    “How else was I supposed to react?” 
    “I don’t know. I can’t imagine there was much else you could do. It was a pretty odd situation.” 
    Becca inched slightly closer to me, close enough that she had to stare up into my eyes. Her breasts were brushing my chest, and I had to use every ounce of willpower to not crush her against me and kiss her. She searched my eyes, and then I saw a decision flow over her features.
    “Pick me up at the entrance to my sub at midnight,” she said, her voice sounding at once excited, worried, and determined.
    “Midnight?” I frowned. “What the hell are we supposed to do at midnight in this podunk town? Everything closes at eight.”
    She glanced around us briefly, saw that the hallway was empty but for us, then lifted up on her tiptoes and kissed me on the cheek, right on the edge of my jawline. “I’m sure you can figure something out. Even if we just drive around and listen to country music again, I’m sure we’ll have fun.”
    “How are you gonna get out of your room? Please don’t fall out of your window and break something. That would for sure put a damper on our plans.” I was trying to playing it cool, but my entire body was on fire, trembling and wired from the electric feel of her lips on my cheek. 
    She grinned. “You leave that to me. But it will probably involve my brother. God knows he’s had plenty of experience sneaking out. He’s half the reason my parents are so hard on me.”
    “Call me or text me if you end up needing help. I have a ladder I could bring.”
    She snorted. “I think a ladder might be kind of noisy. The idea is to draw less attention to the fact that I’m sneaking out under my fun-Nazi father’s nose, not more.”
    I shrugged. “Just a thought. I could make you a grappling hook?”
    “A grappling hook?” Becca laughed outright at that. “Where are you going to get a grappling hook?”
    “I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead. Maybe I could just steal the anchor from my dad’s fishing boat? I could toss it into your window, and you could shimmy down it.”
    Becca laughed even harder at that. “Because that’s not conspicuous at all.” 
    We both pushed away from the lockers and strolled down the hallway toward the front office and the exit. Somehow, my hand ended up tangled in Becca’s, our fingers twined together. We both looked down at our joined hands and then at each other. 
    “Yep,” I said. “You’re my girlfriend. Don’t even try to deny it.”
    Becca slapped my bicep with her free hand but didn’t take her hand out of mine. “I agreed to no such thing. I might be, but then again, I might not be. Nothing’s official. The jury is still out.”
    “You’re just trying to play it cool, Becca. Don’t lie.” I tugged her so she stumbled against my side, and then I wrapped my arm around her waist, careful to keep it in the kosher-zone above her waistline but beneath her bra strap. 
    She seemed to have stopped breathing, but she didn’t pull away. She might have burrowed a little closer, actually. “Have you met me? I’m the furthest thing from cool.” She murmured the words as if she believed them but didn’t want me to.
    I frowned down at her. She wouldn’t meet my eyes, so I pulled her to a stop and twisted her to face me. Her body was flush against mine, soft and fitting perfectly. Her chin rested on my chest, and I knew she could feel my heart crashing against my ribcage. 
    “I think you’re cool, Becca,” I said. “I always have.”
    She wrinkled her nose in confusion. “You have? I always kind of figured you barely knew who I was.”
    I made a face at her. “That’s not possible. You’re too beautiful to fade into the background.”
    She tilted her head to rest