Free Falling for Seven by T.A Richards Neville Page B

acting so weak at the hands of someone else.
    “Bye,” he said amongst a sigh. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
    I hadn’t invited her over so I wasn’t expecting to find Kit sitting on the steps outside of my building. She snapped her gum, looking up at me. “Everything okay in lover’s paradise?”
    Should I lie? I doubted my face was capable of masking what was going on in my head. “Ask me later,” I said, fastened to the spot in front of her. “He took me for milkshake. We didn’t talk a whole lot.”
    Guilt washed over her face before it was swept away with concern. “I guess cuz of last night, right?”
    “I was drunk. That will never ever happen again. I can’t blame anyone but myself. No one forced me to act like a humongous slut.”
    “What was with Jules calling you out like that? He was wired.”
    “I can’t even think about him,” I said, pushing him far away from concern.
    “Yeah well, this morning I helped him get it out of his system. If you know what I mean.” Kit’s smirk left little to the imagination and I grimaced at the gruesome picture she had planted.
    I was purely asking out of politeness. “Are you two…?”
    “Not a thing, no. You don’t date a player.” Kit shook her head. “I think it’s in a rule book somewhere. Uh-huh, no, you do not pin one down. They’re like free spirits, you know?”
    “Okayyyy.” Dumbest thing I ever heard, but moving on…
    “There’s an away game tonight. We’re all driving out, kinda like a road trip. You in?”
    I thought about my relationship that was hanging by a tiny thread. I wasn’t in the mood, I’d be no kind of company worth keeping. “I can’t.”
    “What do you have to do?”
    “I just can’t.”
    “If this is about last night, don’t sweat it. We’ve all been there, everyone’s forgot by now. Maybe not Katlyn and Jordan, but I’m sure they’ll get over it. Worse things have happened.” Katlyn must have been the brunette who was glued to Nicky’s side for most of the night. “Listen, we leave in an hour and it’d be really great to see you. We’re meeting at my place. I hope you change your mind. Bring Jordan if you want.”
    “Maybe,” I said, fishing out my keys.
    “Maybe see you later then.”
    Kit waved goodbye and I let myself inside, trudging up the stairs as if I was trying to conquer Mount Everest. Mia and Marilyn were both out when I got to our dorm room, not that it mattered. Mia was as silent as a lamb, but Marilyn’s “I told you so” would be too much to take. I flopped onto my bed on my back and then curled up on my side. My head was throbbing and my throat was dry. What the fuck was going to come of me and Jordan? The suspense until tomorrow was going to eat away at me. I had the sickest feeling of not being able to do anything about the train wreck that was speeding my way. There was going to be a head on collision and I felt it down to the bottom of my heart that I was going to be the only casualty. In a sense, I wished I’d let him put me out of my misery at the coffee shop. Just get it all out there—anything had to be better than waiting. He had the cards and I was hanging back quietly, waiting to be dealt my unfair hand.
    But that’s the thing about gambling. The house always wins. How many times was I willing to lose before I was strong enough to call it a day? Because strength wasn’t hanging on to a dilapidated relationship. Strength was knowing when enough was enough and not being afraid to let go.
    An hour had already passed by the time I had hauled my ass up and bothered to get in the car to drive to Glenvale. My thoughts were all of Jordan, and I was moving out of a natural robotic instinct. Lying in bed for the rest of the day would have been arguably suitable, but Nellie was much more important.
    Funnily enough, the world didn’t end because I was suffering a personal crisis.
    I pulled into the parking lot and signed myself in. Nellie was fast asleep in her room so I