Falling Like Leaves (Bramble Falls, #1)

by Misty Wilson

“Listen, Taylor learned a thing or two about the sport, and now she loves it. So, don’t knock it till you try it.” I arch an eyebrow. “Taylor…?” “Swift. Obviously.”

He shrugs. “Because you’re hot.”

Sir could you be any bolder?

Don’t let them see your weaknesses, Ellis. Fake it till you make it.

thousand frenzied feelings exploding inside of me like fireworks.

Sloane’s dad died from unexpected cardiac arrest three years ago. Although I never knew him well, I remember him always being so present. He was involved in Sloane’s life, always supportive of her acting and often taking her on trips, just the two of them. It’s been hard enough being away from my dad for a month. I can’t imagine her grief.

He blasts his favorite playlist as he pulls out, and everyone, including Asher, starts dancing in their seats and scream-singing along to “Getaway Car.”

Ugh, I am down bad.

Down bad crying at the gym

Admiring Cooper Barnett might be my favorite Bramble Falls activity.

Taylor Swift’s voice rides the breeze from the direction of the bonfire two blocks away. And I never saw you coming….

“I remember all your details, Cooper Barnett,” I whisper. “They’re my favorite thing to memorize.”

I know it’s too early for the L-word, and yet it’s there, bursting from the seams, begging to be spoken. And as Cooper kisses me good night at the door, I bury the word in the depths of my stomach with the kaleidoscope of butterflies he gives me.

“No, Dad. I’m not interested in your advice, not if it gets me to where you are now.” I shake my head as I turn the doorknob. “I hope you miss Mom and me now that you’ve lost us. But, then again, I’m not sure you can miss someone you never really knew.”

I walk out and slam the door closed, leaving behind the person I spent my life loving most in the whole world.

Piece by piece, he stole parts of me until I no longer recognized myself. Until I was living the life he wanted me to live instead of the life I wanted to live—one full of art and beauty and fun.

My lips turn upward in an unbridled grin, and I close my eyes, trying to savor this moment—the chilly breeze on my skin, the crunchy leaves beneath my boots, the smell of cinnamon and apple, the sound of laughter—because I truly can’t remember the last time I was this happy.