The Hardest Fall

by Ella Maise

“Hey Kyle, did you see Vicky downstairs tonight? Her roommate said she came here.” Even though I’d heard Kyle murmuring to someone just seconds before I opened the door, the sudden silence that came with my question had me looking up. The last thing I remembered seeing was Vicky…in the middle of the bed…between a pair of dicks—Maxwell’s and Kyle’s, to be specific—on her hands and knees. I’m sure you get the picture I was staring at.

YOU BITCH VICKY

“I don’t want you to shut up. I like this,”

i would marry the man who said this to me

“Nothing will happen between us, Kay. He is way out of my league. Trust me. So, even if you had dated for real, that would’ve been okay.” “Because you have Mark to think about, right? And of course you’re paper bag ugly, can’t forget about that,” Jared piped up, his tone flatter than it had been just a few seconds before. Yes, there was always Mark.

is she having an affair with mark???? dude kinda gross ngl

Jared sighed and shook his head. “And Mark?” “Yeah, there’s him, too,” I mumbled without looking either of them in the eye as I busied myself with finishing my coffee. “And when are you gonna get shot of him, Zoe? I’d be lying if I said I’m exactly clear on what you’re expecting to happen here, but I can tell you it’s not gonna happen—I know that much. You need to get out of his apartment, too. He is treating you like a paid slut, only calling you when he wants to and only meeting you at that apartment or all the way across town in a random restaurant, never anywhere public.”

THEY ARE SLEEPING TOGETHER EWWWWW

“Look, I know this hurts you, but he’ll never tell them about you, Zoe, not his wife, and definitely not his son. He is a pig. You deserve better than that.”

EWWWWWW DUDE

“What do you get out of this?” Even though I hadn’t thought that far ahead since kissing her would be a win all on its own, I realized I didn’t even have to think about it. “If I win, I get to have a second kiss…and a third one. After all, three seems to be the magic number with us.”

DYLAN

Her eyes softened. “I won’t steal your money.” I smiled at her and didn’t think before speaking. “I know you won’t, baby.”

that’s my trigger word

“He doesn’t know about your mom. How many times do—” “Our mom, you mean,” I muttered. His eyes narrowed at me. “Danielle has never been his mom. We adopted him. His mom is Emily.” It was right on the tip of my tongue to say something, but I decided to let it go. When it came to Mark, I knew it was better to pick my battles. I wanted to reason with him. Technically he was my father and I wished I could manage to call him by that title one day, but every time I thought about doing exactly that, I felt like gagging. This was one of those times. “Mom called you before she passed away and told you about me. I wasn’t the one to call you. You said you wanted to meet me, you said you wanted to get to know me. You were the one who invited me to come here, so I came. I came because I wanted to get to know you too, not just Chris. My freshman year, you said it should be just us for a while, said we should have the time to get to know each other, and I agreed because I was already nervous about how and why—”

OH WHAT

“Zoe…” “What?” I tilted my head and waited. “What! You never asked me. We got so busy trying to find a place to live, and then there was the combine. How am I supposed to know whether you want me there or not? Plus, I have one more year, and maybe you—” I let go of the handle of her carry-on and cradled her face in my hands. She was still trying to talk when I slipped my tongue into her mouth and kissed her senseless right there in front of the strangers walking in and out of the hotel. “I always want you with me—don’t you know that by now? It’s been months.” I groaned against her lips, my breathing already heavy, my heart racing. “I’ve always wanted you, Zoe Clarke.”

dylannnnnn

We weren’t giving her the whole story, but I’d already spoken to Chris and he’d promised me he wouldn’t tell her how I’d broken his father’s nose soon after he was no longer our official coach. You see, Zoe had forgotten to tell me what had happened in the apartment right before I’d walked in that night. I’d learned about it only because Chris had made an offhand comment, thinking she’d already told me.

dylan you are so hot for that