Page 22 of The Hardest Fall

Facing the windows was the big brown couch where I’d found the vibrator in question after it poked me in the thigh. There was another two-seater that was a dark mustard color to the right, where she was sitting, wary and pretty much ready to flee. I took my time taking a seat on the far end of the brown couch.

“I don’t want you to do that,” I said softly. When she mustered the courage to look up, I gave her a small smile. “I mean, I don’t want you to run back to your room. I was serious when I said I wanted us to get to know each other.” Her eyes connected with mine for just a second then she was looking at something behind my back. She was so shy, but it only made her more attractive and interesting in my eyes.

I cleared my throat. “Okay, this is good. See, I’ve already started to learn things about you. Your name is Zoe Clarke, and you’re not an exhibitionist—noted. I will sleep easier knowing I’m safe from walking in on you doing God knows what. You’re an art student and you’re into photography. You make your own money—props to you on that one. This isn’t so bad, is it?”

“Maybe for you it isn’t.”

“I’m going to ignore that because now it’s your turn. Ask me whatever you want.”

She let out a long breath and tucked her hands back under her thighs again. “I don’t have a question right now.”

“Come on. It could be something as simple as my favorite movie.”

She shot me an exasperated look, and her expression said everything that needed to be said. I wasn’t giving up though—not yet.

“What’s your favorite movie, then?”

I leaned back in my seat and got comfortable. “Oh, I can’t answer that. I have too many to choose just one. My turn.”

She raised her brows and her lips parted in disbelief. “You just told me to ask you—”

I cut her off before she could finish her sentence. “No, you’re gonna have to wait for your turn. Don’t be a bad sport. Do you still have that boyfriend of yours?”

Her response came out as a squeak. “What?”

“You know, the boyfriend who prevented us from kissing that last time. Still seeing him?”

Her brows drew together and she turned her body toward me, finally pulling her hands out from under her thighs in the process. It was exactly what I wanted her to do—forget about being shy and just be herself around me. If we were going to live together for however long, it would make things easier for both of us. Getting her to actually look into my eyes when we were speaking would be a nice bonus too. If making her angry was necessary to achieve my goal, I was fine with that.

“I don’t think that’s something you need to know to sleep safe in your bed.”

“I think it is, actually. I know we decided you’re not an exhibitionist, but I could still come to your room to ask for a cup of sugar and end up walking in on you two and have it scar me for the rest of my life. If I know he’ll be around, I’ll make sure to not come knocking for sugar.”

Her lips were twitching when she gave me an answer. “Don’t worry, you’re not going to walk in on anyone. Your delicate feelings are safe. Mark doesn’t want me to have friends over, so you won’t be seeing anyone around at all.”

That perked me up, so I scooted forward and focused all my attention on her. “Mark?”

Looking away, she reached for a colorful pillow and started to strangle it. “Your coach…Mark. He’s not my coach, so I can call him by his name.”

“Sure you can. So you didn’t really answer my question—do you have a boyfriend or not?”

“No.”

I was in the process of trying to decide if that was a good or bad thing for me and was heavily leaning toward bad when she grunted and sighed.

“Okay, I lied. Let’s say I have a boyfriend and it’s complicated.”

“You lied?” Was she telling the truth now? I couldn’t tell, but if she was, I was guessing she wasn’t good at keeping secrets and I’d end up learning everything about her complicated relationship either way. “That’s actually okay, I think. It’ll make things easier.” I leaned back again. “I don’t have a girlfriend at the moment, but I can behave.”

She gave me a questioning look, eyes narrowing, head slightly tilting to the side. “I got you—I know that’s a lie. Maybe you were right and this getting to know each other thing isn’t a bad idea.”

“I’m the liar?” I asked, pointing at myself as my brows drew together. “I believe you’re the one who admitted to lying—twice, so far. What makes you think I’m lying to you? And about what?”