Free Falling Read online

I went giddy with laughter. “Stop being so sweet!” I said.

  “You don’t like it?” He laughed, assaulting me with more kisses. I liked it a lot. Way a lot. And it was so unexpected.

  “You ready to wash up?” he asked.

  “Sure.”

  We went our separate ways at the bathhouse, a few hundred feet towards the main road. Once we were both clean and ready for the day, I helped him and everyone else pack up the camping equipment. Nicole ignored me mostly, but she didn’t flirt with Wally either so I considered it a victory.

  After we got into the cars, we drove a few miles down the road to a shop that rented out canoes. It was a two-hour ride down the river.

  Wally and I shared a canoe. It was beautiful. In the beginning, he purposefully let us fall behind so that we could have a little privacy. We didn’t talk much, but the landscape was stunning. Big trees lined the bank, and we’d spot deer or raccoons scurrying along the edge.

  For a good twenty minutes, we put the paddles down and he sat behind me as we let the current take us, moving only to steer the canoe when needed. I don’t think that in all my years of dating or men I’d ever had such a perfect day.

  Everyone else was a little annoyed with us for taking so long to make it to the rendezvous point, but I didn’t care. Neither did Wally. It was wonderful, and we felt high. I saw it in his eyes. His smiles were shy, exposed. He was opening himself up to me, and I loved it.

  In the car, he kept his hand against my leg. I rested my head on his shoulder and napped, loving how it felt for him to nudge me awake when we made it back to his house.

  While I’d slept, Wally told Marlowe to take me there. He planned to bring me home later. I unloaded my things from her Jeep and didn’t miss the knowing grins she kept giving me.

  “What?” I finally said as I helped pull out the last bag.

  “You’re braver than I am,” she said.

  What was that supposed to mean? Immediately, I decided that I didn’t care. Wally was Wally. Whatever was in his past, whatever crazy, insane things he’d done—which I’m sure were plentiful—I didn’t care. I knew that I wanted him, and that meant all of him.

  “Wow,” she said, looking a little stunned.

  “Now what?” I said, giving her a polite smile.

  “It’s just…” She stopped herself, thinking about what to say. “You know what? Never mind.” Her smile was genuine when she said, “Truly, I’m happy for the two of you. Be good to him, though. I love him and I’ll yell at you really loud if you screw him over.”

  “Okay,” I laughed.

  In his room, I helped him unpack everything. But it was getting late and I had to be at work in the morning. When I told Wally, he offered to take me home.

  His loud, beat up car drove us to my house and he came inside with me. I hadn’t even asked, but I’d planned on it. This time, he went straight to my kitchen and started making himself something to eat.

  While he was occupied, I went to my bedroom and started unpacking. I decided while sorting my dirty laundry that I’d just have to pay Trey. I didn’t want him to be a needed part of my life anymore.

  Obviously, since he and Wally were cousins, I knew I’d probably see him again, but I’d deal with that when the time came. I could afford to pay him half of what he said I owed. The next day, I’d send him a check and promise to get the rest to him when I could.

  If I thought about it, I could probably have it all in a few months. It sucked really. Maybe if I’d been upfront from the beginning, I wouldn’t be in this mess. But what was there to do?

  Deep in my thoughts, I hadn’t noticed Wally standing in my bedroom door.

  “Hey, Kristen,” he said.

  I looked up at him. He was leaned into the frame sipping on a longneck beer I’d had in the fridge.

  “Yeah,” I said.

  “Are you my girl?”

  I knew what he was really asking. Was I his? Was I committed to him?

  Smiling bashfully, I folded a pair of pants. “Yeah,” I repeated, looking down.

  “I thought so,” he said and stepped into the room. He placed the bottle down as he made his way over to me.

  Pulling me into him, he sat on the mattress. “Come here,” he said, and I straddled his waist. He held me close, and I could see that whatever he was about to say was serious for him. “I’m gonna stay the night,” he said. “And maybe the next night or the night after that. Because you’re my girl and I’m your man. Is that cool with you?”

  “Yeah,” I said. Apparently that was all I was capable of saying.

  “Yeah,” he smiled and kissed me.

  Chapter 18

  “Oh my God,” Wally said, annoyed with me. “You’re doing it wrong.”

  I slapped his hand away from the stick shift and tried again. “I’m gonna get it,” I said. “Stop yelling at me.”

  “I’m not yelling!” he said, yelling. His hands went to his face as I stalled again.

  We’d been at this for hours. He was trying to teach me how drive his standard car, and I was failing miserably. With a frustrated grunt, I put the car in neutral and tried again. I stalled.

  Wally threw his head back and laughed.

  “STOP!” I said, but chuckled, too. “I’m trying really hard. You’re smart ass isn’t helping.”

  “Maybe you just aren’t cut out for this.” He looked into the distance and sighed. “It’s a shame. I thought you’d be the one,” he said wistfully, picking on me.

  But I was on edge and ready to be done. “You know what? You drive it back,” I said.

  I opened the car door and started back to our blanket. He’d driven me out to an abandoned field with the intention of just laying around on the grass and eating sandwiches. Teaching me how to drive his car hadn’t been planned, but I thought I could do it and felt stupid.

  “Baby!” he yelled after me. “Baby, wait.” I heard his light-hearted laughter as he raced to catch up to me. He cut me off and grabbed my waist. “So you can’t drive a stick,” he said. “Big deal. But that was funny as shit. I’m sorry.”

  “Wally!” I huffed and flicked his hands off me. “You’re supposed to be supportive. I was trying really hard.”

  “I know,” he chuckled. “That’s what makes it so funny.”

  I growled and sidestepped him, but he was quick and had me by the waist again in no time. I tried to act annoyed, but couldn’t stop myself from laughing along with him as he wrestled me down to the blanket and pinned me there.

  “You made a good effort,” he said, smiling. “Maybe we can try again another time.”

  “Whatever,” I said. “Maybe I’m just not cut out for it.”

  “Please, you can do anything. Just gotta want it bad enough.”

  This was a code that he’d lived by. He believed that nothing in life was unattainable. If Wally wanted something, he went for it. He worked hard and got it. Getting his skydive license hadn’t been cheap, but he stuck with it and used whatever resources he had to make it happen.

  If there was an instrument he wanted to learn to play, he did. Over the last few days, he’d decided he wanted to add the Banjo to his repertoire and for hours he sat with the instrument on his lap, working out the subtle differences. He had a dedication and drive that I sorely lacked.

  “Fine,” I sighed. “We can try again later.”

  “That’s my girl,” he said and lay back on the blanket with me.

  We were silent for a while, watching the clouds. It had been a perfect day for him to take me here. It wasn’t hot and there was no rain in sight.

  He’d been true to his word and stayed at my place nearly every night since we’d gone camping. I was growing attached to him. When he wasn’t around, I missed him. Even if we weren’t in the same room, a comfort came with his presence. I loved hearing him mess around with instruments on my back porch or seeing him fall asleep on my sofa.

  We were good together, and even though our relationship was new and barely on its feet,
it was the most fulfilling one I’d had. He got me. And I got him.

  I’d been a skeptic of love my whole life, not believing that soul mates even existed. But Wally was breaking down my cynicism. Everything with him was easy—how I felt, what I needed. There were no hesitancies. I looked at him and knew that this was who I wanted.

  I could tell that he felt the same. He was less open about it than I was, but it was there, hiding in the way he looked at me, bleeding through in the way he touched me.

  “Look at that cloud, Punks,” he said, pointing to our right. “What’s that look like?”

  “An elephant,” I said.

  “Bullshit,” he said. “That is so not an elephant.”

  “Well, what do you see?”

  “It’s clearly a turtle.”

  I chuckled. “Uh…aren’t those legs a little long.”

  “It’s a tall turtle, then.”

  I laughed, my heart swelling too big as he rolled over and brushed some hair away from my face. He nudged his nose with mine and I sighed. I never wanted this feeling to end. This happiness. This contentment.

  “You want to stay with me tonight?” he asked. “I need to be somewhere in the morning, but I want you with me.”

  “Yeah,” I said.

  We lay on the blanket for another hour before packing everything up and walking back to his car. “You wanna try again?” he asked, dangling his keys.

  “Just one more time,” I said.

  Nervously, I got behind his steering wheel. I took a breath, and eased up on the clutch. I put the car in first and began driving smoothly across the field.

  I gasped, having never even gotten this far. “Wally!” I squealed.

  “You’re doing great!” he said. When I picked up speed, he told me to shift into second.

  Again, I did it with ease. “What the hell?” I smiled, surprised. I looked over at him as I slowed down and immediately stalled again. “Well, crap,” I said. “What did I do wrong?”

  “You got too excited,” he smiled. “But that was good.” Knowing that I wouldn’t be efficient enough to drive home, we switched places.

  We were alone at his house and cuddled together on the couch as he put on a movie. He was gracious enough to let it be something from the last decade. But it was still boring.

  I fell asleep on his chest halfway through.

  His roommates, Charles and Priscilla, came home just before it ended and woke me. They smiled politely, but disappeared to their room upstairs. Even though they were nice, I got the feeling that sometimes my presence made them uncomfortable. Neither one would talk to me for long.

  When the movie was finally over, Wally and I made our way up to his room, too. Since we’d been officially together, I’d hardly seen it. Usually, he stayed with me.

  It was small and crowded. He packed as much of his personal things in it as he could. It was messy, with clothes always strewn all over the place. I’d convinced him to buy a hamper and he was only halfway using it, but it was progress.

  I chuckled as I eyed his bed. A twin, with a loud purple comforter and stark, orange sheets. Both of us began undressing and crawled into his bed. Naked.

  It was how he insisted. Even if we didn’t do anything. He said he liked feeling my skin against his as we slept.

  Not long after he turned off the light, we heard the clear sound of a bed squeaking from the room next door.

  “That’s disgusting,” Wally whispered.

  Embarrassed, I chuckled and tried to drown the sound out, but couldn’t.

  “I need to get sound proof walls,” he said.

  “Does that mean that they can hear us?” I asked, suddenly even more embarrassed.

  “Who cares if they hear us?” he said. “I just don’t wanna hear Charles’ gross self having sex.”

  “I care!” I said. “Why don’t you move down to the other room?” The one at the top of the stairs was empty, and slightly bigger than his.

  “Because this is my room. It has been for years. The master room was empty for a while. Charles and I used it as a sort of music room. Then Marlowe had it, and then when she left, Charles and Priscilla moved in. I’m not bouncing from room to room just because my roommates are rude as hell.”

  “But you just said that you don’t care if they hear us…” Wouldn’t that make him rude, too?

  “Yeah, well, when we have sex we don’t sound like cats in heat. They probably enjoy it.”

  I scoffed. “Wally! That’s it. I’m never having sex in this room again.”

  His hand slid across my belly and gave my hip a squeeze. “Really,” he said. Even in the darkness, I knew that he was smiling.

  “Really,” I said, barely convincing myself.

  He pushed me onto my back and started kissing me. Before long, my legs spread, inviting him in.

  “That didn’t take nearly as much convincing as I thought,” he said, sliding inside of me.

  “Shut up,” I said, breathy and quiet, holding in my moans as he moved.

  That’s when I knew I was done for. Instead of my usual cold, withholding attitude, I gave him everything. Willingly. He barely even had to ask. But instead of feeling scared, I felt liberated.

  Chapter 19

  “Please,” I said to him for the millionth time.

  “No,” he laughed and swatted me away. He was being playful, but I knew his patience with this request was running thin.

  I needed to approach this differently. My mother and father knew I was seeing someone. He and I had been dating for weeks now, and I couldn’t hold my parents off any longer. They wanted to meet him. They insisted on it.

  I don’t know if I was lucky or cursed to have parents this eager to be a part of my life. Maybe a little bit of both. They only wanted dinner, just one tiny dinner with him. It was important that they knew I was with someone they trusted. In their eyes, I was still a little teenage girl. I wouldn’t say that Wally and I were serious yet. Most of our relationship was still new. We were learning, still guarded in the things we said to one another. I knew that meeting my parents was serious. It was a big step for us. It was a big step for me. But I was excited, and deep down I knew that we had a good chance at lasting.

  “We can meet them at a restaurant,” I said. “We won’t have to stay long. Just enough time for them to talk to you and see how wonderful you are.”

  “Oh my God,” he said, throwing his head back into my couch. “Kristen…they’re going to hate me.”

  “Such a defeatist,” I said. “And why would they hate you?”

  “Well, let’s see,” he said, his annoyance rising. “I literally have nothing to offer you. I’m poor. I don’t own a house or even a reliable car. What am I supposed to say when they ask me about those things?”

  “Why do you think it’ll be important to them?”

  “Why wouldn’t it be?” He huffed and stood from my couch. “I think I’m gonna head home,” he said.

  “Don’t,” I said, reaching for him. “Please. I won’t bring it up again. Promise.”

  He looked down at me, and his eyes softened. With a plop, he sat back down. “I don’t want to disappoint you,” he said. “I really don’t, but what am I going to wear? What are we going to talk about? Punks, I don’t think I’ve ever formally met a girl’s parents. This is weird for me. Fucking weird.”

  I could understand where he was coming from. So far, we hadn’t even mentioned something like this to each other. Instead of trying to guilt him into it, I told him the truth. “All they want to know is if you’re making me happy, Wally.” I pulled his face to mine, giving his jaw a rub. “And you do,” I said, just before kissing him. Letting the topic go, I settled into his side as we continued to watch television.

  After the episode was finished, he sighed, and pulled me in tighter. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll go.”

  I smiled, but didn’t act too victorious, not wanting to rub it in.

  The night we planned to meet, Wally had a late jump and couldn
’t ride with me, but promised to be there. My parents lived an hour away, and picked me up earlier in the day to go boat shopping with them. I didn’t know a thing about boats, but my dad was looking for a new one, so there I was.

  They’d picked the restaurant, an upscale steak house. It wasn’t Wally’s type of place and I knew right away that he’d be uncomfortable. While shopping, I tried to talk them out of it, but my father was hell bent on it.

  “Now punkin,” he said, “I don’t come up here any ole time. I’m eating where I wanna eat.”

  “Fine,” I said with a huff and walked off. My father was a big man, tall and large around the middle. He was what we affectionately called a “Good Ole Boy.” He liked his hunting, he liked his fishing, and he liked his beer.

  Basically, he and Wally had nothing in common. Except for the beer.

  “Relax,” my mother said, trailing after me. “It’ll be fine.”

  Wally was late. Fifteen minutes late. I’d texted him, but didn’t get a response. My parents and I were sitting around a circular table at the back of the restaurant. I couldn’t see the front door from my chair, but my neck was beginning to hurt from all the straining I was doing.

  “He’ll be here,” I kept saying, and was starting to feel like an ass.

  Fifteen minutes became thirty minutes and I was sweating profusely. Surely, he wouldn’t ditch me. My mother was doing her best to make light of the situation, but my father was losing his patience.

  Just when I thought all was lost, and I’d have to be a chump and make up an excuse for him, he came around the corner.

  My breath left me as I saw him. He was wearing a brown suit, perfectly fitted to his slender frame. His shirt was cream, open at the collar. In his hand were two bouquets of flowers. I stood from the table and smoothed my shirt and pants out. He smiled from ear to ear as we made eye contact.

  “I’m so sorry,” he said, giving me a kiss on the cheek and a bouquet of lilies. “My car gave me trouble.”

  “It’s fine,” I said, and then more quietly, “You look wonderful.”

  He winked and then walked over to my mother, handing her a dozen red roses.