A Safe Place To Fall (The Fall Book 1) (3 page)

“Why can’t I stay home?”
Lana whined to anybody willing to listen.

Tracie flopped down on the bed.
“Because I told Monica that I would go.”

Ricky followed up with, “And I
need a wing-woman.”

Lana shot the mirror another nasty look.
“Then go with Tracie.”

“No way.” He ducked to avoid
the pillow Tracie tossed at his head. “What? You know your
gaydar is broken.”

Tracie sighed. “He’s right.
I hit on him when he first came into the coffee shop.”

Ricky turned from the vanity where he
was trying on different sunglasses. “True story! I still
haven’t recovered from that one by the way.”

Lana rolled her eyes listening to their
banter. The two had known each other for the last year and were
besties.

Lana, on the other hand, was just
getting to know Tracie. Opening herself to a new friend was hard.
Friends want to do more than sit and watch TV, especially, when they
lived in a college town known for wild parties.

She eyed the mirror again and
immediately marched to her closet. No way, was she going to wear
this shirt.

“What are you doing?” Tracie
asked.

“Changing this shirt,” Lana
said, digging in her closet for something more appropriate.

“Oh, hell no, sugar,” Ricky
said. He pulled her away from the closet by her shoulders. “We
worked hard to get you to look this good.”

“This isn’t me,” she
said.

“That was the whole point of the
makeover,” Tracie reminded her.

“It’s time to show off what
all that time spent in the gym got you.” Ricky stole the
sweater out of her hand, tossing it back in the closet.

Why she was let her friends drag her out
the apartment building was beyond her.

“For the record you guys suck,”
Lana told her friends, ten minutes later standing outside of the
party house.

Ricky hooked his arm through hers
pulling her to the steps. “But you love us!”

At the moment she was feeling a love,
hate relationship with them.

A cover band was set up against the wall
of the main room. It wasn't loud and obnoxious. Some people were
dancing but mostly people were standing around listening to the
music.

The band was currently playing a Green
Day song.

“Now that is some eye candy,”
Ricky said, referring to the lead singer of the band.

Lana, distractedly, murmured her
approval. A certain blonde headed drummer had caught her attention.

Drew's hair was down tonight. As the
band went into a Nirvana song his hair was being tossed back and
forth with the fast beat of the song. He had a talent; there was no
denying it.

“I think Lana has found her own
eye candy,” Tracie volunteered from her other side.

“Have not,” Lana argued.

Just then, Drew looked out into the
crowd and grinned at her. Despite all of the warning bells going off
in her head she felt herself smile back.

“Aw,” Ricky joked, “our
little girl has her first crush.”

Lana elbowed him.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“I don’t have a crush.”

“Liar, you’re blushing.”

“And you’re being annoying.”
She shook her head doing her best to ignore her friend's words.

“Do I need to separate you two?”
Tracie asked.

“You guys having fun tonight?”
the lead singer hollered before either one of them could answer
Tracie.

“Yeah!” shouted the crowd.

“Well, we’re getting kind of
hot up here.” The singer exaggeratedly fanned himself. “What
do you guys think about Rush stepping in for us for about an hour?”

Drew didn't give the audience a chance
to respond before he stepped away from the drum set. He was headed in
her direction.

“Oh.” Ricky latched onto
Lana's arm.“He’s headed this way.”

Lana tore her arm away from her friend.
She was choosing to ignore the way her heart sped up at the sight of
Drew.

“Hey,” Drew said. He stood
at a safe distance in front of her. “I finally caught you
outside of class.”

“Here I am.”

Wow that sounded lame even to her ears.

“I’m Ricky.” Ricky
nodded his head in Lana’s direction. “This one doesn’t
have any manners. I think she was raised by pigs.”

“What the…” Lana
began. “You didn’t even give me a chance.”

“Don’t mind these two,”
Tracie stated. “They fight like siblings.”

“I’m gonna grab a beer,”
Drew stated, seeming to ignore Ricky and Tracie. “You want
one, Lana?”

Lana went to refuse but Ricky jumped in.
“She never drinks.”

Just to spite Ricky, Lana said,
“Actually, a beer does sound good.”

The look she shot Ricky was childish but
he deserved it. What made him think he could speak for her?

“Corona it is then.” Drew
waited for her approval before heading off to the make-shift bar.

“Where have you been hiding him?”
Ricky asked.

“I haven’t been hiding him,”
she said. “We have criminal terminology together.”

“Girl,” Tracie broke in, “if
you push that boy away I’m going to have you committed.”

Lana rolled her eyes. “It’s
not like that. We barely know each other.”

“He just went to get you a beer,”
Ricky pointed out, “and it wasn’t too long after he saw
you were here that he wanted to take a break.”

Lana rolled her eyes at her enthusiastic
friend. “He took a break because it was time for them to let
the other band play. It had nothing to do with me.”

“OK, but he still didn’t
waste any time getting to you.”

“Hush,” Tracie warned, “he’s
coming back.”

Drew walked up behind her and handed her
a cold Corona over her shoulder. Lana jumped when he took her free
hand in his own. “Let’s go sit on the couch.”

Before she could reply, Drew was pulling
her over to the couch not too far from the band. Ricky and Tracie
were left staring with matching goofy looks.

“You just pulled me away from my
friends,” she said irritably.

Drew pulled her down beside him. “I
only have a few minutes before I have to go talk to the band.”

“OK,” she said slowly. “I
still don’t get why you just made me abandon my friends.”

Drew took a drink of his beer. “Ricky
wouldn’t let you get a word in.”

“That’s just Ricky,”
she said. “He does it without knowing.”

He squeezed the hand he was still
holding. “But I wanted to talk to you.”

Lana counted to ten to keep calm. This
was the first time that she had allowed herself to be this close to a
guy since Shawn. The only reason she was not running away was
because they were surrounded by other people.

“So,” he prodded, “are
you having fun?”

“We just got here,” she
informed him, “we’ve heard maybe three songs.”

“What’s your favorite song?”
he asked.

“Far away by Nickleback,”
she responded without having to think about it.

“Second favorite?”

“Enter Sandman, or, Mama, I’m
coming home. It’s a tie between those two.”

“Old school,” he responded
with a grin.

Lana shrugged. “Older brothers
will do that.”

Drew made a show of looking around
nervously. “They’re not here are they?”

“Who?”

“Your brothers,” he
responded. “I don’t have to worry about getting my ass
kicked for talking to you do I?”

She smiled. “They’re all in
Charleston.”

“This is new,” he said. “I
found out your favorite songs and where you’re from in just a
few minutes. You know, we could have done this over coffee.”

“Coffee is boring,” she
said.

He laughed. “Yeah, I forgot you’re
more into Lux.”

“What about Lux?,” Ricky
asked, coming up to them.

“I was just asking Lana how she
liked Lux,” Drew said.

Ricky snorted. “The only Lux, she
has knowledge of, the book series.”

Lana blushed at Drew’s questioning
look.
Damn Ricky and his big
mouth
.

“So, you weren’t at Lux on
Friday night?” Drew looked rather amused. “No wonder I
couldn't find you.”

Just shoot her now.

Ricky laughed. “Our good girl was
at home watching Dancing with the stars.”

Forget shooting her. Just shoot the big
mouth.

“
I was only there because I had to
be,” Drew said. “No need to give her a hard time.”

“
We give each other shit,”
Ricky replied, “It’s our thing.”

“
Drew, it’s okay,” she
whispered. “Be nice.”

Drew sighed. “I am being nice.”
He looked down at his watch. “My break is up. If you leave
before I get done with our set, text me to let me know you made it
home safe.”

“
Okay,” she agreed,
surprising herself.

“
Uptight much,” Ricky said to
Drew’s retreating back, taking the spot Drew had just vacated.

Lana rolled her eyes. “You’re
just pissed that he put you in your place.”

“
Please,” Ricky said. “He
didn’t even come close to putting me in my place.”

Lana scanned the room. “Where’s
Tracie?”

Ricky rolled his eyes. “She took
off with Monica.”

“
What’s your problem?”

“
I came here with two chicks,”
Ricky stated, “and both of you bailed on me.”

“
I was only gone for a few
minutes,” Lana defended herself. “Besides, we just hold
you back anyway.”

“
This is true,” Ricky joked,
putting his arm around her shoulders. “So, dish, Sugar. Are
you in like?”

She rested her head on his bony shoulder.
“I already told you; it's not like that.”

“
Make me a promise.”

Oh no!
He sounded way too serious.

“
What?”

“
Don’t shove him away,”
he demanded. “We’ve lived together all summer, and you
haven’t given any guy the time of day.”

“
Not true,” she argued. “I
spend time with you all the time.”

Ricky rolled his eyes. “That’s
not the same thing and you know it.”

Just then she heard the music to
Enter
Sandman
begin.

“
Oh, my God,” she whispered.

“
What?”

“
He asked for my top three favorite
songs.”

“
So?” Ricky clearly was not
following.

“
This song was my second favorite.”

“
If you still doubt that he is
interested in you then you're dumber than I thought.”

*****************

Drew spent the remainder of his set
watching Lana. She seemed shocked that he chose her favorite songs
as his picks for the set. He was just thankful she had listed songs
the band actually knew how to play.

Around midnight he noticed she was headed
to the exit by herself. All of the bad things that could happen to a
girl walking alone at night popped into his head. He silently cursed
at being stuck behind his drum set. The protectiveness he already
felt towards her caught him off guard.

Not being able to fight the protective
instinct he motioned the bass player over.

“
What’s up,” Danny
whispered, as his fingers mindlessly played the right notes.

“
I need to take her home,” he
replied. “Her friends just let her leave by herself.”

Danny gave an understanding nod and moved
up to tell Ryan, the lead singer.

“
OK, guys, it’s been a good
one tonight,” Ryan said into the microphone after they finished
the song. “That being said, we gotta get packed up. It’s
past our drummer’s bedtime.”

Drew shot daggers to Ryan’s back.
As gun shy as Lana had been the last thing Drew wanted her to hear
were those comments.

Drew left his drum set with the onset of
drunken boos. They had played to this crowd more than once. Every
time they ended up playing most of the night. Normally he would have
no problem. Music was his life. However, if he had to choose
between playing until three in the morning, or, making sure Lana got
home safely. He would always choose her. This was a first for him.

He caught up to her as she took the last
step off the front porch. “Hey, where are you taking off to?”

Lana shot an annoyed look over her
shoulders. “Home.”

“
Where are your friends?” He
quickened his steps to meet her pace.