A Safe Place To Fall (The Fall Book 1) (7 page)

Maybe
it wasn't too late to escape.

“Don’t go getting all
serious, Tammy,” Chris demanded, as he stroked her jean clad
thigh.

“Sorry, Hun,” Tammy told
Chris. “No more shop talk, I promise.”

“You OK, Honey? You’re as
stiff as a board,” Drew whispered in Lana's ear.

Lana forced her body to relax. “Just
not used to being out without Ricky.”

“These guys would have eaten him
alive,” he said.

Drew had made it clear that she wasn't
to allow Ricky to come with her today. At first, she thought he was
afraid Ricky would hit on him again. Now looking around the room,
she realized one wrong move on Ricky’s part could get him a
fast ticket to the hospital. Why was she even here?

As if he sensed her stress level
increasing, Drew began massaging her neck.

“You’re cheating,” she
said.

He grinned. “How is this
cheating?”

“You know I won’t leave if
you’re doing this,” she stated softly. Lana didn't care
that one of their players just made it close to the end zone.

“I want you relaxed so you can
enjoy yourself,” he said. “Come here.”

Drew gave her a split second to comply
before he pulled her onto his lap. As his hands worked their magic
on her shoulders, her body forgot all of the reasons why she
shouldn't want to be this close to him. Her brain fought to remember
they weren't the only ones in the room.

A soft moan slipped out sounding
amplified to her, but going unnoticed by others. His hands really
should be locked away from general population.

“There he goes making us all look
bad,” Chris grumbled.

Tammy elbowed Chris in the rib. “I
think it’s sweet. You could learn a thing or two.”

Lana felt heat envelope her face at the
mixed mocking from the guys and envy from the women. She became the
center of attention in a matter of seconds. Feeling uncomfortable
and looking for an escape, she began squirming on Drew’s lap.

Drew gripped her hips and held her in
place. “Stop squirming.”

“Sorry,” Lana murmured. She
did her best to ignore the evidence of his arousal pressing against
her backside.

“As for the rest of you guys,”
Drew said louder. “If I’m making you look bad maybe you
need to up your game.”

That was met with a mix of boos and
cheers.

“I'll have you know, drummer boy,”
Chris said, “my game is perfectly fine. Ain’t that
right, Tammy.”

Tammy rolled her eyes. “Your
grammar's why the world thinks all West Virginians are hicks.”

Just then the Mountaineers scored a
touchdown, sending all of the men in the room into an uproar.

Tammy held her half empty beer bottle up
to Lana in a salute. “Here’s to the start of boring
Saturdays.”

Lana relaxed against Drew, who had all
but forgotten she was on his lap. “Not a fan of football?”

The woman waved her arm around the room.
“Do you think these fools are going to do anything on game
day?”

She had a point. The men seem to
worship the game.

Lana looked from Tammy to Chris. “So,
are you two…”

“Oh heck no,” Tammy denied.
“We’re just friends.” She tilted her head in
Chris’ direction. “This one wouldn’t know
commitment if it bit him in the tush.”

There were shouts of anger as the
touchdown got called for review.

Lana’s cell vibrated with a
message from Ricky.

‘Are
you bored to tears yet?’

‘No,’
she replied.

Minutes later, when her phone vibrated
again, she knew it had to be his smart ass reply.

‘
You
can run’
, from an
unknown number, stared back at her from the screen.

Lana rolled her eyes. Probably another
one of Ricky’s pranks.

“You OK?” Drew asked,
bringing his attention back to her.

She forced a smile. “Of course.”

It wasn't until she received another
message near the end of the game, that she grew concerned.

Unknown caller:
‘I
found you’

Lana closed the message out before Drew
could read it. It could only be Shawn. That was the only reasonable
explanation. There was no way she could let Drew find out about the
messages. If he did, he would ask questions. The answers to those
questions could ruin everything between them.

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

Chapter
5

Drew’s mind had not been on band
rehearsals that night. Lana had been acting weird since the game.
He counted at least five times through the week that the girl
actually jumped when she got a text message. Something was going on.
If he could just get her to tell him what was wrong, maybe he would
be able to help her.

His mind was still on what was going on
with Lana when he pulled into their parking lot. Her car was already
parked in its usual spot. He snatched up the Big Macs he picked up
on his way home and exited the truck. Knowing Lana she had skipped
lunch and would be starving by now.

He caught sight of her on the steps and
hollered for her, “Lana, wait up.”

She must not have heard because she sped
up.
The girl must have to use
the bathroom
.

Drew easily caught up with her on the
landing outside of their apartments and grabbed her around the waist.
It was not until she started kicking and screaming that he realized
his mistake.

“Honey, it’s me,” he
shouted over her screams, pressing her against the wall and darting
misplaced kicks the whole time.

Lana stared wide-eyed at him through
tears. Shivers racked the poor girl’s body.

Once he knew she would not knock his
head off, he moved his hands away from her wrists. “It’s
only me. You’re safe.”

His words did nothing to stop the
quaking or tears. If anything they seemed to increase even as she
let him take her into his arms. Her tears were soaking the front of
his shirt.

What was going on with her? Just a week
ago he had crept up on her and she was fine. It was time that he got
some answers.

Gently, he picked her up so she was
cradled in his arms. He bypassed her apartment for his.

Drew sat on his couch with her in his
lap holding her close as she continued to sob. A ball of dread
formed in his gut. Something told him he wouldn't like the answers
to the questions he was about to ask.

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

Lana stared down at her clasped hands.
Drew wanted answers. It was only fare to tell him why she had acted
as if he were the boogie man. She took a breath and prepared to say
the words that would tear what they had built apart.

“I thought you were him,”
she whispered. “I was distracted. I didn’t recognize
your voice.”

“Him?”

Lana left her spot on his lap to walk
around the room rubbing her arms with her hands. “It was
graduation night. I had too much to drink. I trusted the wrong
person.” She closed her eyes, trying to force the threatening
tears away.

“What happened?” he asked
softly, never moving from his position on the couch. She could tell
from his posture that he suspected.

She turned tear-filled eyes to him. “I
think you know. Please don’t make me say it.”

“Fine, I won't. But I need to
know who?”

“It doesn't matter. You wouldn't
know him.” Unable to face him she turned to look out the
window.

“You know you can trust me, right?
Whatever you tell me is between me and you.”

“Shawn.” Lana could barely
hear herself over the pounding of her heart. “We graduated
together. I couldn’t believe that after four years he was
actually paying attention to me.” She snorted. “I
willingly followed him into the basement. How stupid can one person
be?”

“Don’t say that,” Drew
demanded.

“Why not?” she asked. “I
followed him into a basement shut off from the rest of the party.
Even when I realized that if I screamed no one would hear me, I still
stayed.”

“You trusted someone that you had
known for years,” he told her. “That wasn't stupid. He’s
the stupid one, not you.”

“I led him on,” she all but
screamed out of frustration. “I let him kiss me.”

“So,” he said. She could
hear him walking across the room to her. “Big deal! You liked
it when he kissed you. The moment you put the brakes on things he
should have stopped.”

She closed her eyes. “After he
was finished, he went back up to play beer pong as if nothing had
happened.”

His arms came around her from behind
pulling her back against him. “Stop blaming yourself. He’s
the monster not you.”

Her phone chose that moment to buzz with
a message. Lana stiffened with dread.

She felt his arms tighten around her
pulling her even closer. “Honey, what aren't you telling me?”

Without saying a word, she took her
phone from her pocket and pressed it into his hand.

Lana cringed when he proceeded to read
the most recent text aloud.
“Oh
where, oh where, did the little ho go?”

She jumped a good foot when his voice
boomed, “Who the hell is this from?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s
from Shawn,” she whispered.

“Since when do they allow cell
phones in jail?” he asked. At her silence, his gaze narrowed.
“He is in jail for what he did right?”

Ashamed she shook her head. “I
never reported it. Too many people had seen us talking, dancing, and
flirting. What's worse is they saw me follow him to the basement.
Who would believe that I had not wanted everything that happened?”

“Anybody with a brain in their
head,” he told her. It was his turn to pace around the room.
“When did the texts start?”

“The night you had your party.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”
he asked.

She pulled away and sat on the couch,
legs pulled to her chest. “I didn’t want to risk losing
you. If I told you about the texts then I had to tell you about
Shawn.”

“Let’s get one thing
straight,” he told her, sitting down on the coffee table and
taking her hand in his. “You will never lose me because of
this.”

“Why?” she whispered.
“You're in a rock band. You have girls throwing themselves at
you all the time.”

“So?”

“You couldn't possibly care about
me now. I'm damaged goods.”

“Well, you're wrong. I do care.
Just so you know, I don’t want any of those girls; I want
you,” he told her.

“Even after what I’ve told
you?”

Her breath caught in her chest as he
leaned in. His mouth hovered over hers.

“Still,” he whispered
huskily.

Then his mouth was applying gentle
pressure on hers. His kiss tasted of Heineken and fries. Not fiery
passionate but sweet torture, the kind you never actually wanted to
end. Her arms came up around his neck of their own accord, pulling
him in closer as she returned his kiss. All bad thoughts were chased
away in that perfect moment.

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

Drew held a sleeping Lana. He was
unable to sleep himself. It all made sense now. Why she never
drank. Why she always glued herself to his side when they were in a
crowd. Hell, even Ricky made sense. A gay roommate would never
bring home someone who would pose a threat.

He should have sent her home when he saw
she was about to crash. Maybe he would've if Ricky had been there.
Sending her home to be alone did not settle well with him.

Anger surged through him at the thought
of all she had been through. What type of monster did it take to
take advantage of such a sweet girl?

To make it worse, just as she was
finding her way out of the dark the monster had to start tormenting
her. He wanted to find the sorry S.O.B and make him pay for what he
had done. Violent images, of what he could do to make him pay,
played through his head.

The light weight of her head on his
shoulder and her small hand on his chest held him in place. Going
after the guy himself would do her no good. The last thing she
needed was the wrong man sitting behind bars.

Memories of finding Tammy behind a bar
bruised, stripped from the waist down, and shaking, flashed through
his mind. He'd never been able to forgive himself for not protecting
his step-sister that night.

She had changed after that night. Before
it happened Tammy almost never missed one of his shows. After that
night she was always busy with school. Unless she was out with
Chris. She was a lot like Lana.