Free Falling
Authors: Kirsty Moseley
Free Falling
By Kirsty Moseley
Copyright © 2013 Kirsty
Moseley
All rights reserved.
The right of Kirsty
Moseley to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No
part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted , in any form or by any means without the prior written permission
of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover
other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being
imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
All characters in this
publication are fictional and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead
is purely coincidental.
Acknowledgements
As usual, my thanks go
out to the amazingly talented Mollie Wilson, who made this incredible cover for
me.
This one is for my dad.
He’ll probably never read this book because this isn’t the type of thing he
likes (not enough serial killers in it for him) but that doesn’t matter. I just
wanted to say thank you for being the man that you are, and for making me the
girl that I am. Yes, I am like you, everyone says it, but so what? You’re
pretty freaking awesome so I’m secretly proud that I have some of your traits!
I read somewhere once that a dad is a girl’s first love. I couldn’t agree more.
Forever, a daddy’s girl. X
Chapter 1
I heard the alarm beep behind me but it quickly cancelled so
I didn’t bother to open my eyes. I was just drifting back into blissful sleep
again when I became aware of someone singing quietly in my ear, and fingers
trailing up and down my side, tickling my skin. I couldn’t help the goofy grin
that stretched across my face.
“...to you. Happy birthday, dear Maisie. Happy birthday,” a
soft kiss was planted on the side of my neck making me draw in a ragged breath,
“to you.”
I opened my eyes and half rolled over to see Luke lying
against my back. His gorgeous face was merely inches away, and his big brown
eyes were locked onto mine. His dark brown hair was messy and sticking out at
all angles, but it suited him like that, it made him look a little rough and
ready. He had a five o’clock shadow across his strong jaw and a big smile on
his face that matched my own.
“Hip hip,” he mumbled, his lips almost touching mine.
“Hooray?” I asked, giggling.
He laughed too and finally pressed his soft lips to mine. I
smiled against his mouth and wrapped my arm around his neck, pulling him closer
to me as he sucked my bottom lip into his mouth, nibbling on it gently. I
opened my mouth, praying I didn’t have morning breath, but knowing Luke he
wouldn’t even care if I did.
I lost myself in the bliss of Luke’s kissing, silently wondering,
as I had done hundreds of times, just what it was that he saw in me. Out of all
the girls he could have chosen, he chose me, and I’d never understand it. His
hand traced up my stomach as he kissed me deeply, making my toes curl as my
body got so excited that I could barely think about anything other than his
taste and the feel of his fingertips trailing over my body. Finally, he pulled
away and kissed the tip of my nose.
“Good morning,” I mumbled, my voice barely above a whisper
because of just waking up.
“Good morning, birthday girl,” he answered. “You know, I’ll
never get used to how beautiful you look in the morning. The no make-up and
messy bed hair really does it for me. So perfect,” he whispered, gripping my
hip and pulling me closer to him again.
I smiled, tracing my fingers across his broad shoulders.
“You’re just saying that to get into my pants.”
He laughed and brushed his nose against mine. “Been there.
Done that. You’re wearing my T-shirt,” he replied, grinning proudly as he
tugged on the bottom of his T-shirt that I’d slept in.
I giggled and bit my lip. I’d had a year and seven months
with him, and he still managed to make me feel like a giddy little girl, it was
a little crazy really. “Whatever, Luke.” I pulled his mouth to mine again as I
rolled my eyes playfully.
He pulled back as I tried to deepen the kiss. “How about I
give you your present now?” he offered, stroking the side of my face. The way
he was looking at me made my face heat up; if I didn’t feel exactly the same
about him then the soft, tender way he was looking at me would scare me. We
were only eighteen, but I knew this was him, this was the guy, the one, and the
look on his face told me that he was thinking exactly the same thing about me.
“Does your present involve me moaning your name?” I asked,
raking my eyes over his body slowly, drinking in every inch of his sculpted
chest, the V line that led down to the waistband of his black boxers that he
was wearing.
He laughed wickedly. “The one I bought doesn’t, but if you
want I’ll give you that one after.”
I sighed as I thought about it, tracing one finger across
his scratchy jaw line, imagining what it would feel like tickling my body.
“Definitely,” I purred, nodding enthusiastically.
He grinned and immediately jumped out of the bed, and again
I was struck by how lucky I was that this boy wanted me. Luke Hannigan was a
jock, very popular at our school, and although he could be a jerk when he
wanted to, he was the most adorable boyfriend in the world. Why he chose me I
still didn’t understand. I wasn’t beautiful, I wasn’t popular, if anything I
was a little nerdy. I took my school work seriously; I didn’t wear short shirts
or slutty tops and jump on the sidelines cheering him on while he played
football. I preferred to go without make-up and pull my hair up into a messy
topknot, slob around in sweats and a T-shirt, than wear high heels and tank
tops. I would rather go camping and wake up early so I could go hiking and
watch the sun rise than stay in a spa and get a manicure. On paper Luke and I
were total opposites. When we first got together people thought he was crazy
for going for a nerdy girl like me. Thankfully he did though and I couldn’t be
happier about it.
He came sauntering back over to the bed and dropped down
next to me, making me giggle as he caught me looking at his body. His eyebrow
rose knowingly as he smirked at me. He held out his hand, revealing a little
box about the size of his palm. “Happy eighteenth birthday, baby,” he
whispered.
I gulped and took the box from his hand. “Thanks. I hope you
didn’t go crazy,” I muttered, looking at him gratefully. He smiled and shook
his head as I tore at the shiny red paper he’d wrapped it in, eager to see what
he’d bought me. When I got to the soft black velvet box, I chewed on my lip. My
pulse drummed in my ears now that I knew it was jewellery and something I could
keep and treasure. I smiled and pulled open the lid, gasping when I saw what
he’d bought. Inside the box was an oval gold locket on a delicate gold chain.
There was a swirly pattern on the front, with a little diamond set in the
middle. It was beautiful.
“Luke, this is-” I gasped, not having the words to describe
the exquisite thing he’d bought me.
He smiled and took the box out of my hand, flipping the
locket over and handing it back to me again. I looked down at it and my heart
melted into a puddle. He’d had it engraved on the back.
‘True love lasts
for always,
Yours forever,
Luke x’
My eyes filled with tears. I still couldn’t think of
anything to say. I had no words to describe how incredible this present was and
how special it made me feel that he had gone out and chosen something this
beautiful, just for me. “Thank you, it’s…” I looked at him in awe, and he
kissed me lightly.
“You’re welcome,” he whispered against my lips. “You like it
though, really? If not then I’ll buy you something else.” He seemed a little
worried about his choice.
I shook my head fiercely and clutched the little box to my
chest protectively. “I love it, and I love you,” I said honestly.
He grinned. “I love you too, Maisie.” He pointed at the box
I was holding for dear life. “I couldn’t find a nice picture of us to put in it
that was small enough. We’ll have to get one photoshopped or something.”
I grinned and gripped the locket, releasing the little catch
to open it, only to find a badly cut out photo of us had been placed inside. My
heart swelled because of the effort he went to. He must have sorted through
hundreds of photos just to find one that semi fitted in there, but the top of
his head was cut off, as my was chin.
“I’ll sort something out,” I confirmed. “Put it on for me?”
I requested, holding the box out for him. I watched as he pulled the delicate
necklace from the box, I held my hair up over one shoulder and giggled as the
cold locket touched my chest. When he was done, I gripped it in my hand and
looked back at him, smiling smugly that he was mine. “How about the other
present now?” I flirted, raising my eyebrows, smiling seductively.
He grinned and literally pounced on me, making me giggle and
fall back into the pillows. Things were getting hot when suddenly there was a
knock on the door. I squealed and pushed him off of me, at the same time that
he jumped back, shocked, and fell on his butt out of the bed, groaning as his
head hit the floor.
I bit my lip and looked at him worriedly. “You okay?”
The door opened and I yanked the covers up to my shoulders,
covering the fact that Luke had taken his shirt off of me seconds before the
interruption. In walked my mom with a tray in her hands and a big smile on her
face. I flicked my eyes to the floor on the other side of the bed, noticing
that Luke had laid back, hiding himself from view as my mom walked in.
“Morning, happy birthday!” she chirped, completely oblivious
that I’d snuck my boyfriend into the house while everyone was asleep last
night.
“Hi, er… Thanks?” I muttered, trying not to blush.
“Are you getting up anytime soon? I’m making a birthday
breakfast,” she offered, grinning happily. I smiled and nodded
enthusiastically. Birthday breakfasts were the best, my mom made literally
anything we wanted. I had the same every year - blueberry pancakes with whipped
cream. She made my goofy twin brother a fried meat filled mess, and my dad
usually went for chocolate chip pancakes, but Mom had to burn his for some
reason, he was a little weird like that.
“Heck yeah! I’m just gonna, er…” I grasped wildly for some
excuse that would give me a few minutes in my room so that Luke could get
dressed and I could sneak him back out of the front door.
She smirked at me and put the tray down on my dresser. “I
made you a coffee. Breakfast will be done in about fifteen minutes so that’ll
give you time to drink it,” she said, shrugging, still grinning. “And Luke,
next time you sneak in, make sure you park your car more than two houses away,”
she teased, smirking at the empty space where he was hiding down beside the
bed.
My mouth dropped open in shock as Luke sat up from where he
was, looking at her guiltily, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, sorry about
that, Riley,” he muttered, wincing. I just sat there blushing as my mom shook
her head and rolled her eyes.
“Amateurs,” she teased. “Don’t let Clay or Alex catch you in
here, you know they’ll hurt you,” she joked, laughing to herself.
I giggled, and Luke nodded quickly. That was true, my dad
and brother wouldn’t take too kindly to the fact that my boyfriend had secretly
spent the night here. “I won’t, thanks,” Luke agreed sheepishly.
