The Fall (5 page)

Later that day, I was talking pretty heatedly with another senior whose name escaped me when I spotted her again. Reiner had briefed us all after track and laid his claim. ‘Dallas Whitaker was a freshman. His freshman.’ Fifteen and she already had the attention of the most notorious playboy in school, and the confidence of a courtroom prosecutor. I quickly left my conversation with...um—okay, I couldn’t remember her name—to catch up with Dallas. She froze in place as I approached and I didn’t mask my smile. Reiner may have already lost this battle. I knew it was arrogant of me to think Dallas was so easily swayed, but if I was weighing in on reaction alone, I would have to say she was as drawn to me as I was to her. I had no intention of stepping on his toes, anyway. I just wanted to know her.

“You are making a rep for yourself already. Especially if you get with Tina Walker. Watch out,” she said dryly, obviously unimpressed with my choice of company.

“I don’t worry about shit like that,” I retorted quickly. “Never have.”

Her grin was unmistakable and I answered it with my own. “No?” she said breathily, eyeing me. “No plans to run for prom king?” Her smile slowly faltered as I took a step forward. She was standing next to a snack machine and took a step back, cornering herself.

“No,” I said, getting as close as possible without scaring her. “Only two things interest me in this school: you and track.” Her eyes widened as I confessed to her, and I heard her expel a long breath.

“Me?” she squeaked innocently.

“Yeah, you are going to be my best friend,” I said, taking a step back only to watch her face fall.

I was an asshole, but now I knew.

I was surprised with her aggressive step forward as she readjusted her backpack on her shoulder. “And what makes you think I’ll go along with this?”

“I’ll make it easy on you, Dallas, I promise.” I murmured, lifting her backpack off her shoulder and pulling it onto mine. Right at that moment, Tina Walker passed by and shot Dallas daggers with her eyes and then turned her attention to me and smiled sweetly.

Hell no. Stay away from that one.

Dallas ignored her gracefully and right then I knew I had made the right decision. I smiled down at her while she watched me with curiosity.

“Where are we off to?”

“Debate,” she piped warily.

“Isn’t that an advanced course?” I asked, curious.

“Yeah,” she answered, slightly embarrassed. I chuckled. She straightened her shoulders, a sign of clear pride in her posture. “I have yet to lose.”

Of course, Dallas Whitaker, honor student and queen of debate. Lord help me, this girl was fire.

I kept my promise and made it easy on her, however what I didn’t count on was the hard luck I had created for myself. We were inseparable at first, and I couldn’t for the life of me get away from her. Her smile and her voice were both addicting. I kept her at arm’s length, while every word she spoke, every little mannerism drew me to her. Like the way she drank her sweet tea, taking a sip and a piece of ice before slurping and chomping them down in equal measure. Or her filthy habit of chewing on every single pen lid until it was an unrecognizable mess. Or the way she paused right before she began to laugh really hard, as if the laughter wouldn’t come until she had built it up to the point it burst out of her. I actually adored these things while it might drive some people crazy.

I tried to ignore how much she appealed to the guy in me. I tried so hard, but every time she looked up through those long thick lashes, I found it just a bit harder to breathe. Every time she walked toward me each morning at school and left the stares of the guys who eyed her unanswered, I tried to hide the pride that swelled inside me.

She was only fifteen, and I was about to turn eighteen.

I could not fall for this girl. It was my new daily mantra.

I COULD NOT FALL FOR THIS GIRL.

So I tried my best not to. I went on several dates a month, a few ending in a gratifying way to elude thoughts of Dallas. She was simply too young. I had plans. I was off to Austin in the fall. It was all I ever wanted. Austin led to New York and with it Columbia University. I would become a doctor and this small town life that never suited me would be a memory.

I hated small towns. We had just moved from inner city Dallas. Moving to the outskirts had been my mother’s idea. She wanted out of the chaos. I simply wanted back in. I found quiet in the noise and excelled under pressure. It was sure to help me once I reached Columbia.

My mother informed me this move would be good for me, help tame me a bit. I never got into trouble, but I think she knew how involved I was with the seduction of the opposite sex. Why she thought there was a shortage of girls in this school was beyond me. As far as I saw, it was clear and easy pickings and their virtue was the same. Maybe it was Dallas’s innocence that drew me in. But I knew better. Even at seventeen with my hormones raging and an endless supply of female attention, she was special to me.

I didn’t care to know the girls I was dating, but I did want to know Dallas...indefinitely. She fascinated me by being the polar opposite of the girls I found myself taking out on Friday nights. She was book smart, sarcastic, and full of pride. She was far more mature than any girl I had dated. There was just something about her and it was becoming easier to pin point as I spent time with her. After a few weeks of knowing her, she had declared to me that she too would be a doctor. The funny thing was, when she said it, I believed it. When I said it, I always felt like I was on shaky ground.

“What are you thinking about?” Dallas asked, making a meal out of her pen cap as she watched me closely, propped up in her bed Indian style with an open book.

I was jealous of that pen cap.

Ignoring her question, I looked around her room and saw that she had no boy band posters. In fact, she had nothing of the sort. It looked like the room of a mad scientist, not a fifteen-year-old girl. Her walls were filled with colorful abstract shots of water. The rest of the room was filled with mostly science books. I pressed my brows together in confusion.

“Water is the universal solvent,” she said quickly as I stared closely at one of the water photos. “It washes away everything, all impurities. It’s magical.”

“Hmm, interesting,” I said, pretending to push up glasses on my nose that didn’t exist.

“Shut up. It really is cool what water can do,” she defended. She went into minor detail about the magic of water, ending in an impressive spiel about the psychological effects as well. I was slightly intimidated so naturally I made a joke about it.

“You are really weird, you know that?” I said, half-kidding as she pulled the pen from her mouth.

The bedroom door suddenly flew open and a kid no more than ten or twelve burst through. She had fiery red hair and the same green eyes as Dallas.

“She is a total weirdo! My dad says she gets it from my mom.”

“Rose Whitaker, get out of this room right now!” Dallas fired at her little sister. Rose, ignoring her completely, looked at me with curiosity. I winked at her as her cheeks reddened and she approached me with caution.

“So, you are Dean. Do you have any brothers?” I laughed loudly as I looked over at Dallas who was glaring at her sister.

“No, I’m an only child.”

Rose’s eyes widened. “I wish I were, too,” she said, shooting a mock filled look at Dallas. “Anyway, you are a little old for me, but you’ll do.”

“Rose!” Dallas said, closing her book and standing up, ready to physically remove her sister from the room.

“Dallas,” I reasoned, amused as Rose took a seat next to me, laying down the rules. “No kissing. I’m not that type of girl,” she squeaked as she eyed me blatantly, egging her sister on. Dallas groaned and Rose winked back at me secretly. I knew she wasn’t a kid with a crush. She was a kid with an agenda whose sole purpose was to irritate her sister. I liked her right away.

“Oh, my gawd,” Dallas muttered, burying her head in her hands. I stifled my laugh as I entertained Rose and watched Dallas. It was clear her ploy was working. Dallas finally put her foot down, throwing one after the other of what had to be a dozen pillows on her bed and Rose flew out the door, looking back at me with a ‘Thank you.’

I chuckled as I watched her go. “She is something else,” I said, looking back at Dallas who had shut her door and now sat next to me with kaleidoscope eyes. She leaned in close to me and whispered, “So am I weird in a good way or a bad way?” She was flirting, or what I assumed was her way of flirting.

It had been three months since we had started hanging out and today was the day she decided to be brave.

No, Dallas. Oh, shit.

I froze, gripping the edge of her bed, wondering when her father would burst through the door with some lame excuse. He seemed nice enough when I met him, but at the end of his kind greeting there was a sort of warning in his eyes. I knew that look well and I had ignored it for years with other fathers.

Not this time.

I wasn’t sure if I was feeling it more out of fear or my own resolve. She was wearing a turtleneck sweater surrounded by a sea of pillows she claimed were a necessary comfort. That was about as safe as she could get. I laughed a little as Dallas leaned in further, clearly not having a clue what she was doing. She took offense, her face falling, and I immediately felt bad. I entertained the idea of being her first kiss, and then had the sinking feeling I may not be.

A sharp knock on her door made us both jump.

“Dinner in ten, angel,” her father barked.

“Okay, Daddy,” she said hurriedly, staring straight at me. Her cheeks were slightly flushed from embarrassment. I sat stunned at her beauty. Every once in a while I would catch a glimpse of her as an older woman and it would take my breath away.

Kind of like at that moment. I had to get out of there.

“Dallas, I need to go,” I said, standing up.

“You won’t stay for dinner?” she asked, completely deflated.

Dean, you are such an asshole.

“I can’t, see you later okay?” I excused myself, cramming my books in my backpack, furious with myself. Who studied like this anymore, anyway? I had carelessly agreed to come to her home, meeting her family, and being alone with her where she slept. I hadn’t thought it would be hard to stare into those sea glass green eyes or admire her perfect, pink pouty lips.

I was in my own personal Lolita hell. How had I gotten here?

Dallas

• Now
  

I walked into Josh’s apartment, the smell of his cooking invading my senses. He was one of the finest chefs in Dallas and was constantly in his kitchen honing his craft. I rounded the counter to watch him work and saw him smile though he didn’t turn his head in my direction as he kept himself busy with his task.

“Baby, if I look at you, I’ll have you naked and burn dinner. Just do us both a favor and pour some wine.”

I smiled and shook my head. “Not a chance of getting me naked anytime soon. You gave me dirty dick disease,” I said in a huff, uncorking a bottle of red we had shared a few nights previous. He quirked an eyebrow as he looked at me and I gave him the stink eye as I poured us each a glass before taking a sip of mine.

“Okay, my curiosity is piqued,” he said, chuckling as he took a glass from me walking quickly back to the stove.

“A bladder infection, so your penis and I are now at odds,” I stated, taking a long sip of wine in celebration that I still had my freedom.