Chanel Cleeton - London Falling

“I can behave,” he protested. “Come here.”

I wasn’t stupid. I knew by now that I couldn’t control myself around him. I knew staying away from him was in my best interest and his. I knew better than to let myself get close to him, than to let him inside. And yet, as hard as I tried to resist, he was like a magnet pulling me closer. He made me reckless, and I’d never been reckless before him.

I shifted on the couch, moving my body closer to his. He closed the distance between us, tucking me against his body like a puzzle piece snapping into place.

“Comfortable?”

Not even kind of.

It was the worst kind of agony. I was close enough to smell his cologne, feel his strong body beside mine. His breath tickled my ear. His hands hovered dangerously close to places that burned for him. He was so close—and yet so far.

“Yep.”

He pulled me even tighter against his body, a sigh escaping his lips. We both stared at the TV, neither one of us speaking.

There was nothing to say. We flirted around a line, dipping a toe or two over and then jumping back again. We played with fire, dancing on the precipice of something we couldn’t come back from.

I was so afraid I would fall.

CHAPTER TEN

Samir

“WHY ARE YOU being so weird?” Fleur asked me in French.

Most of the time we spoke in English at school—but sometimes, when she wanted to talk to me about something important or private, she switched to French.

I moved down the hallway, my strides impatient. I wasn’t in the mood to get harassed by Fleur. It was the second week of classes and things were still a mess with Maggie. I was still a mess.

“I’m not being weird.”

“I’ve barely seen you all semester.”

“School has been back for a few weeks. It’s hardly been ‘all semester.’”

“Well, I didn’t see you much this summer, either.”

I’d tried my best to check in on her, but much like my life, my summer had not been my own. “I told you, I was working for my dad. We couldn’t all spend the summer on a yacht in the South of France.”

I was being an ass. I was pissed off and taking it out on her, which wasn’t fair. I couldn’t seem to control it, though. This gnawing frustration had been building, and was infinitely worse after seeing Maggie in the common room. I’d thought allowing myself small doses would be enough. Turned out it only made things worse. Like a junkie, I craved more.

“You seem on edge. Snappy.”

“I’m not on edge.”

Okay, maybe yes, I was a little on edge. I’d been chain smoking like a maniac, and tension coursed through my body.

“You look like you need to get laid.”

I froze in mid-step. “Excuse me?”

Fleur fisted her hands on her hips. “You do. You definitely look like you’re hurting for it.”

“Jesus.”

“Well, you do.”

“I’m not hurting for it,” I muttered through clenched teeth. “I can get laid any time I want.”

Total fucking lie. Maybe I could get laid anytime I wanted. Just not by the only girl I wanted to lay.

“I take it the girlfriend doesn’t put out.”

“It’s not like that. Just drop it, okay?”

“Fine, if you’re going to be a girl about it.”

“I’m not a girl,” I protested. “I just don’t feel like taking about my sex life right now.”

Fleur smirked. “Trouble in paradise?”

She had no idea.

“Look, I don’t want to talk about it. I have class in like five minutes and then I’m hanging out with Omar.”

“I feel like you’re avoiding me.”

“I’m not avoiding you.” I was, a bit. But it was hard being around her with the whole Maggie situation going on. We were trying to act like nothing had happened between us. I didn’t need Fleur getting involved. “We’ll hang out, I promise. Let’s make a plan for next week.”

“Want to go bowling?”

I stopped in my tracks. For like the millionth time today, Fleur had completely caught me off guard. “Excuse me?”

“Bowling. Tonight. In Holborn. There’s a group of us going.”

“Bowling?”

“It might be fun.”

“Okay, you’re asking me why I’m being weird? Since when do you bowl?”

“George is going.”

“George?”

She flushed. “He’s nice.”

“Sure he is.”

I knew Fleur had changed after her overdose, but I hadn’t realized she’d basically had a lobotomy. If Fleur was going bowling, then hell had officially frozen over. Although I wasn’t sure what was weirder: that she was going bowling, or that she was going bowling with a guy like George.

“He is nice. You should give him a chance.”

“That’s not what I do. You either. What gives?”

“I’m turning over a new leaf. Maggie suggested it. I think she may be onto something. Besides, you know how Maggie is. Once she gets her mind on something, there’s no turning back.”

I did know Maggie. Maybe better than anyone. That was the problem. She was frustrating and exciting and confusing. She was hard to read and impossible to forget. And she was killing my sanity.

“So are you coming or not?”

I stared blankly at her.

“Bowling?”

Right. “Definitely not. I have no desire to bowl. I’m pretty sure there isn’t any amount of money you could give me to make me even consider it. Besides, George is not my idea of a good time. The guy’s less exciting than a trip to the dentist. I don’t care how nice he is.”

Fleur glared at me. “Fine. The rest of us will have fun without you.”

“Is this a group date?” This thing got lamer by the second.

“I told you. Maggie’s the one pushing us to go out. She organized it.”

Motherfucker.

“So Maggie’s going?”

“Yeah, it was her idea. She thought it would make George more comfortable to do something on his terms.”

How was I going to tell her I wanted to go now?

My resolve was crumbling. Maybe it had never been there to begin with. My efforts had been half-assed at best. At a school this small, it was difficult enough to try to avoid Maggie, harder still when I didn’t want to.

“Makes sense.” I hesitated for a moment, not used to having to explain myself. “Okay fine, if everyone else is going, I’ll go.”

Fleur stared at me like I had three heads. “Are you serious? After all that, now you want to go?”

“I didn’t say I wanted to go,” I lied. “But I’ll go.”

Fleur’s eyes narrowed. “Are you just going to make fun of George?”

“No.”

“Seriously, you have to promise not to make fun of him.”

I was surprised she even cared—it was unlike her to be this concerned about someone like George.

“Fine. I promise.”

There was one reason I was going bowling and it had nothing to do with George.

Maggie

“YOU GUYS READY?”

There were six of us—me, Michael, Mya, Fleur, George and George’s friend Max. Max was a year ahead of me and though I hadn’t met him before, he seemed nice enough. Hopefully his presence would make things a little less awkward for George.

I loved bowling. Jo and I bowled all the time in South Carolina. I wasn’t any good, but it was a ton of fun. Plus I couldn’t resist the idea of Fleur in rented shoes.

“We’re just waiting for one other person,” Fleur called out.

“Who?” My body collided with someone. I looked up—

“Me.” Samir grinned, and my heart lurched like a boulder tumbling off a cliff. “Sorry I’m late.”

“You’re going bowling?”

His smile deepened. “Yes.”

“Bowling? Like rented shoes and pizza and eighties music? Bowling?”

He laughed, the sound reverberating through my body, all the way down to my toes.