A Safe Place To Fall (The Fall Book 1) (4 page)

“
Ricky is doing his best to hook up
with some guy. I have no idea where Tracie is.”

Drew could only imagine where Tracie had
taken off to. These parties were always tame, compared to most, but
drugs had been known to make their way through the doors.

“
Let me take you home,” he
offered, knowing he wouldn't accept a refusal.

“
I can walk.”

“
No.” He reached out to take
her hand thanking God when she did not slap him. “I’ll
take you home. It’s no problem.”

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

Lana sat in Drew’s Ford truck
wondering how she let herself get into this situation. Oh yeah. His
band played her favorite songs. Could she really be that easy?
Hopefully his only plan was driving her home.

“
See, I told you, no box van,”
he joked. A heavy metal song filled the cab as he found a radio
station.

Lana stared out the window as the truck
pulled out onto the road.

“
So, where are we going?”

Lana rattled off her address as they came
to a stop light.
Please, don’t
let this be another mistake
she
thought to herself.

“
No shit,” he stated. “How
have I not seen you?”

“
What do you mean?” she
asked, turning her head in his direction.

The light turned green allowing him to
continue down the road. “I live like three doors up from you.”

Don’t tell him you have no life
outside of school. He’s in a rock band for crying out loud.

He took the right hand turn headed to
their apartment building. “I have to ask. How in the hell,
did a freshman get out of living in a dorm?”

“
My dad's friend is on the board.
He pulled some strings,” she volunteered the information
without thinking.

“
Damn, I wish my dad had pulled
those strings for me.”

“
He didn't want partying to pull me
away from my studies.”

Translation? Her dad was a complete
control freak. If Shawn hadn't caused her to high tail it away from
home her overbearing father would have.

“
You were out of your comfort zone
tonight, weren't you?”

She shrugged. “It wasn’t that
bad.”

The passing lights cast a shadow on his
smile. “Are you saying you had fun?”

“
Maybe,” she said shyly.

Lana did her best to ignore the way her
body reacted to the man beside her. Allowing herself to like someone
of the opposite sex was asking for trouble. She should get out of
this truck and run as far away from him as she could. Save them both
the trouble. For the first time in a long time she didn't want to
run.

He turned into the parking lot. “I’m
glad you came tonight.”

Lana smiled. She was also glad that she
had decided to go to the party. Wow! Who would have thought she
would ever say that again?

“
Go out to breakfast with me,”
he suggested. They sat in the parked truck staring at the apartment
building. “You can bring the dingbat if it will make you feel
better.”

She sighed. “Be nice.”

“
I am being nice,” he told
her. He got out and came around to open her door. “There are
other names I could call him.”

Lana shoved passed him on her way out of
the truck. “He’s my best friend. So, back off.”

“
Well, your best friend chose to
chase tail over you tonight.”

“
I told him I would be fine,”
she informed him, as they began their walk to the building. “And
I was fine. You’re the one getting all bent out of shape.”

“
What would have happened if I
hadn’t been there?” he asked, guiding her up the first
set of steps.

“
I would have gotten home on my
own.”

“
Maybe or maybe not.”

Lana’s hands shook as she put the
key in the lock of her door, moments later. She hadn't been thinking
when she left the party. All she'd wanted was to go home, so Ricky
could score without feeling guilty about leaving her alone. Now that
Drew pointed out she could have once again played into someone's
hands; she was slightly panicking over the
what-ifs
.

“
Hey,” he said in a soothing
voice, taking over the task of unlocking the door. “I’m
not yelling at you. It’s just that I've seen what can happen
to a girl if she wonders off alone.”

Lana looked down at her tennis shoes. He
had no clue how close to home his warning had struck. She was
kicking herself for being so reckless. The sensible side had told
her to call a taxi as soon as she saw Tracie slip out the door with
Monica’s roommate. Instead of going home she chose to stay and
watch Drew. The fact that something could've happened had never
crossed her mind.

Drew folded her keys in her hand and
pulled the same hand up to his mouth for a kiss. “We good?”

“
Yeah,” she whispered.

His thumb was busy rubbing a trail up and
down the back of her hand. “Just promise you won’t take
unnecessary risks.”

Her gaze settled on his soft mouth. “I
didn’t realize coming home was a risk.”

“
When you're surrounded by
intoxicated people and you wonder off alone it can be.”

Suddenly she felt as if she were being
scolded by an overprotective parent. “I doubt anything
would've happened.”

“
Your safety isn't something that
I’m willing to argue over,” he said, resting a shoulder
against the closed door. “Go out and have fun, as long as you
are being safe.”

His words gave her a warm and fuzzy
feeling she wasn't ready to deal with. Her own brothers hadn't been
this protective. Maybe if they had been she would've known not to
trust Shawn.

“
Come here,” Drew demanded.
He tugged her closer into his open arms for a hug. “You need
to get to sleep.”

As if on cue a yawn, which she hid
against his shoulder, forced its way out. That’s when she
discovered that he smelled really good. It was like she had her nose
stuck against the ocean. Totally not how she expected him to smell.

“
Denny’s tomorrow?” he
suggested. He was lightly massaging her neck. “Around eight?”

Lana was having a difficult time
following the conversation. All she wanted to do was curl up in his
arms and go to sleep. This reaction was unexpected. She was
beginning to think he had cast a spell on her.

“
You going to leave me hanging?”
he asked with amusement.

She placed her hands on his chest with
the intention of putting distance between them, instead they rested
there. “Sounds good.”

He rested his forehead against hers.
“That’s what I like to hear.”

From somewhere off in the distance a car
alarm went off. Startled she moved closer to him. It was funny;
how, in such a short amount of time he provided security. It was
something her family hadn't given her.

He moved his hands down to rest on her
waist. “If you need anything call.”

“
I will,” she promised.

“
Lock the door as soon as you get
in there,” he instructed. He dropped a kiss on her forehead.
“Goodnight.”

“
Goodnight,” she whispered
back before letting herself into her apartment.

Lana almost hated to close the door.
Ricky was still gone. Who knew when he would get home? Hell, she
wasn't even sure he would return in time to go have breakfast with
them. Part of her hoped he would miss breakfast. Remembering the
impression Ricky made on Drew, she decided he deserved the chance to
redeem himself.

She quickly typed a message to Ricky on
her phone as she made her way to her bedroom without turning any
lights on.

‘
Breakfast at Denny’s
at 8’

It only took a minute for her phone to
buzz with a response.
‘Can
I bring Jerome?’

Lana rolled her eyes.
‘Sure.
Drew will be there.’

The next reply took less time.
‘You
go girl!’

Lana laughed and tossed her phone onto
her nightstand.

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

“
I thought I told you to stay away
from her,” Chris said, from the entrance of the kitchen.

Drew had his head stuck in the fridge
hunting for orange juice. “What you said was that she has
issues.”

“
It'll never happened,” Chris
warned.

Drew grabbed the juice turning to an
empty glass on the table. “And you would be wrong.”

Chris laughed. “You’re
delusional.”

“
No, I’m not,” he said.
He placed the juice back in the fridge. “She trusts me.”

“
She spent one night listening to
the band. Yeah, she totally trusts you with her life.” The
statement oozed with sarcasm.

Drew gulped the orange juice. “She
let me take her home last night. What do you have to say about that,
dumb-ass?”

“
You are getting in over your
head,” Chris said. “Good luck with it.” That
statement was said to the closing door, as Drew left the apartment.

Drew found Lana, Ricky, and some guy, he
recognized from the party in a corner booth at the back of the
restaurant. He had really hoped she would have left the idiot at
home.

He slid into the booth beside Lana and
casually slipped an arm around her shoulders. When she did not
stiffen or pull away he took it as a good sign. “Good
morning.”

Lana smiled, turning her head in his
direction. “Morning.”

Her sweet mouth beckoned to him. He
dropped a lite kiss on her forehead, instead. He needed to take
things slow with her.

“
It’s too damned early for
this on a Sunday morning,” complained a hung-over Ricky.

Drew eyed the flamboyant idiot. This was
going to be harder than planned. “Nobody forced you to come.”

“
She needed someone to come and
hold her hand,” Ricky stated. He was slouched back against the
bench.

Drew flexed his fingers against Lana’s
shoulder. “You didn’t feel the need to hold her hand
last night.”

Ricky arched a waxed eyebrow. “What
is that supposed to mean?”

Lana squeezed Drew's leg in warning; he
chose to ignore it. “You don’t take a girl to a party
and abandon her.”

Ricky's eyes widened. “She
insisted on leaving by herself.”

“
I told you to be nice,” Lana
whispered into Drew’s ear.

“
I am being nice,” he told
her. He pulled her closer into the side of his body. “Have
you ordered yet?”

The older waitress arrived at that moment
with their drinks. “Are you guys ready to order?”

“
I’ll take a coffee, eggs,
and bacon,” Drew replied, sliding Lana’s coffee over to
her.

“
Oat meal,” Lana said, when
the waitress directed a look at her.

Ricky snorted. “Sugar, even your
breakfast is boring.”

Drew felt Lana stiffen but she never said
a word. She just fiddled with her cell phone. The girl clearly had
a problem with standing up for herself, especially, against Ricky.

Drew didn't have a problem standing up
for her. “Do you always have to be an ass?”

“
If I didn’t give her a hard
time she would think I was mad at her,” Ricky stated simply.
“She may be quiet now, but she can give it back just as hard.”

Ricky’s friend ordered for the two
of them when he saw that the waitress was getting impatient. Drew
liked the guy. He seemed to be on the quiet, the complete opposite
of Ricky.

“
Please,” Lana whispered,
“let it drop.”

Drew absentmindedly twisted a strand of
her shoulder length hair around his finger. “What are you
doing the rest of the day?”

Lana took a drink of her steaming cup of
coffee. “I have to meet Tracie at the mall.”

There went his plan of monopolizing her
day.

Ricky pouted. “Nobody told me
about a shopping trip.”

Drew rolled his eyes. What normal guy
wanted to tag along on a trip to the mall?

“
She’s helping me find work
clothes,” she said. “It’s not a fun shopping
trip.”

Drew arched a brow. “There’s
such a thing as a fun shopping trip?”

“
Ha ha,” Lana said dryly.
“You’re a regular comedian.”

The silent guy smirked.

Drew tugged on the strand of hair.
“Smart-ass.”

Lana took a picture of Ricky and his
friend with her phone. “And you’re not?”

“
Never claimed not to be.” He
stole her phone taking a picture of her and him.

“
Delete that,” she demanded.
“I look like crap.”