Break My Fall (15 page)

I had left Rachel talk to her as if she was a piece of shit off the street.

I had done nothing.

I owed her a super-sized apology with side serving of groveling.

Yeah she could hate me all she wanted, but she needed to stay the hell away from Mike.

LEE

I picked up a large cheese pizza from a 24-hour deli on my thirty-minute walk home.

It was past eleven when I reached our front door.

Letting myself in, I tossed my bag in the hall and kicked off my sneakers.

Friday’s were the biggest party night in my housemates’ lives, so I knew the house was empty.

No one was ever here on a Friday night, except for me.

I grabbed myself a bottle of water from the refrigerator, and walked into the living room.

Finding Kyle sprawled out on the couch was not something I had anticipated, or was thrilled about.

I was still upset about earlier.

I debated turning around and running upstairs, but I forced my feet to move forward.

I was going to have to get used to being around him. He was my roommate after all, and my boss…

“Hey” he croaked, pulling himself up to make room for me to sit down, “You’re late tonight.”

His eyelids were heavy.

I had woken him up.

“I know, I just finished my shift. Linda had me cover Theresa’s shift.”

I sat on the other side of the couch, as far away as I could from him.

“Again?” he asked stretching, “That’s the third time this week.”

I nodded; surprised that he would know that.

“Linda needs to get her shit together. I’ll have a word with her.”

I grabbed his arm in alarm.

“Please don’t Kyle,” I begged, “I like Linda, and she’s good to me. I don’t want her upset with me.”

Sighing, he patted my knee, “Okay, relax I won’t bring it up. Just make sure that you say no if you’re too tired Lee. I don’t want to wear you down.”

I plopped the pizza box in between us, needing a little space.

I felt too worked up by the fact that Kyle was talking to me, to worry about work.

I wasn’t sure why he was even speaking to me.

He usually ignored me.

Pathetic as it sounded, I craved his company.

“Hungry?” I asked.

We sat side-by-side gorging on pizza and watching some crummy sitcom rerun.

It was…nice.

“How come you’re not out tonight?” I asked between bites of my pizza, turning my head to face him.

“I’m just sick of drama. I am in desperate need of a chick free night,” he answered through chews.

“In case it slipped your attention I happen to have a vagina,” I mumbled, as we both went for the last slice.

I immediately blushed from my outburst.

I would have never spoken like that back home.

I could feel the heat burning from my cheeks.

Did I just say vagina to Kyle?

I felt like running.

Kyle made a choked noise as he tore the slice in half, and handed me the bigger half.

My stomach grumbled in appreciation.

He looked over at me smiling, and poked me in the side.

“I am well aware that you have a vagina, but you’re different.”

He sighed heavily, “I need to apologize to you about earlier Lee.”

He stretched his hand toward me and rubbed his thumb across my chin.

“You have a little tomato sauce just there.”

I lowered my burning face, and I could have sworn he stuck his thumb in his mouth.

I was wondering if he would bring up the restaurant incident.

I didn’t because I was too afraid he would leave.

I really was pathetic.

I tucked my legs underneath me and turned to face him, listening.

“Rachel was being a bitch. She shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.”

Rachel being a bitch to me was nothing new.

She had a snide remark every time she saw me.

“It’s fine Kyle.”

He frowned, his brows burrowing, “No, no it’s not. She made you cry and I did nothing. I should have said something.”

I shrugged.

Yes, he should have, but he never did. I wondered what was going on with them. Why did he bother with Rachel?

She was just plain nasty.

Whatever was between them couldn’t be worth the hassle of staying with her. Kyle could do so much better than her.

“It’s okay, it’s not like you talk to me anymore anyway. I’m used to being ignored.”

He flinched, and I felt bad immediately.

“Is that how you feel? Like I ignore you?”

Of course, that’s how I felt, that’s what he did every time he saw me.

I nodded.

“I’m sorry princess, I don’t mean to… I don’t want you to feel like that.”

My heart skipped when he called me princess.

It had been a long time since he had.

“Kyle it’s okay, honestly. I overreacted. Rachel just touched a raw nerve, bringing up my mother.”

He scooted closer to me, “I’ve never heard you talk about your mother. Why is that?”

I shifted uncomfortably in my chair.

“Um, that’s because I never knew her. She died giving birth to me.”

I heard him exhale sharply, but I kept my eyes focused on the television.

“Shit, I didn’t know that.”

I smiled at him.

He looked truly upset.

“How could you Kyle? Don’t worry about it. I’m going to get some more water, you want anything?”

When he didn’t answer, I went and got myself another bottle of water.

“My mom’s dead too,” Kyle said, when I returned to the couch.

“Oh I’m sorry.”

My heart swelled for him.

“How old were you when she passed away?”

I was sorry for him.

Losing a mother was the worst feeling in the world for a child. To be missing that crucial element, a mother’s love.

“Three. I don’t remember her.”

His face looked like the subject was a closed, and I briefly wondered why he had brought it up, if he was not going to discuss it further.

I was desperate to change the subject and keep him from leaving.

“So are we going to try and be friends now?” I asked nervously, outstretching my hand to him.

I only wanted to know the answer if it was good news.

I couldn’t take any more bad.

Kyle shook his head, smiling softly.

“Yeah princess, we can try…”

He took my hand and shook it, before pulling me closer, “But if this goes wrong, remember, I warned you. I tried to protect you.”

He released my hand, and my head was swimming.

What did that mean?

He tried to protect me?

I asked him about something else that he had said, that was still bugging me.

“You said earlier I was different from other girls? How am I different?”

I needed to know.

It really bothered me that he didn’t think I was a normal girl.

It was obvious he found it easy to ignore me, but I was most definitely still aware of his maleness.

He sighed and turned to face me.

He pulled one leg up on the couch, and left the other hanging on the floor.

Smiling he chuckled, “Do we really need to have this conversation?”

His smile was infectious, and I felt myself mirroring him.

I was so happy we were off the topic of dead mothers.

“We most definitely do, my female pride is wounded,” I replied, “Don’t try and dodge the question sir,” I joked.

“Sir?”

He laughed and sat up straighter, resting one arm over his bent knee.

His eyes were a tranquil blue.

“That’s what everyone at work calls you.”

The girls at work called Kyle Carter worse names than sir; sexually predatory names that were too vulgar to contemplate saying out loud.

“And since we’re on the subject of work, what’s with you ordering strawberry milkshakes? What are you nine?”

He gaped at me, and I sniggered.

“Twenty-two, and I’ll have you know milkshakes are a great source of calcium. Maybe you should try one sometime, short-ass.”

I leaned over and tugged at his sweater playfully.

“Okay, I think we both know by now that I’m vertically challenged so quit dodging and answer my question.”

Kyle reached up and pulled my hand into his lap, and played with my fingers.

I didn’t think he even realized he was doing it, but it felt right when he touched me.

I always wanted to be touching him.

“When I say you’re different princess, it’s because you are, plain and simple.”

“Gee thanks Kyle. So I’m plain, simple and a short-ass.”

I pulled my hand back but he was too quick for me.

“Hey, now don’t get cranky. I meant that as a complement.”

He looked down at our joined hands and then back at me.

He was smiling.

“You’re not like any other woman I have ever met. You are honest and kind. You are probably the only girl in the whole damn world who I can say that about,” he sighed and puckered his brow, “Lee, what you represent for me is the opposite of everything I hate in women. Being around you is as easy as breathing, it’s addictive.”

He exhaled deeply and smiled his half-moon smile, “Satisfied?”

Was I satisfied with that?

I wasn’t sure, but I was confused.

He never stayed around me long enough to test his theory.

I nodded slowly, accepting his answer as the best explanation I was going to get.

If I was the exact opposite of what he hated, then did that mean he…?

No I wasn’t going to get my hopes up.

I knew enough to know that Kyle Carter had an incredible talent for pulling the rug out from under my feet.

He squeezed my fingers, and I lifted my eyes to his.

“What?” I asked.

“You looked lost in thought,” he said.

I nodded, “I guess I’m trying to figure you out. You are a mystery Kyle Carter. Every time I think I’ve figured you out, you reveal another layer.”

He snorted and laced our fingers together once again.

“Well when you figure me out, could you tell me, because I’d love to know?” he asked quietly.

I thought he was joking but his face was serious.

I just smiled in response.

I had no reply for that.

“Since we’re on the topic of sharing, you wanna tell me why you’re not in for college? You’re eighteen. You should be starting your freshman year, not bussing tables and cleaning toilets for minimum wage.”

Whoa, where did that come from?

“There is no law against not going to school Kyle.”

I did not want to go into this.

I felt inferior enough as it stood without Kyle, especially since I learned he was my boss as well as my landlord.

I was so far down the ladder from him, I was invisible.

Sensing my mood, he changed the subject.

“When’s your birthday?”

I looked at his smiling face and reddened, “October second. When’s yours?”

He grinned, the sexy dimple causing havoc to my insides.

“March eleventh. Yours is closer, we should celebrate. Maybe we could do a few shots?”

I stared at him open-mouthed, and he chuckled.

I wasn’t used to this version of Kyle.

I liked it this Kyle… a lot.

“Hey, I thought we were doing the friends thing, no flirting,” I teased, even though I enjoyed his flirting almost as much as his kissing.

Well almost…

“You should be in college princess..”

I clammed up inside, my body tensed as I pulled away from him.

I slipped away from him, and moved towards the door.

“I’m pretty beat, I’m gonna go to bed. Night Kyle,” I mumbled.

I thought I heard Kyle groan, as I closed the door behind me.

KYLE

Lee rushed out of the room so fast after I mentioned the college thing that I knew I must have touched a nerve.

The kicked puppy look in her eyes made me want to kick myself in the balls.