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She let her hair down out of her ponytail, and all of a sudden my hands felt too empty
A splash of water hit ht myself and just splashed Lucas in return
"You looked like you could use so his ar off? Did he even knohat he was talking about? TV That’s where kids got this shit
Fallon still stood on the beach, hands on her hps and pacing the water’s edge, dipping her toes in every once in a while She looked half ready to either throw herself into the water or turn around and run for the parking lot
I jerkedthe kid a lesson in feaze flashed to er even in the chilly water After teetering for another minute--just to piss me off--she stepped into the lake and waded out until she could dive in
About an hour passed as we played and swam in the water Lucas had fun, even if it took Fallon ti on a raft, treading water, and keeping her distance But when I got the raft and Lucas tipped her off of it, she’d finally loosened up
They raced each other She didn’t let hi more
Jared and Tate ca
And Fallon stayed as far away fro I wanted fro? I was ready to bangLucas out here when all I kept thinking about was ripping those fragile white strings loose
"Lucas!" I growled "Go sit on the blanket with Jared and Tate Hydrate and eat your snack"
"Oh,him swim off as I headed over to Fallon She sat in the purple recliner raft with her arled off the edge, dipping into the smooth surface of the water
"So" I squinted up at her, resting my hand on the raft for support "Why are you ho like there was a secret trying to escape "This isn’t my home"
I’d been so dumbstruck by the fact that she was hoht Herolos And Fallon had no friends here that she kept in touch with that I knew of She barely had a relationship with ed to be asked "Then why are you at the hoed mother’s husband where you don’t want to be?"
Her tease of a smile curled more "And where I’ h my brain "Oh, you’re wanted," I taunted
She snickered "That’s not how you ht"
I snapped my mouth closed
Yeah, that shut e dick
I slicked backover at her as she steadied herself from the jolt
"Well, in all fairness, I did think you had lied about ht to be pissed, Fallon You never called or caain What was I supposed to think?"
She didn’t answer Just sat there, hiding behind her sunglasses Her eyes had always looked dark and lost tobut wouldn’t know it if she found it
I repeated my question "So why are you home?"
She inhaled a heavy breath and finally looked at ht "Closure," she said "I left without really saying good-bye to this place I needed that before I started o"
Closure Is that what I needed, too?
"They found you in the theater rooave a half-hearted s your T-shirt, and you’d left your jeans on the floor," she finished, raising her eyes at me expectantly
"You were asleep," I explained "I didn’t want to wake you"
Her eyes were still waiting forlike a rat
I’d figured out that oing at it every couple of days and then very quickly it becaht for about a week Fallon never wanted to leave her rooether On her turf, in the dark, and we didn’t talk about it outside of those boundaries Those were the nonverbal rules I’d ascertained after our first couple tiether
But I had my ways I was finally able to coerce her out of her bedroom and downstairs to the theater room We’d watched a movie but ended up all over each other like I kneould She’d put onback noere stupid to think ouldn’t get caught If they hadn’t found her, then Addie or someone would’ve noticed sooner or later that ere always tired Since ere spending half our nights together, we got very little sleep
Fallon’s low voice see "It’s over In the past, Madoc"
Eyes hooded, I looked over at her "It’s not over, and you know it"
"Last night was a fluke We were angry"