How to Fall in Love (3 page)

“I’ll let her know, but I won’t push my daughter, Max, and neither will you.”

He makes a frustrated, sighing sound. “I’m not here to argue. If you see her, tell her I want to talk to her, but I won’t pressure her to do that. I’ll leave you to it.”

My mom says nothing more; she just closes the door with a soft click. I look over to Immy, who is digging through the candy packet and lining them up on mom’s bed. She’s oblivious, thank God. I need her to be, because the tears running down my face can’t be controlled. Mom appears in the doorway a second later, takes one look at me, and wraps me in her arms.

“Hush, sweetheart. It’s going to be okay.”

I make a strangled sound, because I don’t believe that.

Not even for a second.

CHAPTER THREE

THEN – COLLEGE – MAX

Sweat runs down my face as I jog towards the locker room to get changed before heading home. There’s a bonfire on tonight, and I’m supposed to be taking fucking Demi, even though she’s more than made it clear I’m a play-thing that she’ll use only when she needs a popularity boost. Our little break up lasted about four hours before she came crawling back, we got drunk and fucked.

I honestly don’t know why I put up with her. I guess for the same reasons she puts up with me. When you’re in the popularity chain, and you’re at the top, you do what you can to stay there. Not to mention when you’re a football star, people pay attention to where you stand in the popularity ranking. Demi is the reason I stay there—well that, and I’m a fucking great guy.
Obviously.

“Yo, brother,” Reese greets me as I step into the locker room. “You ready for tonight?”

I pull off my shirt and dump the sweaty material in a basket, then nod and grin. “Fuck yeah. Should be awesome.”

“We’re loaded with beer. You taking your truck?”

“Yeah, man.”

“You going to swing by and get me?”

I nod.

“What about D?”

“She’s coming,” I grunt, dropping my pants and wrapping a towel around my waist.

“Heard Maci talking about the fight you two had earlier this morning.”

“Fight?” I grunt. “The bitch got angry because my dick wouldn’t stay hard for her.”

“Fucking burn!” Reese laughs. “I couldn’t stay hard for her, no matter how hot her tits are. She’s too much of a mouthy bitch.”

I snort. “You’re telling me. She can have my dick in her mouth and she’s still mumbling about something. She’s a fucking handful, that’s for damned sure.”

Reese shakes his head. “Fuck that. You need to find a good chick.”

I shrug. “Yeah, maybe.”

We shower and throw our things into our bags, then separate at the parking lot. I’m about to jump into my truck when I notice Belle standing next to a tiny, beat-up car, staring under the hood. She stomps a few times, and then runs her hands through her hair. It’s fucking adorable. Unable to help myself, I throw my bag into my truck and then walk over, stopping behind her.

“Got a problem, Blue Belle?”

She jumps, screams and topples forward. I wrap an arm around her waist, hauling her backwards and stopping her from falling beneath her hood. She stiffens in my arms, and I grin. Yep, cute. 

“Car not working?” I say into her ear.

She twists out of my arms and turns, looking up at me. Fuck those eyes, they’re incredible, so fucking beautiful. I study her face, and find myself fascinated with the strawberry-blond hair that’s trailing down her shoulders. It’s long, and thick, and fucking sweet. She’s wearing a different pair of glasses; these are slim-line, and surprisingly look good on her. It gives her the naughty librarian look.

Who doesn’t want a naughty librarian?

She’s got a white dress with big black polka dots on it. Definitely not what you’d see most girls in, but it hugs her breasts before flaring out at her tiny waist, and that alone makes it look fucking good on her.

“I, ah, my car . . .”

Stammering again. My grin gets bigger. Her cheeks get pinker.

“Do I make you nervous, Blue Belle?”

She bites her bottom lip.
Fuck.

“No.” She manages to speak without stammering. “I just . . . I don’t usually talk to people like you.”

“People like me?” I say, pressing a hand to my chest. “Should I be offended by that comment?”

She smiles shyly. “I don’t mean it in a nasty way, but surely you can see we’re on a whole different wavelength.”

I shrug. “I try not to pay attention to those things.”

She grunts. “You’re Maximus Jacobson. Of course you pay attention to those things.”

“Am I meant to know what that means?” I ask, reaching over and putting my hand on the opened hood, making my arm flex right near her cheek.

“It means,” she says, fidgeting, “that you know exactly what you are, who you are, and where you’re going. You are destined for big things. People like me? We’re happy to remain in the shadows.”

“You shouldn’t be in the shadows.”

Her eyes flash. “And you know that after one simple conversation?”

I grin. “Fuck yeah I do.”

She shakes her head and turns, staring at the car again.

“You need a ride?”

She sighs. “I’ll catch a bus. There are some that go by in the next few hours.”

“That’ll make it dark, and that’s dangerous. Come on. I’ll give you a ride home.”

She turns and studies me, narrowing her eyes. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

I smirk and reach around her, slamming the hood closed. Then I take her hand, tugging her towards my truck. “I won’t kill you, I swear it.”

She snorts. “Because that makes me feel so much better.”

“What other option have you got?”

She ponders that and then tugs her hand from mine. “Let me just lock my car.”

I wait as she does that, and then both of us walk to my truck. I open the door for her and she eyes me skeptically before climbing inside. I jump in the driver’s seat and turn to her. “Where do you live?”

She rattles off an address, and then stares out the window as we pull out of the parking lot. Her window is cracked slightly, letting some breeze in. Every now and then, the smell of vanilla and strawberries washes past me, and it takes everything inside for me not to grab her and kiss her. I bet she tastes just like that.

I need a distraction.

“What are you studying?” I ask her.

“I’m not sure of a major just yet, but I want to get into journalism.”

“Impressive.” I nod.

She shrugs. “It’s more of a pipe dream right now.”

“Hey, at least you’re dreaming.”

She turns and studies me. “What about you, football star? Is that all you ever wanted to be?”

I nod. “Yeah, I guess I had a talent for it and just went with it. Cliché as it is. My dad owns a chain of clubs that he always wanted me to take over, but that shit just isn’t what I want.”

She nods, as if understanding. “I get that.”

We both fall silent, and I glance at her to see her staring out the window again. Fuck she’s beautiful, in the most innocent, geeky,
fresh
kind of way.

“Are you going to the bonfire tonight?”

She shakes her head. “No, that isn’t really my thing.”

“Have you ever been to one?”

She falls silent.

I guess that’s a no.

“Then how do you know it isn’t your thing?” I prompt.

“I don’t know. The idea of drunk people having sex and throwing up doesn’t sound all that fun.”

I laugh. “It’s not like that.”

“I beg to differ.”

“Surely you’ve got friends that are going.”

“My best friend has been begging me to go,” she admits.

“You should.”

Her cheeks go pink again. “Maybe,” she mumbles.

“Let me know if you want to. I’ll come by and give you a ride.”

She jerks and looks over to me with big eyes. “Why?”

I grin and focus on the road. “I’m taking everyone. I don’t drink.”

Her eyes narrow with suspicion. “You don’t drink?”

“You sound surprised by that?”

“Well . . .” She hesitates. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

“It’s not that I have a problem, I just hate the feeling of being drunk and out of control.”

“Yeah, I get that.”

“Anyway,” I say, pulling up at a small apartment building that my GPS just alerted me is hers. “Give me your phone and I’ll put my number in. You can text me if you want a ride.”

She stares at me a while, then sighs and pulls out her phone. I punch my number in, and then hand it back to her. She looks nervous, and fidgety as I lean over her and push the door open. “Blue Belle?” I say, my face close to hers.

“Ah, yeah?”

“It’s just a ride—I won’t bite.”

She studies my face, then nods, climbs out and closes the door.

She doesn’t look back.

~*~*~*~

S
he doesn’t call me to give her a ride to the bonfire, and when I arrive she isn’t there. The strange disappointed sensation in my chest is odd, and something I’m not used to feeling, but I push it aside and sit by the fire with my football buddies and Demi, who is well on her way to being drunk.

“Saw you with that redhead chick today,” Reese says.

“Belle?” I ask.

He shrugs. “I don’t know her name, dude, just saw you talking to her.”

“Who were you talking to?” Demi demands, crossing her arms and swaying a little.

I scowl at Reese, and then turn to her. “I helped a girl who had a broken car. Nothing to pitch a fit about, Dem.”

“Did you give her a ride home?” she asks, studying my face.

“Yeah.”

Her cheeks grow red with jealousy and I choose to ignore it, turning back to Reese. “Nice one, bro.”

“Sorry,” he says, glaring at Demi. “Didn’t know Queen Bitch would take it to heart.”

I shrug and watch as all the red Solo cups are passed around. I wave a hand when one is pushed my way. Reese takes mine, grinning big as he holds the two full cups in his hand. He’s smiling like a kid on Christmas, like the very idea that he has two beers makes everything that much better than one.

“You should have one, dude. Might lighten you up.”

I flip him the bird. I’m in a sour mood tonight, and I can’t shake it. I’m disappointed Belle isn’t here and I have lost my mojo. I just can’t handle drunken fucking idiots tonight. “I’m going for a walk.”

Demi mumbles something but I ignore her and walk off into the darkness. These events are usually my thing, but tonight I’m not even close to feeling it. That probably makes me a pussy—I’m okay with that. I walk farther down the beach until I see a lone figure sitting on a rock, staring out at the ocean. As I get closer, I realize it’s Belle.

She came.

Something squeezes in my chest as I move closer until I can see her face in the moonlight. She’s wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a loose black tee that falls down around her ass. She’s got on a pair of black boots and her hair is out, flapping about in the breeze, but she doesn’t seem to notice. She doesn’t even hear me approach.

“You came.”

She jerks and whips her head around, then sighs with relief. “You have to stop sneaking up on me.”

I smile and flop down onto the rock beside her. “You know the purpose of a party is to actually join in?”

She frowns. “My friend convinced me to come, or more to the point, to drive her home, but I’m not really into it. It’s much nicer down here.”

I nod in agreement. “You’re right about that.”

“What about you, captain popular? I wouldn’t imagine you’re the type to walk off down the beach alone?”

I snort. “My girl is being difficult and my buddy is drunk. It’s not exactly fun.”

She goes silent.

I look over to her and she’s staring back out at the ocean.

“You have a boyfriend, Blue Belle?”

She looks at me again. “Why do you call me that?”

I study her face, focusing on her blue eyes. The eyes that I can’t seem to shake from my thoughts. “Because you’ve got the most intense blue eyes I’ve ever seen, and your name is Belle. It makes sense, right?”

She smiles. Fucking beautiful.

“I guess it does.”

“Now, back to the question . . . do you have a boyfriend?”

She scoffs. “Gosh no.”

“No?”

“No.” She smiles down at her hands.

“How come?”

She crosses her legs, fidgets, then uncrosses them. “I just haven’t met anyone.”

“A beautiful girl like you?”

She frowns at me. “Are you trying to charm me, Max? Because last time I checked you had a girlfriend.”

I throw my hands up, grinning. “I’m just telling the truth, Blue Belle. I didn’t realize you had difficulties accepting compliments.”

She sighs. “I don’t, it’s just . . . Why are you talking to me?”

“Because I want to.”

She pouts. “That’s it?”

“Does it truly need to be anything more? I might be a jock, and a player and all the things you’re thinking, but I’m not an asshole. I can have real conversations with people, you know?”

She flushes with embarrassment, as if the idea of offending me upsets her. “I know, sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just no one ever really talks to me. I’m so used to being invisible.”

I reach over, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. She shivers, but doesn’t stop me. “You don’t have to be,” I say in a low, raspy voice.

She shrugs. “Y-y-y-yeah, maybe.”

I lean back again, but I keep my eyes on her face. “I could use another friend.”

Her brows go up. “I thought the entire school population were your friends?”

I stare out at the ocean. “You know, you’re the first person I’ve had a decent conversation with in such a long time. I forget the last one I had. I might be surrounded by people, Blue Belle, but none of them know me.”

She fully turns to me, her eyes wide and shocked. “I could never imagine how having that many people around could actually make you lonelier. I’d kill for so many people to talk to.”

“And yet those people don’t really want to talk to you; they just want to be seen with a status symbol.”

She nods, studying my face.

“Max?”

We both flinch and I turn to see Demi storming—well stumbling—across the beach. I stand, looking down at Belle. “I should go.”