Falling

by Kris Bryant

  What the fuck happened?

  We had zero chemistry and apparently she didn’t want me to eat. That wasn’t entirely true, but she rushed me and I didn’t know if it was because she thought I needed to lose a few pounds or was anxious to hit all the booths.

  She’s dead to me. I hate her. And a winking emoji.

  Marisa was so good at fighting for me. She wasn’t bad, just wasn’t for me. Nice, though, and a great smile, just no tingles.

  Too bad for her. She’s missing out with you.

  My phone rang. It was Marisa. “It wasn’t that bad,” I said.

  “Shit. So, I guess you won’t want to invite her up to the ranch this weekend, eh?” Marisa sounded perturbed.

  “No, I’m going to pass on that. What’s going on?”

  “It’s my turn to go up there. I want you to come, but I wanted you to have fun, too. I figured inviting Lani would work.” She sounded defeated.

  “I can still come. Oh, or I can invite Piper. Jason wanted to invite her anyway.” I waited for Marisa to come down hard on me, but she didn’t.

  “That might work. Doesn’t she work all weekend?”

  Excellent point. “I think she gets off at noon. Maybe she can drive up and meet us Saturday afternoon. I don’t know her schedule for sure, but I’ll text her later.” I played it casual even though I was dying to get off the phone to text Piper.

  “The ranch is therapeutic. It would be good for her. Wait, does this mean you’ll get on a horse again?”

  I rolled my eyes even though she couldn’t see me. “Yes, tell Betsy I’m on my way.”

  “Well, I’m sorry your date was a bust, but I’m glad you’re coming up to the ranch. Isn’t it so relaxing up there?”

  “Oh, my God. Can you have sex up there? I mean, where Mama Doogan can’t hear you?” I’d lived and partied with Marisa long enough to know she was loud during sex.

  “We’ll be in the apartment,” she said.

  “Wait, I’m going to be in the apartment. That means I’ll hear,” I said.

  She let out an evil laugh before disconnecting the call.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “What happened?” Piper came up to me after class. I was in my normal position, flat on my back, and waved off her offer to help me up.

  “I’m going to stay down here for a bit,” I said. I spent most of Sunday eating pizza and ice cream for no reason other than to feed my loneliness. Three days without exercise made tonight’s class brutal. I didn’t text Piper because the more I thought about it, the more I felt like a creeper. I understood why Marisa was concerned.

  Piper waved to the last student leaving class, then sprawled beside me. I turned to her and smiled.

  “I really need to do more than just yoga. I’m thirty-two with the body of an eighty-year-old,” I said.

  “I don’t know any eighty-year-olds who jog three miles like it’s nothing,” she said.

  “I haven’t even done that in a few weeks. I’m learning that you have to keep exercising to stay in shape.”

  “So, tell me what happened with you and Lani.” Piper rolled over so that she was on her side, her elbow bent and her hand holding up her head.

  If I rolled over and faced her, we would be inches apart. She was in my personal space and I didn’t mind one bit.

  I turned my head to face her. “Not much to tell. We just didn’t really click. She was nice and everything. Maybe I’m just not ready.” It was a lame excuse. There was no reason for me not to be out there trying.

  “That’s too bad. I like both of you. I thought maybe you’d hit it off.” She shrugged.

  “You were right about the bossy part.”

  Piper laughed. “I tried to warn you ahead of time. I figured you would even one another out, you know?”

  “I was too relaxed to be bossed around.”

  She reached over and touched my arm. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”

  Her touch was warm and soft. She had a slight flush to her cheeks from the workout. She licked her lips and I couldn’t help but stare at them. How easy would it be to reach up and pull her down to my mouth? I looked away.

  “In other news, Jason and Marisa invited us up to the ranch this weekend. I told her I would check with you since you have Saturday classes.”

  “That sounds like fun. I should be done by noon. Do I need to drive up there separately or are we going together?”

  “I can pick you up. We can stay up there for one night.”

  “Are we going horseback riding?” The excitement in her eyes was unmistakable.

  “Of course. I’m completely healed so I have no excuses,” I said.

  “How long are we going to stay down here in the studio? Not that I mind, but I could use a cold water and a shower eventually,” she said.

  “Says the girl who smells like lavender and honeysuckle all of the time.” After I realized what I said, I closed my eyes in regret.

  “Great. It’s too strong.”

  I reached out and stopped her from getting up. “No, it’s not strong at all. I’m just sensitive to smells and they are both really nice. I promise. We’re friends, remember? We can tell one another anything. Now me? I smell like fear and defeat. I’m the one who needs a shower.”

  “Come on. Let’s get out of here. I want to shut down before midnight.” Piper stood over me again, her feet on either side of my thighs, and reached down.

  I smiled. This was our thing now. I groaned and reached up, grateful for her help.

  “You know, you might want to wear fewer clothes. This is a form of hot yoga. I’d recommend something like what I’m wearing. Lose the T-shirt, stick with tanks, and opt for running shorts. You’ll thank me.”

  “Okay, hold up there. I’m not confident enough to wear…” I paused and looked her up and down several times. I couldn’t stop the smile that slid onto my face. “That.”

  Piper blushed and it just made her even more beautiful. I reminded myself to dial it back.

  “There are days where I want to just eat pizza and sweets all day and drown myself in Hallmark movies for ten hours straight,” she said.

  “Are you serious? Because that’s exactly what I did Sunday. I didn’t move from my couch for hours.”

  “You should have called me. I was bored,” she said.

  I felt guilty. I was the one who pushed the whole friendship thing on her and then I didn’t follow through. I wondered if she felt my hesitancy. Did she know I was attracted to her? “Sundays are your days off. I didn’t want to monopolize your time. I seem to do that a lot.”

  She handed me a water and motioned for me to follow her into her office. I sprawled on the couch with no regard. After a few deep breaths, I sat up and scooted to make room for her. Both she and Clifford sat at the same time. I reached out to pet him, but he quickly moved away from me and curled up in Piper’s lap before she was even comfortable.

  “Hey, buddy. Did you think I left you?” She nuzzled his neck. It was cute the way she fawned over him.

  “Explain to me the reasons I come here. I suck at yoga and your cat hates me.”

  Piper looked at me and winked.

  My heart fluttered. I took a long drink of water.

  “He is just very particular. He’ll warm up to you. He likes to play hard to get.”

  We shared a few moments of silence while we both finished our water.

  I spoke first. “So, tell me, how are you doing? Is therapy working? Are you able to work through things?”

  She gave me a sad smile. “It’s still hard, but I’m getting stronger every day. I miss them for sure. I miss Emma because she was fun and made the days go by faster. I miss Robin because of the closeness. It’s hard to have so much love in your life and then lose it.”

  I almost cried at her confession. I sniffed and thought about something else. Anything else. I understood why her family was nervous to talk to her. What could a person possibly say to that? Words couldn’t convey the right message.

>   “I’m sorry. I was hoping it was getting better for you,” I said.

  “It is. Slowly. At least now my parents realize I’m going to survive and have stopped sending casseroles over.” She patted her stomach. “I love my mother’s cooking, but I’m only one person. I can’t eat even half of what she brings over.”

  “My mom stayed with me for about three weeks after the crash. There was no way I could have done anything without her help. I couldn’t get dressed, she had to help me shower, and I could barely feed myself.”

  “You had metal in your side, right?” She cringed when she asked.

  I stood, lifted my shirt on my left side, and showed her the scar. She ran her fingertips along the slightly puckered and puffy skin. Chills exploded and I pulled away slightly. Not because it hurt, but because her innocent touch affected me more than I anticipated it would. Her fingertips were warm, careful, and I thought about all the things they could do to my body.

  “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Her eyes widened and the flush that colored her cheeks drained.

  “No, it doesn’t hurt.” I dropped my shirt back into place. “It’s just kind of ticklish there.”

  “It doesn’t look bad at all, though. They did a good job,” she said.

  “The flesh was jagged so I knew putting me back together wasn’t going to be pretty.”

  “Do you remember it happening?” She looked at my leg, but my scar was covered.

  “I passed out. The flight attendant shook me awake and told me to get up. I felt something in my side, but I thought it was a rib that poked out. Nobody wanted to tell me what they saw and I avoided looking down.” I shrugged like it was no big deal.

  Piper blanched again. “That must have been horrible. I can’t even imagine.”

  I nodded. “I was in denial and shock. I thought I was dreaming. No way did that just happen. No way did I survive that crash,” I said. Piper’s eyes watered. Shit. I didn’t need to make her feel worse. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  She took my hand. “No, no. I’m just sorry you went through all of that. You’re so brave and you don’t even know it.” Her hands were warm.

  “If it wasn’t for Jason getting me off that plane…” I trailed off. I didn’t need to finish my sentence. Hell, I shouldn’t have even started it in the first place. “Okay, enough about that. Let’s talk about the good. Let’s focus on the ranch.”

  Piper nodded, but her eyes darted up to my forehead, down to my side, and to my leg. She was thinking about my injuries and my scars. I would never wear a bikini again and jogging shorts weren’t on my list anymore. I couldn’t do anything about the scar above my eyebrow, so I wore it like a badge of honor, per Piper’s initial assessment that scars were sexy.

  “What should I bring?” she asked.

  “Just clothes. I’d recommend jeans for riding. Horse hair is pointier and sweatier than I remembered. And a hat. Do you have any hats?”

  “A ball cap somewhere, I think,” she said.

  “That’ll work. It’s supposed to be sunny this weekend. Oh, and Jason’s mom will cook the most amazing food. And then you’ll be sluggish on Tuesday,” I said. Since I was still standing, I decided it was probably a good idea to leave. I threw my bottle in the recycle bin and grabbed my mat.

  “Are you leaving?” Piper sounded surprised and somewhat sad.

  “Yeah, I have a busy day at work tomorrow. We’re trying new things that I’m not exactly sure will work, so I need to study up on values and stuff like that.” I didn’t want to bore her with my work because it really wasn’t exciting unless you were in real estate.

  “Thanks for hanging out with me for a bit tonight. I enjoyed the company.” Her smile was so genuine that I couldn’t help but hug her.

  “Anytime. I’ll talk to you soon.” I pulled away quickly and averted my eyes. My attempt at a graceful exit was thwarted by Clifford, who decided to weave through my legs and trip me. I caught myself before falling completely. Piper giggled behind me. I pointed at Clifford. “Look, beast, I’ve survived bigger falls. Nice try.” I winked at Piper and headed out.

  * * *

  Thirty minutes before yoga started, I texted Piper. I hate that I have to miss yoga tonight. Work was running late. We had buyers who were considering investing in places in Denver, and water always brought a lot of interest. Downtown prices were too steep and with the growth of small businesses, commercial buildings in up and coming neighborhoods were starting to generate a lot of interest.

  I’ll just make it extra hard for you next week.

  Why do I believe you?

  Because I’m sweet and trusting. She followed that with a purple devil emoji smiling, well, devilishly.

  *rolling eyes*

  “Shaylie, when you’re ready.” Travis peeked his head into my office.

  I looked up and nodded. I hoped my look was passive, but that cheesy grin showed up the minute Piper texted me back and Travis more than likely saw it. I followed him back to the conference room. We were on a ten-minute break from a conference call with clients from Salt Lake City.

  “Are we all back?” Travis asked the room. Brittany nodded and pointed to the SoundStation phone where our call was parked. Our clients, Penshaw & Fern, wanted to consolidate their Denver area offices but wanted to evaluate our input on available space. They had one office downtown, one in Englewood, and two in Littleton but were considering purchasing one building instead of leasing four office spaces. In the long run, it would save them money, but finding the perfect place was going to be a challenge.

  “Shaylie scouted out a few buildings last month that have potential,” Peter said.

  I perked up when I heard my name. “Yes. Thornton has an up-and-coming area with commercial buildings and about half a dozen two- and three-story old warehouse buildings that were converted to really cool condos. Single-family housing neighborhoods are less than a mile away from the square. I feel anything there is solid investment.”

  “But that means any employee who works south of downtown Denver will have a longer commute,” the owner of Penshaw & Fern, said.

  I rolled my eyes and silenced my sigh. “Then you’ll have the added expense of location. We can find you something downtown, but it won’t be within your budget.”

  Travis shot me a look to remind me it wasn’t my meeting. I shrugged at him. I was speaking the truth. They would have to either pay a premium for space downtown or buy something ten miles north and have funds left to renovate. It didn’t seem like a difficult decision to me.

  “We can look into it. Give us a few days to come up with something. I’ll call you back on Friday.” Travis ended the call and turned to us. “Okay, you heard the customer. Let’s take a look at all properties for sale or lease and see what we can find.”

  “Do you want us to get other brokers involved or just stick to our stuff for now?” I scooped up my folders and notes. I checked my watch. Not enough time to go to yoga. I would do a quick jog around the neighborhood instead. I found myself eating better, skipping donuts at work, and actually doing sit-ups and weights at home. Even though I was telling myself it was to get in shape, I really wanted to drop a few pounds so I felt attractive. I wanted to be noticed. Shit, who was I kidding? I wanted Piper to see me as more than a friend. Every other woman in her life was in impeccable shape. I didn’t look bad. I just looked soft.

  “Have a good night.” I walked out of the conference room.

  “Wait, Travis is expecting your help on this one.” Brittany all but chased me down the hallway.

  I stopped. “You guys can sit here and look through books, but I’m going to drive around until I see something I think will work. Traffic will be light since it’s after rush hour and who knows? Maybe something new just popped up that we don’t know about.” I smiled sweetly, batted my eyelashes a few times, and pushed through the front door. I hated working there.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “What’s this?” Pi
per opened my passenger door and looked at the hat in her seat. She looked adorable in jeans and a sleeveless blouse. Her wavy hair was down and loose around her shoulders. She even had cowboy boots. I really needed to get a pair, too.

  I leaned over the armrest to get a better look at her. I was not disappointed. “It’s a cowboy hat. Or is it cowgirl hat? Anyway, it’s just a hat to wear at the ranch. I have one, too.” I pointed to the hat on the back seat next to my overnight bag. “Get in.”

  She put the hat on and slipped into the car. “What do you think?”

  “You rock the cowgirl look.” I tore my eyes away from her to merge into traffic. “We should get there by two thirty. I texted Marisa so she knows when to expect us.”

  “Thank you again for inviting me. I haven’t been this excited in a long time,” Piper said. She took off the hat and set it in her lap. “I feel like it’ll block your view. I’ll just wear it when we get to the ranch.” She ran her fingertips over the felt carefully, as if she was treasuring it. I smiled harder.

  “We all deserve a break. How were your classes?”

  “Good. I just started a new advanced class, so it was nice to push myself,” she said.

  “It was nice to push myself said no one ever,” I said.

  She bumped her elbow softly into mine. “You like yoga and you know it. You’ve made such progress. You’ll be ready for an advanced class soon.”

  We both knew she was lying. I quit early every time through every pose. Yoga wasn’t my thing, but beautiful women with long dark hair and unique eyes were.

  “What other businesses are in your building?” I realized that I only paid attention to Bodhi even though I’d been there a dozen times.

  “The copy place is next door, and combined, we take up the first floor. The second floor is an architect firm, a small engineering company, and some dot-com place.”

  “So, you’re pretty full,” I said.

  “I think there’s one empty office space, but it’ll go quickly. I’ll have new neighbors by the end of the month. The neighborhood is booming.”