Keep From Falling (Markson Grove Series Book 1) by Amy Vanessa Miller Page B

that he’s sorry.” I know that he didn’t actually say it like that, but his reaction did, and I feel like the response is appropriate. Skylar’s lips draw into a tight line, unconvinced that I’m telling her the truth. I go on quickly, “He didn’t know. I didn’t tell him till after. He felt like an ass.”
    She lets out a sigh and her shoulders seem to relax a bit. I try to think about what else I can tell her to make her understand that it was a mistake; that I’m one hundred percent with her and that I love her. But something inside of me feels off when I search for the words. Something aches that I can’t quite put my finger on. I shake the feeling away, trying to focus on Skylar and her pain. This can’t be about me. Not right now.
    “Ok,” Skylar finally says, interrupting my inner turmoil. “If you say it was a mistake, then it was a mistake.”
    “It was,” I assure her, but somewhere deep inside myself I know that I’m not as certain as I want to be. Evan’s presence has a power over me that I can’t explain. The fact that we will be continuing to work together after all of this makes me very nervous.
    I sit down on the floor completely now and reach my arms out. She falls into my embrace and moves in closely. I brush the hair from her forehead and kiss her on the lips.
    She kisses me back firmly, with so much force and necessity that I almost pull away, but I stop myself. I know that she’s only forcing the kiss because she’s scared that my feelings have changed. Instead, I return her need with an equal amount of eagerness and press my body to hers.
    We both sit up on our knees as we continue to kiss. She reaches for the bottom of my shirt and begins to yank it upward. I put my arms up willingly as she pulls the shirt over my head. She reaches behind me for my bra strap as I begin to unbutton the front of her shirt. We shouldn’t be doing this out in the open, but making out in my living room instead of the confines of my bedroom is incredibly freeing!
    And as each button of her shirt comes undone, I continue kissing the bare skin being revealed underneath, taking in the soft scent of her body wash. This is good. This is right. This isn’t Evan, and that’s how it should be.
     

     
    Later that night, I awake from a troubled sleep and sit up quickly. It occurs to me that I’m sleeping on the floor, but I can’t remember why I’m not in my bed. As my heart rate begins to slow, and my eyes come into focus in the dark room, I realize that I’m not even in my room at all. I’m in the living room. I look over at the clock above the TV and see that it’s 2:26 AM. It feels like it should be later.
    I pat the dark floor around me, trying to locate Skylar, but I can’t seem to find where she’s sleeping. Did she get up and move to the couch? I climb to my feet and fumble over to the lamp next to the couch, turning it on.
    In the now dimly lit room I realize that Skylar is nowhere to be seen, but she definitely was sleeping on the pile of blankets on the floor with me, because there is still an indentation of her body next to where I had awakened.
    “Skylar?” I call out quietly, trying not to wake my parents. She doesn’t respond, but a creak coming from the kitchen draws me in that direction.
    As I turn the corner and enter the hallway that leads to the kitchen I see a silhouette of her on the wall ahead of me. I can tell by her shadow that she’s standing in front of the stove.
    “Skylar,” I say again a little more urgently. I know she’s in there and is not responding to me on purpose. I just don’t know why.
    The shadow moves all over the wall erratically and I pick up the pace to reach the entrance of the room. I am certain now that she is intentionally trying to hide something from me and I want to know what that something is.
    I turn the corner and the minute that I do, I let out a gasp.
    “I needed to do it,” Skylar says quickly, spinning around to face me. Her arms are