Falling into You (Falling Stars 3)

I climbed the steps, winding around her to head inside.

I had to put an end to this.

Leave that girl in the past where she belonged.

Pretend like it didn’t matter.

I had the screen door open when Emily’s voice hit me from behind. “What if I can’t do that?”

I spoke toward the still closed door, holding onto the handle like it might keep me from getting blown away by this storm I felt brewing. “If you want the best for her then you will.”

“I asked her to be in the weddin’. She accepted.”

Every word felt like a dagger being stabbed in my back.

My teeth ground.

Anger and dread surged.

Overwhelming.

I punched the wall next to the door, roaring as I did it. Pain shattered from my knuckles to my wrist. Anything to divert the fury.

Emily yelped like she was the innocent one in the situation. But the truth was, she had no clue what she was doing. What she was inciting. Thinking she was fighting for the good when she was only going to ruin me a little more.

I turned around to look at her. “Great, Emily. Just fuckin’ great.”

Because I didn’t know how to be in Violet’s space without losin’ my damn mind.

Didn’t know how to look at her without breaking every damn promise I’d made.

Didn’t know how to walk this thin line.

Without looking back, I tossed the door open, stormed inside, and moved into the dining room where I grabbed a bottle of bourbon from my father’s stash in the cabinet.

They say you can’t drink away your problems.

Well, I sure as fuck was going to try.FiveVioletSunlight flooded through the sheer drapes in my room and nudged me from the last dregs of the horrible night of sleep I’d had. Tossing and turning, falling asleep only to jolt awake from the dreams that wouldn’t leave me alone.

My skin still tingled with the phantom vestiges of his touch. My senses still filled with the aura of the man.

I sat up in bed, my knees drawn to my chest, and I rubbed at my wrist that still burned from his caress while my ears continued to ring with the cruelty of his words.

Standing in his presence had made me feel like I was being ripped to shreds by a tornado. Tossed from one direction to another. Lost somewhere between the torment of his eyes and the rejection that had blazed from his body.

I guessed maybe the hardest part of it was the connection that flamed and lapped underneath it all.

Electricity.

That bolt of intuition I’d forever felt whenever he’d come near.

The man like destiny.

A force that could not be denied.

No matter how hard we tried to dismiss it, it was there. Clear where it held fast to the atmosphere.

And if I wasn’t already slugging through the dregs of turmoil, the man had had the audacity to follow me home.

The overwhelming presence steady and unwavering as it’d pulsed through the night.

I’d had to stop myself about fifteen times from pulling over and demanding that he leave me alone. That I couldn’t handle whatever game he played. To beg him to stay.

Captivating and repelling. The refusal in the same second it felt as if he had me caught in a snare.

Hunting me for the sole purpose to annihilate.

I blew out a sigh, when I heard the indistinct chatter of voices and the clanking of dishes that drifted up from downstairs. I refused to allow myself to lie there and waste any more time on a man who didn’t care about me.

I tossed off the covers and forced myself from bed.

I used the restroom, brushed my teeth, and took the small set of stairs that led down into the kitchen.

I was struck with the scents of a typical Sunday morning.

Coffee and biscuits and bacon.

A soft smile tugged at one side of my mouth as I stopped at the threshold at the landing and peered through the blaze of morning light that speared through the cozy room.

The kitchen filled with so much country warmth that it was impossible not to feel at home.

At peace.

My chest stretched tight as I gazed at my father at the stove where he was whipping up his specialty of eggs, bacon, and pancakes while he sang an old Spanish song under his breath.

Daisy was at the table, trying to sing along.

The only person missing was my mama.

My heart clutched, but I did my best to force it down and not to bring a dark cloud over the sweet scene playing out in front of me.

I edged forward and the old wood floors creaked beneath my bare feet. My father’s attention swept toward me, a grin splitting his face. “Ah, mi amor.”

Daisy’s head popped up, all too eager to parrot her papa. “Mi amor!”

Light laughter slipped passed my lips, and I edged farther into the kitchen, heading for my father and pushing onto my toes so I could press a kiss to his cheek. “Good morning, Daddy.”