Read Online Falling Fast by Sophie McKenzie - Free Book Online

indicating the toilet behind me.
    I blushed. ‘Okay, but . . . I mean, is it that you don’t like the taste?’
    ‘It’s not that.’ Flynn paused. Then he sat down on the floor opposite me. ‘Er . . . did you mean . . . what you said, about not having a boyfriend?’
    I frowned at him. My head felt clearer than it had, but not totally clear. Why on earth would he think I had a boyfriend?
    ‘Yes,’ I said.
    Flynn stared at me. ‘It’s just, when I saw you, when we had that coffee . . . the way you rushed off after getting that phone call. I could see you didn’t want whoever it was
to know you were with me.’ He shrugged. ‘I kind of assumed it was some guy.’
    I frowned. ‘It was Emmi,’ I said. ‘Emmi and Grace. I was late meeting them. That was all.’
    That wasn’t quite all, of course. I hadn’t wanted them to see me with Flynn, but . . . Another thought occurred to me.
    ‘Why didn’t you ask me if I was going out with anyone?’ I said.
    Flynn shrugged again. He looked away.
    He didn’t ask because he likes you, you idiot. And he didn’t want to risk being humiliated in case you said you were with someone else.
    I chuckled drunkenly, suddenly feeling deliriously happy.
    He likes me. He likes me.
    Except. Except . . . My befuddled brain inched its way to the horrible truth of the situation. I was drunk and he was not only sober but actually non -drinking for some reason. Worse. Oh God . Worse of all possible worses. He’d just seen me be sick. Which must be the biggest turn-off known to mankind.
    Flynn stood up and held out his hand. ‘You should get some air,’ he said.
    I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. He kept hold of my hand as we crossed the landing and went down the stairs. Outside the front of the house the street was quiet, just a steady thump, thump from the music inside.
    As we walked a little way down the pavement, I shivered. Damn , I’d left my jacket inside. The cold air was sobering me up fast, though. I remembered how I’d cried before
I’d puked and wished I’d looked in the bathroom mirror before I’d left the room.
    Flynn was looking at me again. I turned my face away and licked at the finger of my free hand. I ran it desperately under my eyes, hoping I’d pick up any smudged traces of eyeliner and
mascara.
    Flynn took my arm and pulled me round. I was really shivering now. It was freezing with just the little black top on. He put his hands on my arms and rubbed them up and down. His eyes were dark
gold now and soft in the street lamp above our heads.
    ‘Why do you hate drinking so much?’ I said slowly.
    He stopped rubbing my arms and let his hands fall to his sides. ‘I don’t,’ he said. ‘I just hate drunks.’
    A car whooshed past us. I didn’t know what to say.
    I only got drunk because you didn’t look at me.
    Flynn looked over my head into the night. Then he took a step back, away from me. ‘Are you okay?’ he said.
    I nodded. ‘Flynn?’
    He raised his eyebrows.
    ‘I . . . I like talking to you.’ I closed my eyes. How pathetic did I sound? Shut up, River. Shut up until you’re sober.
    I felt his fingers draw gently down the side of my face.
    I shivered, my skin tingling where he’d touched me. I looked up. He was staring at me, his expression somehow both tender and exasperated all at once.
    My heart was pounding, my legs threatening to fall away from beneath me. Kiss me. Kiss me.
    He leaned forward as if he was going to kiss me, then he whispered, ‘I like you too, River, but I’m not kissing you while you’re drunk and your mouth tastes of puke.’
    He drew back and grinned. A confident, entirely sexy, beautiful grin. ‘I’ll walk you home, though,’ he said. ‘If you’d like?’
    I blinked. Oh yes, oh yes. I would like.
    Then I remembered.
    ‘I can’t,’ I stammered. ‘I’m supposed to be going back with Emmi and Grace later. They’re sleeping over at my house.’
    Flynn stared at me, his eyes boring right into