Falling for Autumn
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Authors: Heather Topham Wood
Falling for Autumn
A Novel by Heather Topham Wood
FALLING FOR AUTUMN
Copyright
: Heather
Topham Wood
Published:
April 15, 2014
The right of Heather Topham Wood to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
Table of Contents
“Come to the edge.' 'We can't. We're afraid.' 'Come to the edge.' 'We can't. We will fall!' 'Come to the edge.' And they came. And he pushed them. And they flew.”
― Guillaume Apollinaire
I hated college parties. As a freshman, I understood it was part of the college experience. An escape from curfews and prying parents while learning to be my own person. I didn’t mind the social aspect of it. It was the men I minded—the college boys with their assessing eyes and lecherous grins. I knew what they wanted and I’d die first before I gave it to them.
My roommate
, Lexi, shot me a sympathetic look as I shook my head at another drunken boy who tried to grind against my ass. It took him a minute to pick up on my disinterest, but when he found me unmoving against him, he decided to move on to more receptive game.
Classes for the spring semester were starting the next day and our
floormate Casey insisted we kick off the semester right by going to a party. The Football House had earned its name from the half dozen or so players living at the off-campus residence. Looking at its rundown exterior, I thought it could be called a few other off-color names, but Casey claimed it would be the best place for us to venture out.
Casey,
Lexi, and I made an awkward trio, but our friendship somehow worked. Lexi was quiet and likely spent almost as many hours studying as she did breathing. Her boyfriend, Finn, had a single room two floors above us and she slept there often. Lexi had no idea what a relief it had been when we first met; I needed a kind and understanding roommate and she fit the bill. Her scarcity at night was also a plus—she was rarely around when I yelled out in bed, my adrenaline spiking from the panic attacks that had started two years ago.
Last semester, Casey
decided I’d make the ideal friend for her to coax out to assorted campus events. Since I wasn’t interested in hooking up and she was attempting to stay faithful to her boyfriend back home, I’d act as a buffer when she found herself tempted to stray. I usually begged off, but she was particularly insistent that night.
Lexi
refilled her blue plastic cup and scrunched up her face in distaste as she took a sip of the keg beer. I refilled mine and I was certain my expression mirrored hers. The beer was flat and warm and I questioned for the hundredth time why I was at the party.
Casey came up from behind and draped her arm
s across our shoulders. “Lexi and Autumn, can’t you at least try to be social for one night?” Her blue eyes were unfocused, but her voice was laced with disdain. “You’re both sitting in the corner looking like someone died.”
Lexi
shot me a look and it silently passed between us that we’d be escorting Casey into her dorm room later. She was underage and it wouldn’t be good at all if our floor’s resident advisor spotted her. We’d have to stealthily sneak her past security and hope she didn’t make a scene in the process.
Checking my watch again, I wondered if Casey would let us leave before midnight. The number of students had thinned out slightly since we arrived a couple of hours ago, but it would probably be at least another hour until Casey would be ready to go.
Most of the crowd was packed into the finished basement of the three-story house. The appeal was the open space and it was where the kegs were kept during the party. One of the guys who lived at the house was also a deejay and had his setup in the far corner. He wasn’t half bad and I liked the sensation of the bass pumping through my blood.
“Holy shit, Autumn! Why is Blake Preston staring at you?” Casey stage whispered.
To be heard over the deafening music, the question came out more as a shout.
“Who?”
I looked around uncertainly and didn’t notice anyone staring in my direction. “Who’s Blake Preston?”
Lexi
laughed while Casey’s jaw dropped. “Do you go to the same college as us? How do you not know
Blake Preston
?” When I didn’t answer, Casey continued, “He’s a junior and incredibly fucking hot. He’s like the star of our football team. The entire female population gives a collective sigh when he goes out on the field.”
By Casey’s rundown, I immediatel
y knew it wasn’t likely he’d be staring at me. Although I was pretty enough, I purposely downplayed my appearance. My dark blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail and I had skipped the eye makeup required to make my honey brown eyes pop. I wore jeans and a plain black T-shirt. Before we left the dorm, Casey tried to march me back to my room to change, but I told her to take me as I was or leave me behind.
I looked around again and found myself drawn in by a pair of
gorgeous green eyes. They were spectacular—the color of gemstones—and it took me a while to tear my gaze away and survey the eyes’ owner. He was tall with broad shoulders and I would’ve guessed he was on the team even without Casey revealing his status. His hair was light brown, styled longer in the front and shorter on the sides. My eyes were drawn past his high-sculpted cheekbones to his strong jaw with just the right amount of stubble on his chin. Casey was right—he was
fucking hot
.
He didn’t appear flirtatious as he watched me from across the room. In fact, he looked at me with disdain, a muscle ticking in his jaw. I narrowed my eyes to
let him know that despite his ability to crush me with a single blow, I wasn’t intimidated. He didn’t look away.
I turned back to my friends
while the skin on the back of my neck prickled. “You made it sound like he’s checking me out. He’s giving me a pissed off look. I have no idea why, I don’t even know him.”
“That’s not a pissed off look. That’s an ‘I’m hot and I think you’re hot, so let’s get naked together
’ look. Autumn, you have to go talk to him,” Casey insisted.
I looked to
Lexi for help. “You’re with me, right? He looks like he hates me on sight.”
Lexi
shrugged. “I’m not sure. I hear he’s with a lot of girls, so maybe that’s his pick-up technique. He sends them smoldering looks from across the room at parties and they end up putty in his hands.”
“
Then I definitely wouldn’t be interested. I’m not responding to some man whorish jock’s smoldering looks.” I shuddered at the possibility. It had been a mistake coming to the party and expecting the men to be different. I was sure there must be a good guy or two in the bunch, but I had too hard of a shell around me to consider finding him.
I hoped more than ever
Lexi would decide to call it a night and give Finn a call to pick us up. Since we were freshmen, we weren’t permitted to park our cars on campus. Luckily, Finn had an older brother on campus and they shared his car. Finn had begged off on going to the party, but would chauffeur us back to the dorms when we were ready to leave.
Casey sulked over my refusal to approach Blake and I shifted awkwardly. Not only was the conversation making me
uneasy, but it was also the fact I could feel Blake’s eyes boring into my back. I made my escape by claiming I was off to the bathroom and promised to return in five minutes. Instead I made a beeline for the back door and shivered once the frigid January air greeted me.
Cook University,
which I attended, was a mid-sized college in central Pennsylvania. It was about an hour and a half from my hometown of Newpine, Pennsylvania. I had wanted to escape the suffocation of living in a small town with people who seemed to have small minds. However, I was super close with my parents and didn’t want to move far enough away where regular visits would be difficult.
The backyard of the Football H
ouse was relatively quiet. Only people like me, those desperate for isolation, would venture out in the chilly weather. There were a half dozen students gathered in a semicircle toward the back of the yard, most likely sharing a joint, while my presence remained unnoticed. I blew out my breath in front of me, mesmerized by the crystallization in the air.
The back
door opened and slammed shut loudly behind me. Startled, I spun around. My beer sloshed over the side of my cup and wet the brown boots of the guy standing before me. The motion lights switched on and I was faced with a now familiar pair of green eyes.
I clutched at my heart. “Damn! You scared me!” Actually, I’d been primed to kick him in the nuts. I didn’t take well to being startled, especially by hulking men.
“I could see that. I have a pair of drenched feet to prove your point,” he said.
I almost rolled my eyes when I heard him speak. Of course, his voice would be as sexy as the rest of him. His tone was husky and there was underlying sensuality in the way his mouth moved as he talked. He pronounced each syllable slowly, giving me plenty of time to watch his full lips move seductively.
I pushed down any lusty stirrings and allowed my annoyance to take its place. “Maybe that will serve as a reminder to not creep up on someone.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said softly.
I expected him to leave, but he stood in place next to me. I cast him a sidelong glance, trying to go unnoticed as I checked him out further. He was much taller than my five foot six and I guessed he weighed almost twice as much as I did. He wasn’t husky; instead, he was broad and muscular. He wore a long-sleeved white T-shirt and his biceps were drool-worthy as they strained against the fabric. The T-shirt was fitted and I could make out the rigid planes of his chest and abs. It was the off-season and I wondered how he could get any more cut during the regular football season.
Something about Blake was making me anxious and I gave in to my urge to flee. Without another word, I turned to go. His voice stopped me. “Why are you here?”
It was such an odd question. I laughed nervously. “What do you mean? In the physical or metaphysical sense? Like why I’m at this party or why was I ever born?”
He chuckled, but when I caught his eye, I didn’t see humor there.
His eyes were too bright, too probing. “Why are you at this party? I’ve never seen you at the house before.” He spoke like it was an accusation.
What was he
, the party police? His questions rankled me. It was borderline offensive and I couldn’t get a read on his motives. It didn’t feel like he was hitting on me. Instead, he genuinely wanted me to justify what brought me to the party and into his presence.
“I’m going. Nice meeting you, I guess
,” I said, taking another step toward the door. “I know you didn’t bother asking me my name, but it’s Autumn, by the way.”
His fingers slipped around my wrist to stop me from going. I expected to hate the sensation, to despise the feel of a man’s hand on my skin. I inwardly cringed because I enjoyed it. His palm was soft and warm and
his grip wasn’t rough. It was a gentle caress I missed once his hand pulled away. “Sorry…I’m being an ass. I’m Blake.”
He watched me afte
r revealing his name and I almost doubled over with laughter. He was awaiting a reaction, like I’d swoon once I found out one of the school’s most talented football players was talking to little old me. After I said nothing, he continued, “I only meant I would’ve seen you before if you had come by. You’re hard not to notice.”
Evidently, he had changed
his tactic, picking up on my irritation. I wasn’t flattered by his attention; I was confused by it. Although his words sounded like a compliment, the delivery didn’t sell it.
“I really should get back to my friends
. I’ll see you around,” I said, belatedly wishing for the nerve to say more. I wanted to ask him why he had followed me outside. I wanted to know what about my presence offended him so. It was the strangest and most unsettling meeting and I had no idea what to make of him.
He didn’t protest as I made my way to the door. “See you around,” he replied
, his voice flat.
What in the world?
I hoped my path would never cross Blake Preston’s again. He wasn’t at all like Casey described. He was intense and didn’t come across like the hotshot playboy jock trying to charm his way into my panties. There was torment he was trying to hide and I saw a brief glimpse of the emotion in his eyes as I walked away. I recognized it because I saw it each morning when I looked at my own reflection.