Read Fall Forever (Fall For Me) for Free Online Page B

be so near him and not
jump on him and start mackin’ on those dreamy red lips of his that had kept me
up every night these past few days, fantasizing and reliving our hot, tasty
tongue encounter.
    His words came out hesitant and
carful, “Jones, Ava and I—”
    I flinched. His beginning had me
knowing my heart was going to break. His voice gave it away too. It was all
concerned, as though he was worried how I was going to take his announcement.
    He didn’t get to finish his
sentence, though. Just then Jillian came into the foyer. Her eyes lit up when
she saw who was at our door.
    “Riley!” she exclaimed. She ran to
him and jumped into his arms. “I’m sorry I threw up in your hot tub. Let me
make it up to you. I’ll style your hair.” She tugged on his arm excitedly.
“Come on. Come into my beauty parlor.”
    She led him into our guest bathroom
and had him sit in the chair she had at the sink. “Come on Riley.” She patted
the seat coaxingly, giving him a big, toothy smile and showing him her big
bottle of shampoo. “I’ll make you into a model.”
    “Um …” Riley looked worried.
    I laughed, for a moment forgetting
about Ava and the announcement he was going to make about them as a couple (as
if I could!). “I’ll get my camera,” I told him, scrambling upstairs.
    I quickly took out my curlers and
blew dry my hair. It actually looked … awesome. Go Jillian.
    But just as I was racing downstairs
with my camera, I got a phone call. I was so excited to witness Jillian doing
Riley’s hair, I forgot to check caller ID. So, suddenly I was faced with a very
stern voice.
    “Zoey, perhaps we’ve been a bit
hasty,” the words came from Finn’s mom.
    Groan.

 
    ***

 
    The only way I was able to finally
get off the phone was announcing, “I have to go—there’s someone at the
door.” And it wasn’t even a lie.
    There was someone at the front door. It ended up being Jillian’s little
friend, late for her “beauty” appointment.
    By the time I was able to return to
the guest bathroom, Jillian had already finished shampooing Riley’s hair and
was busy blowing it dry. Priceless!
    My heart melted at the scene.
    I snapped a bunch of pictures as
Riley posed adorably while Jillian worked her beauty magic with the blow-dryer (which, until today, she had never used before in
her life). But once Jillian turned off the dryer and reached for our curling
iron, Riley jumped to his feet as though his seat was on fire.
    “I see your next appointment is
here, Jillian,” he said, still eyeing the curling iron anxiously, as though the
thing was surely going to give him nightmares. “How much do I owe you for this
awesome ’do?”
    “Nothing!” she gushed, sounding
flattered at his offer. “It’s free!”
    “Aw, Jillian. Thanks.” He gave her
a huge hug, then he gave himself another dramatic look
in the mirror, as though he loved his new “look” so much that he could barely
tear his gaze away. “I love it! You’re awesome.”
    She grabbed her notebook with a
huge, pleased smile and gazed up at him adoringly. “So, you want me to schedule
you in for next week?”
    “Definitely!” he said, giving her a
playful pat on the cheek and making her year. “Schedule me in for every week.”
    Jillian beamed, eagerly writing
notes in her “scheduling” notebook. Then she turned to her friend, “You’re
late.”
    “Yeah, sorry,” the girl said, not
taking her eyes off Riley. Gawking at him like he was a rock star. (Which lots
of girls do. They gawk at Riley and get tongue-tied.
They had ever since middle school. It used to be hilarious. But, sigh. These
days I found myself doing it as well … so not so funny anymore. Kind of sad,
actually.)
    I walked Riley to the door,
desperately wanting to broach the subject of him and Ava again, but not quite
sure how. Or quite sure that I really, truly wanted to. I mean, he had sounded all guarded and cautious as he mentioned the subject.
Like he had been wary to