The last two days have sucked. I've put Sam behind me as much as I can. Missy has been clingy since the Italian restaurant. I've tried to give her grace about it. I know she's insecure that I will leave her. Her last boyfriend left her without a text or warning. I hope I don't turn out like him. If I ever did leave Missy or any woman, I would hope to do so honorably and to their face.
My phone vibrates in my pocket. Since I abandoned Sam, I've felt empty and hollow. I haven't felt like myself, not for a few days. Missy has been concerned. I told her I didn't feel well to avoid questions. She thinks I have a stomach bug. I've been faking it and have been letting her take care of me.
My phone continues to vibrate. I pick it up. I pray Sam's name doesn't appear. My rejected best friend, crying at my stupidity. My foolishness has sent her away. Her love for me pushed me away. We might be terrible together. Our friendship could end if this didn't work out, and Sam wouldn't
I wake with Robbie half-naked beside me. His muscles are toned even as he sleeps beside me. I've seen him rest beside me over the years when I would run away in the middle of the night into his arms. Only this is different; this is two adults after sex. It's not like prom, where it was a rebellious secret. This is two best friends finding out if they are truly in love or not."Good morning, Sam," Robbie says to me as he turns over to face me. He wipes my hair out of my face and places it behind my ear."Hi, Robbie," I say as I lean in to kiss him. He closes his eyes before our lips touch. The fire ignites, and we've started touching each other again. His touch is like a drug energizing my flesh. With every touch, I want more and more. Mark never made me feel like this. My best friend has intoxicated me with lust.The more Robbie kisses my neck, the longer I want to kiss his lips. On and on, we continue, unable to break away from each other. Before either of us r
Sam finishes getting ready for the day and heads out the door. There's no point in trying to keep her around. We need a few days to think about each other. I don't want to hurt anyone, especially Missy. But I've experienced Sam now, in a more intimate setting, and I can't just give that up or let that go. So last night meant something to Sam and me.Sam tried her hardest to keep her feelings away, but I had to make her say she loves me. It felt good to hear those words leave my best friend's lips. She used to lie beside me when she was scared of what her parents would do to her. So on those nights when she'd come over, I wanted her to love me. I've known Sam longer than Missy, but that doesn't mean we were meant to be together. It's complicated.Percy knocks on the guest bedroom door. My hair looks like I've had sex all night long."Well, I saw Sam leave. How are you feeling," Percy asks?"Oh, I'm fine. Better than fine," I say as Percy hands me a cup of
I return to the house, and Mark looks angry. His arms are crossed over his chest, and his eyebrows are lowered in a narrow position."Where were you, Sam? I tried calling you. My parents have already landed.""I'm sorry. I got caught up in a deep conversation with Hazel," I say, lying through my teeth. I know I look terrible and that my hair hasn't been brushed properly."Why don't I believe you? What are you hiding from me? Sam, I asked you to marry me because I love you. But I can't marry someone who lies to me," Mark says while drumming his fingers against his sleeves."Alright, I was with Robbie. He and I have been fighting a lot lately, and I just want to know that we will still be friends when this is all over."It's sort of true. I'm not about to tell Mark that Robbie and I had the best damn sex I've ever experienced in my twenty-one years of life. I'm still slightly wet from the sex I've had with Robbie. So technically, we had sex twice, an
Falcon Falls, the place where I lost my father and my boyhood in a single moment. Returning there has been haunting me all week. I've never told anyone that I am the reason my father, a war hero, fell to his death on the cliffs on the falls. It was a hunting accident.My first year of high school, my father took me on my first hunting trip. He took me to Falcon Falls. The wind was hardly in the air that day, and the sun was low in the sky. It was cold and crisp, perfect deer hunting weather.My old man wanted to teach me how to hunt. We followed a buck near the falls. My gun got jammed, and before my father could help me, I shot him. The recoil pushed him back over the falls. His body was so mangled from where it smashed on the rocks that they never found a bullet wound. But I know what I did. I know how and where it took place. I'm a murderer in the silence of my thoughts. If I return to Falcon Falls, I am sure it will trigger me to rethink joining the army. After my
Chapter 28: Robbie’s POVThe sign for Falcon Falls quickly approaches my window. The last time I read that sign, my father was alive. His breath was on this earth the last time my eyes gazed at the wooden sign with 'Falcon Falls' carved words in the middle.My heart pounds. My father gave me a pocketknife with my initials on it as well as a compass I found the other day. These are the items I will part with when this weekend comes to an end. I will lay them off the last spot my father stood and bury them beneath the earth.My father was a brave man. He fought for his country. To be free of this pain, perhaps I need to understand how he lived as a man. I could run away and join the army. I promised Missy I wouldn't do that. But I am too confused by her and my feelings for Sam. There is almost no reason for me to stay and wonder what would have happened if I chose one woman over the other.
Loud sobbing is heard in the distance. It sounds like Robbie, but I can't be sure. We agreed to meet later. Regardless of how we feel about each other, he's still my best friend first and always. His father died here among the falls and forests, and like a fog-brained mother, I too have forgotten this detail.I can't believe I forgot the name of the place of his father's fall. His father's death never made sense to any of us. Robbie was so quiet and upset about it I never pressed the issue. But somewhere in his grief, he blames himself for the death of his dead father.It's not his fault the world came crashing down for him the day he went hunting. It was never clear why they hunted near the falls or why they followed a deer so close to the edge. The deer was found beside his father. Perhaps it pushed him over the edge. But unfortunately, his body was so destroyed by the fall that it was hard to determine anything in an autopsy. And Robbie was left fatherless, traumati
"What the hell, Missy? You hurt Sam!" I shout as Missy gets off Sam. She's knocked Sam out. There's a little bit of blood on her hands. I pick Sam up and cradle her on my lap."I didn't mean to hurt Sam. But she is trying to come between us, Robbie. She's trying to break us up. I can't let her do that.""Was knocking her out and dragging her out of my tent necessary? Get out of here! I don't want to see you right now. Go get, Mark, and tell him what you did to his fiance," I say while holding Sam in my arms.The entire camp is awake and is staring at the scene we are creating. It's Missy's fault. Sam wanted to comfort me in my time of need, and Missy had to go and get jealous. My mind wanders to the moments before Missy ruined my moment with Sam."Do you love me, Sam?""Yes, I do."Sam didn't hesitate in her response. She only spoke the truth. She only told me what I needed to hear, what we both knew to be true. That she loved me, and it's p
"Wow, I didn't think you had it in you," Percy says after Missy drives away.The night air is chilly, and Mark still hasn't texted anyone to tell us how Sam is doing. He's a good guy, so I know Sam's in good hands. At least someone can be there for her."What do you mean," I ask?Maybe it's a dumb question to ask. But the truth is it's been hard for me to be true to myself lately. All it took was facing the place where my dad fell to his death—plummeting hundreds of feet below the waterfall. His final moments must have been filled with fear, regret, and unresolved desires. I don't want to die regretting not going after Sam when I had the chance."I mean, I didn't think you had it in you to decide on Sam finally. You seemed so certain about letting her go before. So what's changed," Percy asks as Hazel hands me a cup of coffee?No one has fallen asleep. This camping trip is a complete disaster, from the looks of it. There were six