Free Falling (23 page)

I watched with my heart in my throat as Zack literally ran
from the top of the building, side jumped a wall as if it was no more than a
foot high, hit the ground in a forward roll and then stood gracefully on his
feet. It was like gymnastics on steroids. I never expected to like it, in fact,
I thought I would hate it, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. There was so
much going on around me, people calling for my attention, trying to show off,
offering to do more and more to impress me, but I couldn’t drag my gaze off of
Zachary Anderson.

At some point over the last hour and a half he’d taken off
his T-shirt and thrown it down on the wall next to me. The muscles rippled in
his arms and back as he ran up a wall that was easily eight foot high, he then
boosted himself up so he was doing a handstand on the wall, before bending in
half, lowering his legs so that he was at a perfect right angle, all his weight
held on just his arms, suspended eight foot in the air. The balance and
strength that it took stole my breath as my heart hammered in my ears. Fear
gripped my stomach. The danger of everything they were doing wasn’t lost on me,
my brain was still envisioning him falling on his face and how much that would
hurt, but strangely, I knew he’d be fine. I somehow trusted him to know his
limits and keep himself safe.

I learned two things while I watched him and his group
prepare for the upcoming festival. One, Zach Anderson was an incredible
freerunner. And two, I had never appreciated the male form more than I did when
I watched him do it. It was beauty personified.

By the time they were finished my mouth was dry where it had
been open, gasping in shock and excitement every few seconds, my eyes stung
where I probably hadn’t blinked as much as I should because I didn’t want to
miss a single second of it. They all stood, talking and laughing,
congratulating each other before Jase sent me a little wave, grabbed his bag
and skateboard and disappeared off in the opposite direction. The others
followed, waving to me before heading off.

Zach smiled as he walked over to me. In the early evening
sunshine that was just starting to fade, I could see the sweat glistening on
his toned chest. He looked older like that for some reason. The mastery that he
exuded during his training had kind of made me see him in a new light. When I
looked at him now I didn’t see the cheeky bad boy that backchat the teachers
and fought with Luke, I saw a guy that was so good at something that it made my
stomach quiver, I saw a person that loved doing parkour more than anything in
the world, I saw a person struggling and wanting something so badly that he
would give anything for it. It was simple, Zach wanted to do this
professionally, it was easy to read from his demeanour and how seriously he
took it all. And I could help him by making sure he graduated.

He grinned, reaching for his bag and pulling out a drink
bottle. “Like it or not?” he asked, before chugging on the bottle like he
hadn’t drunk in years.

Did I like it? Did I even have the words to express how much
I enjoyed that? I opened my mouth and then closed it again before laughing
because I could barely remember how to speak. He’d literally boggled my mind. I
nodded, swallowing, trying to form a coherent sentence.

He smiled and tossed the empty bottle in his bag, pulling
out a small towel and rubbing it over his face and neck before moving down to
his chest.

And by then I’d forgotten how to speak for a completely
different reason as I watched his hand, seeming entranced by the movement of
the towel stroking his chest, soaking up the beads of sweat. I suddenly had
visions of me doing that for him, my hand gliding over his skin, feeling the
grooves of his chest, tracing the muscles.

Oh dear lord I need help!

I sat up straighter, forcing my eyes back to his face as I
grabbed his T-shirt, holding it out to him. Maybe if he put the shirt on I’d be
able to remember how to speak words other than complete fan-girl gibberish.

“That… Zach… It…”
Snap out of it, Maisie!

He tossed the towel carelessly into the bag, obviously
having no idea that in that moment the pure maleness, the rugged power he was
emitting was making my teeth ache with longing. “You got bored I bet,” he
stated casually as he shrugged on the T-shirt, finally seeming to let me out of
the trance I had been in for the last hour. As soon as the T-shirt was over his
head, his face disappearing for a few seconds as he pulled it down, I finally
got a grip of myself.

I felt the grin stretch across my face as I sprang from the
wall I was perched on, practically jumping on the spot as I gushed about how
much I loved it, how good he was at it, how it blew my mind on a level I wasn’t
expecting.

He looked a little taken aback as he listened to my excited
chirping with sceptical eyes. “You really liked it? I thought you’d be bored
stiff,” he replied, shaking his head as he picked up his bag, swinging it over
his shoulder.

“Bored? No way! I loved it. The beauty of it, the freeness,
the angles, the impossibility of what you were doing, and the bravery. Just,
wow,” I gushed, gripping his arm excitedly. He raised one eyebrow as he slung a
heavy arm around my shoulder and nodded back the way we came. This time as we
walked I didn’t pay any attention to the art that was sprayed on the walls. The
art that I’d found inspiring less than two hours ago, was now in the far
recesses of my mind as I asked him question after question about how he got
into it, how long he trained for and any other thing I could think of to ask
about parkour. He answered everything, smiling, seeming bemused, as if he was
expecting my reaction to be the complete opposite of what it was.

By the time we got back to his bike, it was starting to get
dark. He grinned that boyish, teasing little smile and held out the helmet to
me as he threw his leg over the bike and scooted forward so I could slide up
behind him. I gripped the bottom of his hoodie that I was still wearing; about
to pull it off, but his hand gripped mine as he shook his head.

“Just leave it on, it’s cold on the bike and I’m still
sweating anyway,” he stated.

I gulped, my eyes flicking to chest as I mentally screamed
at myself to not think about him shirtless again. I had no idea what had come
over me earlier, but I still felt the residual ebb of it now, flitting through
my bloodstream. I definitely needed help from a professional. “Yeah, the
Spider-Man stuff looked exhausting,” I replied, pulling the sweater down again
before taking the offered helmet.

He grinned, gripping my hand tightly, holding me steady as I
climbed on behind him, looping my arms around his waist. I tried extremely hard
not to spread my fingers wide across his stomach in a bid to cop a sly feel of
his muscles, but I just didn’t have control of my stupid hand. I palmed his
stomach with both hands, my fingers stretching out in what I hoped passed as an
innocent move. I could feel the heat of his skin through the thin T-shirt he
was wearing; I gulped and pressed myself to him tighter. His shoulders
stiffened as he moved his head, seeming like he was going to look over his shoulder
at me, before deciding better of it. Suddenly he stood up; kick started the
bike, and then sat back down again. I smiled and pressed my helmeted head
against his shoulder, closing my eyes, clinging to him as he twisted the
throttle, making us burst from the parking lot in a puff of black smoke.

I was still on a high from what I’d just witnessed, so the
bike ride was just the cherry on the top of the already very frosted cake. By
the time we pulled up outside my house I was almost giddy with glee. I slid off
the bike, grinning like an idiot as I looked up at him. He smiled as his hands
went to the strap under my chin. I tilted my head as he fumbled, unclasping it
before pulling it off and hanging it over his handlebars.

“Come on then, let’s get inside and you can make me food,
I’m starving,” he instructed, motioning for me to walk.

“Maybe you should cook, you’re the master chef after all,” I
replied as I fumbled in my pocket for my keys.

He laughed, following me up the path to the front door.
“Your mom can cook then, that pasta was awesome. I assume I’m invited to dinner
again…” he trailed off, looking at me hopefully.

I laughed and dug in my other pocket, searching out my keys
but I couldn’t find them so I swung my bag off of my shoulder, crouching down
and rummaging in there instead. “My parents are going out straight from work
tonight,” I informed him. “Either you cook, or I reheat you something that’s
left over, your choice,” I offered, frowning into my bag.
Where the heck are
my stupid keys?
Did I pick them up this morning?

Zach sighed, leaning against the door and crossing his arms
over his chest. “Neither will be happening if we can’t get in,” he mocked.
“Where’s Alex, can’t you just knock?”

I shook my head. “He’ll be out with friends, drinking before
whatever party he’s attending tonight.”

Zach pursed his lips, watching me curiously. “Want me to
smash a window?” he joked. At least I hoped it was a joke.

I huffed and stood back up, shaking my head. “Nah, there’s a
spare key around back.” I headed off with him following me close behind. Using the
wall at the side, I leant up and unbolted the back gate, letting us into the
back yard before stepping into the shrubbery and searching out the third rock
from the left, lifting it to find the spare backdoor key that we hid under
there for emergencies.

Zach made a scoffing noise in his throat. “Oh yeah, that’s
so very safe,” he muttered sarcastically, shaking his head in disapproval.

I slapped his stomach with the back of my hand as I walked
past to the door with my newly acquired key. “Stop complaining, you sound like
a grouchy old man,” I scolded, sticking out my tongue at him.

Before I knew what had happened I was knocked off of my
feet, the world turned upside down and I now faced the floor. “What the hell?”
I screeched, giggling at the same time as he tightened his grip on my legs,
pinning me over his shoulder, laughing wickedly.

“Shut up and open the door, we’re wasting valuable eating
time, and I’m starting to digest my own stomach here. In five minutes all
that’ll be left of me will be a pile of skin and bones,” he stated, turning his
body so that I now faced the door.

“Wasting valuable studying time you mean,” I corrected,
still giggling hysterically. Awkwardly I slipped the key into the lock,
pressing my hand on the small of his back so I could steady myself. I’d never
appreciated just how hard it was to unlock a door until I was trapped in a
fireman’s lift by a hot freerunner.

“Study comes after food.” Even in the delicate position I
was in, I could somehow tell he was smiling just by the warm tone of his voice.

Chapter 15

It seemed that nothing in my life was going to go right at
the moment. The whole house had been woken by the phone ringing at just after
three in the morning. It transpired that my mom’s dad had been taken into
hospital with suspected pneumonia. He’d been battling a cough last time he came
down to visit us for mine and Alex’s birthday. My parents had instantly packed
a bag and headed there for a couple of days to help my nanna out. Though Alex
and I both asked to go with them, they refused because we had school and
insisted that they would only be gone a couple of days. I hadn’t really gone
back to sleep after my nanna had phoned, so by the time morning came around my
eyes were stinging with tiredness.

What made it worse was that I didn’t know what to do with
myself all day. Usually my weekends were filled by Luke, Luke, and more Luke.
But this weekend I would have to amuse myself for a change. I wallowed all
morning, sitting around, watching TV, and picking at junk food just to have
something to distract myself from the fact that I missed Luke so much it was
actually painful.

When I could stand the boredom no longer, I decided to go
for a nice long walk. I pulled on a pair of boots and one of Luke’s hooded
sweatshirts, grabbed a tennis ball, and then Chester and I headed off for a
stroll in the field near my house.

By the time I got home I was exhausted and covered in mud
but at least I had killed an hour and a half from my weekend. Just as I raised
my key to the lock to open the door, it sprang open and Alex almost walked into
me as he was about to step out. He had a gym bag slung over his shoulder so I
didn’t bother asking where he was going.

“Jeez, Maisie, you scared me,” he scolded, shaking his head
in disapproval. “Were you waiting outside the door until I came along, just so
you could frighten the shit out of me?”

I nodded, rolling my eyes. “Of course I was. Scaring you is
the highlight of my day.”

“Whatever.” He smiled before stepping to the side and waving
me into the house. “Moving on to more pleasant matters, I’m going to
Katherine’s after I’ve been to the gym so don’t wait up for me.” His voice was
almost bragging as he strutted up the driveway and unlocked his car. “Oh, and
you got a FedEx delivery while you were out. I put it in your room,” he called,
before climbing in and starting the engine a second later.

I glanced sceptically over my shoulder, wondering who had
sent it and what it was. It was probably a belated gift for my birthday from my
surrogate aunt Rachel, my mom’s best friend; her and her husband Tom were
always late with the gifts. “Okay, see ya,” I called, watching as Alex pulled
out of the drive. Once I was alone I headed to the kitchen, grabbing a soda and
a packet of chips, before trudging up to my room. A rectangular white FedEx box
sat on my bed, about the side of a shoe box. I frowned, but decided to go for a
shower and change clothes first because of I was covered in mud and grass.