All Falls Down Read Online Free Page B

out in pain.
    Glass crunches beneath me.
    Toby falls to his knees beside me and reaches out. He's so angry with me. His hands come up in front of me, smeared red. "You're not fine, Savannah. You're bleeding. God, you are so fucking clumsy–"
    The sight of my blood on his hands while he yells at me is too much.
    I black out, his insults ringing in my ears.
    "Can't sleep?" Jared's voice sounds from off to my right and I jerk, crying out in alarm.
    "Sorry," he mutters and steps from beneath the shadows of the massive oak growing wild beside the guesthouse. I can barely make him out. He's just a long, dark shadow stretched across the rolling grass.
    "I didn't hear you." My voice is thick from the tears spilling unnoticed down my cheeks.
    "Sorry," he says again and moves closer.
    I hurriedly swipe at my cheeks as his feet hit the stairs and he starts making his way up onto the porch. I can see him more clearly now and he looks… tired. Stepping up beside me, he places his hands on the railing, staring out into the yard. His broad shoulders are slumped, his head bowed.
    I have the sudden urge to say… something… to ease him, but I don't know what.
    I swipe at my tears again.
    He whips his head in my direction. Green eyes land on my face and widen.
    My fingers still on my cheeks.
    I get caught up in his gaze. It's soft and open, and warmth shoots through me.
    He tilts his head to the side, shifting closer. "You're crying. Why?"
    "I'm no–" I drop my hands back to my lap, fidgeting under the weight of his gaze on me. "Some things are deserving of tears," I say vaguely instead of finishing that lie.
    "And some people aren't," he retorts.
    "I wouldn't know." I don't know why I lie again, but I don't want this man to see me vulnerable. I don't want to share my tears or the reasons for them with him. And I don't like the way he says that, so softly, as if he's guessed that I'm not out here crying over Matthew.
    He shifts again, but I can't bring myself to look at him. He's confusing to me. I don't even know him, so I don't know how that's even possible, but it is.
    He doesn't say anything for a long moment. And then, "Katie talks about you a lot."
    "Does she?" I whisper, surprised. My head shoots up from the blanket.
    He's staring out at the yard again, but he jerks his head in a nod. "She's missed you."
    "I missed her, too." I clear my throat. I'm so uncomfortable and I don't even know why. "She's a good friend."
    "She says the same about you."
    "Does she?" I can't hide my surprise this time either.
    How can I be a good friend when I've barely spoken to Kit in two years?
    Two years.
    I have no excuse. Nothing except for him .
    God, how could I have been so stupid?
    "She does." Jared doesn't offer anything else, but his silence isn't cold. It's simple.
    I want to laugh at that because, even though I don't know this man, nothing about him is simple. He's a puzzle. Complex, complicated, something you have to assemble piece by piece.
    "How long have you been gone?"
    "Two years." I can't hide the disgust in my own voice. It's directed solely at me. So much has happened in two years and I have nothing to show for it. Nothing but healing scars across my back and new wounds in places that won't heal any time soon.
    "England?"
    "Italy."
    "Ah."
    I think I hear… something in his voice. I'm not sure.
    "College or pleasure?"
    "College," I answer quickly and then change the subject, not willing to have this discussion with him. Maybe not even willing to have it with myself yet. I don't know. It's too close. Too fresh. "How's Lexi?"
    He tenses the moment her name leaves my lips. "She'll be fine. You should go in. We have to be at the church early tomorrow." I don't know what I said wrong, but he's suddenly brusque again, curt, like he was at the airport. He turns and makes his way down the stairs without another word.
    Once again, I'm left with the distinct impression that I should apologize and I don't even know why.
    Why doesn't he like