Fall For Us

Prologue

Ezra

Another worthless day.

I ash out my cigarette as Weston cracks his neck in frustration and throws the papers in his hand down. Neither he nor Jude want to be here, and I can’t say that I blame them. I don’t want to either.

This town sucks, the people who live here? Even more so.

But we have a plan. A good plan. Unfortunately, it requires us finishing high school.

“There’s only a few months left,” I cajole. “We’ve made it this far.”

Weston grunts, not meeting my eyes. “It’s not like I need a diploma.” His words are mumbled in that deep gravelly voice I’ve never been immune to.

I sigh and my fingers itch to light up another cigarette. I probably have time for one more. It might give me the strength to deal with this idiot. Fuck it. I grab another one, and light up, leaning against the wall and closing my eyes.

Jude smacks him upside the head before I open my eyes back up. “You already know what he’s going to say, dumb ass.”

Guess he wasn’t waiting for me to find my inner peace today. Probably smart. There are a whole lot of emotions roiling inside of me and I can’t say a single one of them is even peace adjacent.

Weston’s shoulders curl in on himself as his long dark hair falls into his face and his lips push out into a pout. He looks ridiculous. Like an oversized pathetic puppy. And yet, I might be just as pathetic because I sigh again, flicking ash from my cigarette.

“If I let you practice your tattoos on me, will you stop sulking and finish the year?”

He perks up and I can almost see a tail wagging behind him as his eyes widen and his lips begin to turn up into a smile. “Really?”

Jude scoffs, “Really?” The same word said in two dramatically different ways. Both altogether disbelieving, one layered with hope while the other is definitely questioning my sanity.

I click my tongue and nod my head. “As long as I don’t hear one more complaint about coming to school until graduation.”

Weston is already nodding and Jude rolls his eyes. “Promise,” West agrees.

I really hope I don’t regret this. But it’s not like he isn’t talented and hasn’t been practicing on himself for months. I’m sure it’ll be fine.

“After school,” I promise and he nods his head vigorously, making both Jude and I chuckle at his excitement. Maybe I should have suggested this earlier. I didn’t realize how happy it would make him. I raise a brow at Jude who is already shaking his head, though his lips turn up into a smirk.

“Don’t even think about looking my way,” he warns West. “We’ll see how you do on pretty boy first.”

I flip him off before ashing my cigarette and gathering my stuff. Both of them follow suit, standing up before I even have a chance to tell them to. Today is not a day either one of them can ditch. They both have tests they need to pass in the next period.

We spent most of lunch going through their study guide which prompted West’s complaints in the first place.

He knocks into Jude lightly. “You’re going to be begging for my ink,” he promises while sending a victorious look in my direction. It can only mean he’s supremely confident in what he has planned for me. I don’t know if I should be worried or relieved.

Jude knocks back into West who doesn’t even budge against the assault. “Oh yeah, and what then?” he taunts. “You going to tell me no?”

West grins down at him, a sparkle back in his light eyes that has been missing recently. “Not if you begged on your knees.”

I rub my hand over my face at their antics, but Jude only laughs. “You want me on my knees for you, big boy?”

Weston’s wink is the only answer Jude needs.

I can’t even decide which one of them is more ridiculous.

Before Jude can even respond, Weston stumbles and curses as he catches himself on my arm as books and paper spill on the ground around us.

I didn’t realize he was carrying so much in his hands.

I’m already pulling him behind me, ready to tear into whoever the hell just pushed him when a high-pitched squeak stops me in my tracks.

“Oh my god. I am so sorry, Weston,” Berlyn rushes out in a panic, her face heating as she runs her hands over West to make sure she didn’t hurt him.

Jude watches with a glint in his eyes, ready to strike if she makes any move to hurt West. The thought nearly makes me laugh. A bunny being a threat to a wolf.

She tucks a piece of her dark blonde hair that’s come free from her braid behind her ear.

“I’m such an idiot,” she nearly whispers.

“I really am so sorry,” she repeats when none of us say anything.

“I shouldn’t have been reading while walking,” she rambles.

“I didn’t think anyone would be back here, but that’s no excuse. ”

Weston reaches down to pick up the book laying on top of all the papers and looks at the dark cover with a skull on it, arching a brow as he hands it back to her.

Her face somehow manages to get even redder as she drops to her knees and begins to shuffle through the papers, collecting them and organizing them.

“Thanks, Weston,” she says softly as he helps her collect her things, only keeping a couple of the pages for himself. She holds the collection against her chest, looking up at him through her eyelashes. “Are you okay?”

An indescribable feeling begins to flow through my entire body. I can’t say it’s warm, or peaceful, but it’s intriguing. It only seems to grow the more I watch this small creature interact with West.

Weston nods and she sighs in relief. “Thank goodness. I would have felt awful if you got hurt.”

He tilts his head to the side as he studies her.

The bell rings but we seem frozen in this moment. Unable to tear my gaze away from the girl as I hold my breath in anticipation to see what she does next. If her attitude will change when she remembers who we are.

Her gaze moves to me and she smiles. “Are you going to class?” she asks.

I clear my throat, confused by the new emotions rushing through me. “Yeah,” I answer.

Berlyn Matthews isn’t a stranger. We’ve gone to the same schools for almost our entire lives, but I can’t say that any of us actually know her. She’s not popular or unpopular, but somewhere in the middle. She’s not a bully and not a victim of it either. On the outskirts without being an outsider.

She’s never been rude to me in any of the classes we’ve had together, but has never gone out of her way to talk to me either. She’s always just been there and now it feels like the first time I’m really seeing her.

Her bright hazel eyes, and dark blonde hair pulled back into a braid that hits her mid-back.

She nods but it seems more to herself after my short answer and she gives us a tight smile.

But it’s different from the kind we usually get.

It holds no judgment or contempt or fear.

Maybe embarrassment, a little awkwardness. Probably our own fault.

“Okay. I’ll see you there, Ezra.” She smiles and nods again. Does she ever get a headache from bobbing her head so much? “I still have to stop by my locker or I’d ask if you want to walk together.” She holds up all the stuff she dropped when she bumped into West.

Her face starts heating again and my lips twitch in amusement. I never realized how intriguing this small girl was. Frankly, I’ve never really noticed anyone outside of the three of us. There’s never been a need to before.

Berlyn smiles at Jude before meeting Weston’s eyes again. “Sorry again, Weston. I’m glad you’re okay. I’ll be more careful from now on,” she promises, apologizing once more before she walks past us.

I can’t tear my eyes away from her as she shakes her head and continues to mutter to herself. We’re silent, all of us tracking her until she slips around the corner of the building and out of sight.

“She knew my name,” Weston says softly, his lips slowly curling into a grin.

Jude nods, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “I like her smile. Especially the way she smiled at me.”

Weston holds a piece of paper out to us, one that definitely does not belong to him and I arch a brow in question but he only smiles broader, lifting it again until Jude and I take a look. There’s a design drawn on the paper, but in a totally different style than what West has ever created.

I trade looks with my brothers and their growing grins.

“I want her,” Jude declares and I can’t help but agree.

Berlyn doesn’t realize it yet, but she just became the center of all our plans.