Falling for Autumn by Heather Topham Wood Read Free Book Online Page A

stay and wait for Lexi. If she was with Finn, Josh might stop by and tell them both what had happened. Leaving my coat on, I hurried out of my dorm room. I took the stairs two at a time as I made my way to the first floor and outside of the dorm.
    Freezing wind whipped against my skin and I pulled my wool coat closer to my body. The campus was quiet as I walked toward the student center. It was barely ten o’clock and most students had better plans than heading to the convenience store on campus and gorging on junk food. I had brought along a paperback with the plan to find a little corner inside of the student center to get cozy until I built up the nerve to face Lexi.
    The convenience store was the perfect spot to load up on anything overladen with fat and calories. As I maneuvered through the aisles, I picked up enough junk food to induce an immediate coronary. With my arms overloaded, I chided myself for my overreaction. It was a kiss for god’s sake, I wasn’t agreeing to marry Josh by pressing our lips together. So what if I hadn’t felt my insides turn to mush when he tried to kiss me? I had to get accustomed to the idea this could be my new reality. I was damaged with most of my reactions beyond my control. I may never again feel my heart in my throat when a guy decided to kiss me.
    “Hey, you wiped out all of the cookies, are you planning to share?”
    I swung around, caught by surprise. The jerking motion caused me to lose my grip on my snack pile and several of the snack cakes and candy bars fell to the ground. My comfort food scattered across a pair of dark blue running sneakers attached to a pair of muscular legs. My eyes lingered as they scanned from the bottom to the top, leaving me breathless by the time I settled on Blake’s face. I fantasized about touching him, running my fingertips over each muscle in his abs. He was devastatingly handsome and if Blake’s bemused expression was any indication, I hadn’t done a good job of concealing my sudden attraction to him.
    Instead of answering, I fell to the ground and gathered up the snacks I pilfered from the shelves. “Excuse me,” I mumbled and sidestepped around him to head to the cashier. Once my food was deposited on the counter, I whirled to face Blake. “How’s it going?”
    “Fine, just making a food run for me and my roommate. We’re in the middle of a Madden Xbox war.”
    “And you came here?” I asked, remembering he didn’t live on campus. I could hear the accusation in my voice but didn’t care. My attraction to him bothered me and I didn’t like the feeling that he was poking at my vulnerabilities with a stick. Blake witnessing a moment of weakness didn’t sit well with me. I fought against the labels placed upon me—weak, damaged, pathetic—and I refused to feel that way. The only way I survived was by being a fighter and I wouldn’t go backwards.
    “The store accepts our meal plan cards. I thought I’d save some cash instead of heading to 7-Eleven,” Blake elaborated. He checked me out in the same leisurely manner as I had done to him moments earlier. There was a detached look in his eyes as he stared at my bare legs. My appearance seemed to not affect him until I noted how roughly he swallowed before speaking again. “Going somewhere?”
    “Actually getting back from a date.” I didn’t want him to see the disappointment in my face about my date with Josh. Swiftly, I turned to the cashier and handed over my card. He handed me the weighed down plastic bag and I made room for Blake to put down his own purchases.
    “Oh yeah? With who?” Blake tried and failed to keep his tone as unaffected as his facial expression.
    Sometimes I felt a pull toward him and other times my inner voice kept telling me to run, run far . Blake didn’t want to like me and I couldn’t get romantically involved. I never could get a read on his motivation for being friends. On the surface, we didn’t seem to have a lot in common.
    “Josh,” I