Fighting the Fall ✔

Chapter Eight

"Turns out Asia is his little sister." Joshua lowered his head and put his face in his hands. They slid down and fell into his lap.

"Let me guess. He found you two making out in the hallway?"

"No, uh, the bedroom... and I wish I could say it was as innocent as making out."

My eyebrows raised in surprise, although I shouldn't have been surprised at all. "Well, then... What are you going to do?"

He tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"Tristan's going to be looking for you at school tomorrow. I don't doubt it. He might let you off a little easier when he sees that you've forgotten about Asia."

Joshua's face reddened, and he averted his eyes from mine.

"Josh?" I was unnerved by his sheepish smile.

He mumbled something, but I couldn't hear a word until I had him repeat himself. "I said, I don't know if I can forget about her."

This was a first. For a moment, I barely knew what to say. Then I realized what this was really about. "Her hips are that amazing?"

Joshua glared at me, throwing a pillow in my direction. I caught it as it hit my chest. "Shut up. This is not about her hips, okay?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, is it her chest?"

"Not funny, Dustin. This is about more than just her body. I think... I think I..." Josh swore, shaking his head. "What is wrong with me?"

"Asia's really messed you up, hasn't she?"

He sighed, rubbing his face again. "I'm dead. I'm so dead. He's going to kill me."

I put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "I have something to ask before it's too late."

Joshua just stared at me with knitted brows, waiting for me to finish. So I did.

"Do you mind if I paint your room blue when you're gone? I prefer blue."

His laugh was devoid of humor. "I'm glad you find this funny. I hear he has a stash of guns and knives in his room..."

"If he did, it's likely you would've found out for sure last night. Just try to stay away from Asia."

"You don't understand, Dustin. She..." His voice trailed off when he noticed the look I was giving him. Of course I understood. "Right. Sorry. Okay, you quit thinking about Rachel, and I'll stay away from Asia. Deal?" He pointed at me firmly, as a mother would when scolding her child. "And don't think about trying to con me. I know that look, that 'Rachel' look."

I lowered my head. I was hopeless. We both knew it.

"So, who was that girl at the party last night?" He practically sung the words. I rolled my eyes. "How come I've heard nothing about her?"

"Because there's nothing to tell. She's just a girl I met at the gym yesterday."

"You were at the gym yesterday?" he asked. Crap. I searched my mind for a lie. "I thought you only trained on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays."

"Uh, yeah, we added another day."

Josh nodded slowly. He clearly wasn't buying it, but he didn't ask any more questions.

"I've never seen her there before. Plus, it was a while after closing."

"Strange."

"Yeah."

"She's pretty hot, in a cute but not so innocent kinda way, you know? What's her name?"

I sighed, figuring he was already done with Asia. "Her name is Lydia, and weren't you just saying how you'll never get over Asia?"

Josh made a face, his expression screaming, "You're an idiot." He sighed. "I'm thinking about you. Clearly, you made a good impression last night. She's noticed you. Now, well..." He clasped his hands together. "On to the next step, my friend!"

Would he never quit?

"Which would be...?"

"Start a conversation, of course. You both seem to share something when it comes to boxing. Talk about that."

"First, I don't know if I'm even going to see her again. Second, I'm not ready for something like that. Third, why am I even listening to this kind of advice from you with the reputation you have? It's well-deserved, might I add."

Joshua smiled, shrugged, and said, "Hey, I worked hard for the title. Anyway, in all seriousness, not every girl is going to be a Rachel. You can't live your life afraid of truly living. Think about it, all right?"

"Sure," I said and nodded, just to shut him up.

"Good. Now let's get something to eat. Wouldn't want to disappoint Tristan and die before he kills me."