Falling Into You Read Online Free PDF Page A

the aisle of a small-town church were finally going to be realized.
    I ’ve never had th e heart to tell her that it wasn’t going to happen. It wasn’t that I didn’t love Ben —I did. Too much, in fact. I know he loves me, in his own way. I practically kno w everything about him—the way the side of his mouth curls when he gets really angry, his dreams of becoming a writer, his dislike for girls that travel in packs to the bathroom.
    And he knows everything about me—the way my voice turns to o high and uber-friendly when I’m ner vous or talking to someone I do n’t particularly like, the way I could never say no to an extra practice, a tutoring session with someone struggling with math, an extra article for a school newspaper. Worse, he knows when anything ge t s me off my game in the slightest.
    And he knows about the one thi ng that no one else did. He had been my savior that night, and the memory or lack of a memory still hung between us. T hat’s the moment that I fell irrevocably in love with him.
    Unrequited love is such a pain in the ass. And it’s t he real reason that I’m in New York and not Ohio.
    It all started when I had come home for Thanksgiving break.
    “ There’s someone I want you to meet, ” he told me, pulling me aside at a crowded party. “ Be nice. ”
    I looked at him innocently, and said “ I’m always nice. ”
    He rolled his eyes in response, because I may have been slightly less than my best self to some of the others.
    “ I’m maintaining that it ’s all really your fault, ” I had told him. “ Your ta ste in women is beyond suspect . ”
    After swatting at my arm, h e had brought Sus an over and introduced her to me. Of course , she was a tiny, perky, blond girl, a cheerleader at their university in Ohio. They had been dating for about a few months, I gathered from the first part of our conversation .
    It doesn’ t matter. She’s just like all the rest. Five minutes later, as I giggled with her about something or other, it hit me in a flash— it was worse than I could hav e imagined. I liked her. And she was smart, dedicated, sweet, and obviously devoted to Ben. She was c ompletely unlike any of the others.
    And with that, Ben ’s and my friendship—the one thing in the world that meant the most to me—was going to slip away. I had tried to tell myself that I was coming to New York because it had been my dream since I was a little girl, that I would be able to see the city like a real New Yorker, that Sophia would be the best tour guide I could ask for.
    While all of those things were true (except for the tour guide part— Sophia was going to make a lousy tour guide), the real reason I had come was because I was afraid that I was going to lose Ben completely . Every year, I looked forward to our traditions—the bonfire at the lake, the gag gifts, and the drive around town while we placed bets on whose family was going to have the worst Christmas lights. Things that would now pass to Susan.
    It was coward ly. He was my best friend a nd he deserved happiness. But I was pretty sure that I didn’t need to watch it happen right in front of my eyes.
    I glance back at the text message and put my phone back into my purse.
    I need out. Now.
    I grab my purse and move as quietly as I can through the crowd. I see Sophia talking with someone , and I’m hoping that she didn’t see me making my escape . I manage to sneak out the door, and I press a button on the elevator.
    L.
    Lobby? Lower level?
    Out.
    I had no idea where I was going . Sophia ’s dad had picked us up from the airport, and except for my limited knowledge of New York gleaned from some rom coms where a guy is on the motorcycle, trying to catch up with the girl he is desperately in love with , I had absolutely no idea where I was. I was pretty sure that the café where the boy and girl shared a long kiss at after as the motorcycle ran out of gas didn’t even exist.
    Well, if I was ever going to be a real New