The Summer I Fell (The Six Series) Read Online Free PDF

Who woulda thought Riley would actually cave in to Ace getting all dominant like that?” Aiden piped up. The guys howled with laughter since it was so unlike him to point something like that out. Out of all of them, Aiden was the one with the least to say.
    “Idiots,” Ace mumbled under his breath, flipping the bathroom light on.
    “They’re your friends,” I shot back at him.
    “They’re yours, too. Okay, how do you wanna do this?” I could see the blush creep along his cheeks before he turned and tossed the sweatpants on the counter.
    I struggled to sit down on the closed toilet seat. Ace turned just in time to grab my arms and take the weight off my legs. “Thanks,” I said, blowing out the breath I’d held. The codeine must have kicked in because the pain had at least dulled, and it was a little easier to move. Leave it to Eli to know just what I’d need. Then again, Eli was constantly getting hurt, so he was experienced with all sorts of injuries.
    Before I could ask, Ace knelt down and grabbed the heel of my boot. With a gentle tug, it slipped off my foot, and he set it on the floor beside him. Picking up my other foot, he removed my other boot.
    “Riley?” He kept his head bent as he spoke.
    “Yeah, Ace?”
    “Jake.” He whispered his name back at me.
    The way he said it was like asking me to call him by his real name, and that was treading dangerous ground for me. Using his nickname kind of put a barrier, a self-created wall up between us. Calling him Jake took it away and made it more. So much more.
    He sat back on his feet. Waiting.
    “Can you help me up, Jake?” His head snapped up, and he looked at me as his hands came out to mine. I slipped mine over his and felt every ridge, every callous, every single ripple and indent, almost like I’d done it all in slow motion. His hands locked around mine, and he lifted me up until I stood close enough that our chests brushed against one another. I sucked in a sharp breath as my fingers clenched over his. His eyes never left mine until he brought my hand to the sink counter, and I let go to balance myself. He moved the sweatpants over to where I could reach them and turned around. Widening his stance, he put his arm out. “Just grab a hold of me if you feel like you’re gonna fall.”
    “Thanks.”
    I let go of the counter, unbuttoned my jeans, and then slid the zipper down. The problem was shimmying them past my hips, and not using my upper body to do it. I felt myself falling, and my fingertips slipped off Ace’s arm. He spun so fast that I didn’t even have time to process that he’d turned. “Riley?”
    He cradled my neck in one hand and gripped my hip with the other. He heaved a sigh of relief as his forehead came down to rest on mine. “That. Was. Close.”
    I could feel his heart beating against my hand and realized in that moment that my hand was splayed over his chest. When he looked down, the corner of his lips kicked up into a half smile. “See, admit it, you need my help.”
    “Fine. I need you… your help.” My admission made Ace’s half smile bloom into a full one. He really was devastatingly handsome. And so very, very unattainable.
    “What makes you say that, Riles?” His thumb brushed up my neck, as his other hand splayed a little wider along my hip.
    “Huh?”
    He winked at me. “I’ve never been unattainable.”
    I stood there, dumbfounded. “I said that out loud?”
    He chuckled and dropped his hand from my neck, as I slumped back into the counter. “Hold on, please.” And before I could stop him, he grabbed the sides of my jeans and tugged them down over my hips, all the way to my feet. I couldn’t help the blush that bloomed across my cheeks, as I looked down at the top of his head. I could feel the fire of it spreading down my neck to my chest.
    Ace reached up past me, grabbing the sweatpants from where he’d set them. He picked up one foot, then the other, sliding the material up my legs and over my hips.