Falling Stars (Thompson Sisters) Read online

  “Faster,” I demanded.

  He shook his head. “I want this to last forever.”

  I let out a moan at his words. His hips tensed as he slowly pushed in. My body gripped around his, legs wrapped around his ass. I fought for a grip at his back, my nails digging in, hut he refused to move faster.

  Slow. So excruciatingly slowly, he moved in. And back out.

  I let out a loud cry as he slid back away, then in again, a little faster this time, but still teasing, still driving me to the edge of insanity. He stopped as he was almost all the way out and lowered his mouth to my breast, teasing, his tongue circling my nipple, barely touching.

  I let out an involuntary growl, clutching his back. “Harder. Now.” My voice was fierce, demanding, and Crank responded, lowering one arm to push my leg back hard against my chest. Suddenly he was moving as fast and hard as I’d demanded, his breath growing loud and hoarse.

  Even as Crank’s lips locked on mine, our tongues working together furiously, he began to move in and out, hard and fast, the slapping against my thighs forcing my legs back wider, straining every muscle in my body.

  I pressed against him, my hips moving back and forth, my fingers raking down the skin of his back. I wanted him closer. His breath was hot and wet against my neck, one arm hooked around my leg, the other planted on the bed, bent at the elbow and wrapped behind my head.

  “Julia, I fucking love you.” His voice was full of need. His hips, narrow, muscular, pounded in to me, harder and harder, driving into me like a piston, and I felt waves of layered sensation moving up my body.

  Even then he didn’t stop, didn’t let up, and his voice just grew louder and louder, and I found myself crying out, calling his name, screaming, “Crank, I love you!” as loud as I could until we both collapsed, spent and exhausted.

  I could live here (Crank)

  A thick, warm breeze blew off the Potomac River and past the monuments. It was late, well past midnight, and the Mustang was parked on 17th Street in the shadow of the Washington Monument. The monument was lit up, brilliantly white, towering over the four of us as we sat in the grass.

  “It was only a couple hundred feet from here that we met,” Julia said, looking at me with a smile.

  “I love this city,” I replied, grinning back at her.

  Carrie was standing a few feet away from us, staring at the Washington Monument. Sean lay on the ground.

  “Are we done?” Sean asked.

  “I could live here,” Carrie said. “I always loved DC.”

  Julia shuddered a little. “I love that me and Crank met here on the Mall, but before that, I don’t have any memories of this city.”

  Carrie nodded, then shrugged a little. “Maybe make some happy memories. This seems like a place I could do that.”

  I could see it. She was so smart and confident. Like Julia, but about different things. Despite her consistent denial of any resemblance, Julia had so obviously inherited her father’s gift for negotiation and business. Carrie, though… Her personality and talents were very different. She seemed to be driven by an insatiable thirst for knowledge I’d never seen matched by anyone but Sean.

  “Why not San Francisco? Or New York?”

  Carrie shrugged. “New York I could see. I can’t wait to start school. But I don’t want to live near Mom and Dad. I mean, I love them and all, but I’m so tired of Mom being all in my business.”

  “Your mom loves you,” Sean said.

  Julia sat up straight, shocked. So did I. Sean had spent all of twenty minutes around Julia and Carrie’s mother, and not under ideal circumstances. How would Mr. Analytical have formed such an opinion in such a short amount of time?

  “I’m sure she does,” Carrie said, “but that doesn’t make her any easier to live with.”

  “I think she has secrets,” Sean replied.

  Carrie tilted her head. “What makes you say that?”

  “I don’t know.” Sean went back to looking at the stars.

  “Come on, Sean,” Carrie needled. “There has to be something behind what you said. Some evidence? Anything?”

  He sat up. “They never touched each other. Or even looked at each other.”

  “Who?” Carrie replied.

  “Your parents.”

  Carrie and Julia looked at each other and I could see the wheels turning in Julia’s brain. But we didn’t talk about it anymore.

  You can’t be too careful about radiators (Julia)

  You can always tell New York City in the summertime by the distinctive smell. Was it the subways? The shallows and wetlands of New Jersey? Was it the massive landfills, or Staten Island, or the garbage waiting to be collected? Whatever it was, every time I visited New York in the summertime I wanted to turn around and drive away.

  Today, though, I didn’t have that option. We entered the city through the Lincoln Tunnel, then drove north toward the Columbia University campus. Along the way, I thought the smell might dissipate as we neared Central Park or the campus, but no luck.

  It was close to four in the afternoon by the time we finally found parking, located the housing office, got Carrie’s keys, and moved her into her new room. It was a tiny dorm room with cinderblock walls and scuffed tile floors with a small bookshelf built into the wall below the window. Two twin beds occupied nearly half the available floor space.

  Once we got her bags upstairs, Carrie practically bounced on the bed.

  “I can’t believe it!” she cried.

  “It’s kind of a crappy room,” Sean pointed out.

  “I know, but it’s mine.”

  “And your roommate’s,” he replied.

  “Who cares?” Carrie replied. “I’m so excited!”

  I sat down on the bed opposite her. Whoever her roommate was going to be, she hadn’t moved in yet. The bed was bare and shelves unoccupied.

  “What does your week look like?” Crank asked.

  “Orientation on Monday,” she said. “I need to get my work study assignment.”

  “You too?” I asked.

  “What?” Crank said. “Aren’t your parents paying your tuition?”

  “Even though Dad donated like a million dollars or something to the school, he still makes us apply for work study,” Carrie explained. “I think he paid so they’d have a position for us.”

  Crank looked confused. “He did the same with me, Crank. I kind of get it… If you had kids, you’d want them to have to work for something, wouldn’t you?”

  “Yeah,” he replied. “Good point.”

  Sean looked intently at the radiator. He leaned close to it, as if studying it, then pronounced, “The odds of your radiator exploding or causing severe injury are limited. This system looks well-maintained.”

  Carrie burst out laughing, but her eyes also went a little watery and red. “I’m sure I’ll be okay, Sean.”

  He turned away from the radiator, looking annoyed. “You can’t be too careful about radiators.”

  She sniffed. “I’ll miss you. It’s been a lot of fun during the drive.”

  “I’ll miss you, Carrie,” he said.

  Sean’s eyes watered, and that got me going too. Next thing I knew, the four of us were all hugging and slobbering.

  “I don’t want you to go,” Carrie whispered into my hair.

  I leaned my head against hers. “You’ll be all right. You’re the strongest woman I know.”

  She shrugged. “Of course I am. But I’ll still miss you guys.”

  “Can we come visit?” Sean asked.

  “I’d like that,” Carrie replied. “Please do. You’re my friend.”

  “How about next weekend?” Sean suggested.

  “Might be a little longer than that, Sean,” Crank said. “Give her a chance to get settled in. And you too. I think you’re gonna be pretty busy once you start school too.”

  With a lot more tears and hugs and kisses, the three of us left Carrie behind. Crank drove with the top down. Sean slouched down really low in his seat
, forcefully turning the pages of his book and ignoring everything, which is what he always did when he found something emotionally overwhelming.

  I looked back and waved at Carrie, who stood in the doorway of the building, a bittersweet smile on her face as we drove away. She was so sad to say goodbye, but at the same time, so excited. I was excited for her. She was stepping into a whole new reality, away from our parents, away from everyone, really. Who knew what might happen? She might become a famous scientist, or fall in love, or run for President, or any number of things.

  One thing I knew for sure. My sister was strong enough for whatever would come her way. As Crank pulled into traffic and we drove away from her, I watched her waving in the rearview mirror and hoped the future would be kind.

  When Carrie was out of sight, Crank gave me a smile. “You’ll miss her, won’t you?”

  I nodded and sniffed. “I remember how lonely I was my first year of college.”

  He reached out and took my hand. “She’ll be okay. She’s got you as a big sister.”

  I squeezed his hand back and wondered how I had ever gotten so mad I’d thought about leaving him.

  “I love you, Crank.”

  “I love you, Julia.”

  THE END

  Playlist for Falling Stars

  Crazy In Love, Beyonce & Jay-Z

  The Road I'm On, 3 Doors Down

  Taking Over Me, Evanescence

  Head On Collision, New Found Glory

  Everybody's Fool, Evanescence

  Where Is The Love, The Black Eyed Peas

  The Game of Love, Michelle Brance & Santana

  Lose Yourself, Eminem

  Rock Your Body, Justin Timberlake

  Landslide, Dixie Chicks

  Miss Independent, Kelly Clarkson

  She Hates Me, Puddle of Mudd

  Gossip Folks (feat. Ludacris), Missy Elliot

  Stockholm Syndrome, Blink-182

  Fat Lip, Sum 41

  Where the Wild Things Are, Metallica

  Radar Love, Golden Earring

  Life in the Fast Lane, The Eagles

  Magic Carpet Ride, Steppenwolf

  Here I Go Again, Whitesnake

  Mon Amie La Rose, Natasha Atlas

  Jody Is a Punk, The Ramones

  Lelsama, Natasha Atlas

  Cruel to Be Kind, Nick Lowe

  Rachel's Peril

  Book 1 of the Rachel's Peril Trilogy

  Andrea Thompson is smart, assertive and beautiful. She’s also desperately lonely. Raised in Europe by her grandmother, she struggles knowing neither of her parents wanted her, and she has no idea why.

  When Andrea receives an urgent call from her older sister Carrie, she agrees to fly to the United States to help. Carrie’s newborn daughter Rachel needs a bone marrow transplant.

  What Andrea doesn’t know is that her return to the United States will launch a chain of events that will uncover secrets hidden for decades. Secrets which will rock the Thompson family and ignite a political firestorm.

  Secrets that some will kill to protect.

  Coming December 2013.

  To be notified, sign up for the mailing list at

  www.sheehanmiles.com

  Books by Charles Sheehan-Miles

  The Thompson Sisters

  A Song for Julia

  Falling Stars

  Just Remember to Breathe

  The Last Hour

  Rachel's Peril Trilogy

  Rachel's Peril (Book 1 scheduled for release December 2013)

  America's Future

  Republic

  Insurgent

  Also

  Prayer at Rumayla: A Novel of the Gulf War

  Saving the World on $30 A Day: An Activist's Guide to Starting, Organizing and Running a Non-Profit Organization

  Author’s Note

  Readers who are sticklers for detail will notice a few inconsistencies between Falling Stars and the other books in the Thompson Sisters series. Each book is intended as a stand-alone novel, and so my focus is on the story at hand.

  Acknowledgements

  A long story, even a novella, is a complicated undertaking. I had a lot of help from beta readers and other helpers along the way. In particular, thanks to beta readers Andrea Randall, Sarah Griffin, Brett Lewis, Jackie Yeadon, Tanya Spence Hall, Kristen Teaff, Emma Corcoran, Kathy Baker, Windy Wilken, Dimitra Fleissner, Laura Wilson, Bryan James, Michelle Kannan, Amy Burt, Jennifer Mirabelli, Stacey MacDowell Grice, Kirsten Papi, Beth Suit, Rita Jenkins Post, Kelly Moorhouse, Kirsty Lander and Sally Bouley. Your thoughtful and critical comments along the way were a huge help and I'm very grateful!

  Copyright

  Books by Charles Sheehan-Miles

  http://www.sheehanmiles.com

  Charles Sheehan-Miles

  Published by Cincinnatus Press

  Copyright 2013 Charles Sheehan-Miles.

  v10212013

  ISBN 978-0-9898688-3-9

  Cover Design by Charles Sheehan-Miles

  Edited by Erin Roth

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, is unintentional, with the exception of certain named historical characters.

  Cincinnatus Press

  South Hadley, Massachusetts

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One: She Hates Me Your personal effects (Crank)

  Botulism? (Crank)

  Talk to me (Julia)

  Chapter Two: Head on Collision I can’t hear you (Julia)

  Just a little (Crank)

  Chapter Three: Life in the Fast Lane Nothing like you (Julia)

  You Wouldn’t Understand (Crank)

  Chapter Four: Where the Wild Things Are Little Bastard (Julia)

  Chapter Five: Magic Carpet Ride Don’t be snarky (Crank)

  Big brother (Julia)

  Falling Stars (Crank)

  Chapter Six: Mon amie la rose I’ll talk to him (Julia)

  You can’t do that (Crank)

  Chapter Seven: The Game of Love Not the response I expected (Crank)

  They’re both seventeen (Julia)

  Chapter Eight: The Road I'm On I could live here (Crank)

  You can’t be too careful about radiators (Julia)

  Playlist for Falling Stars

  Author’s Note

  Acknowledgements

  Copyright

  Books by Charles Sheehan-Miles