Page 85 of Falling into Place
“Hearing that story reminds me a little of the day I knew I wanted to go into critical care,” he said. “There was this patient who was near death when I’d started the rotation, and on my last day one month later, I watched her walk out of there on her own two feet. Even the attending was surprised at her recovery, but none of it would have been possible without that medical team. I’d lost both my parents by then, and I was having a hard time believing anything ever ended well. I’d already changed quite a bit, but instead of just being focused andintroverted, I was on a path toward flat-out pessimism about life. Seeing that patient turn around sparked a passion in me I didn’t know I had, and it’s the outcome I’ll never stop chasing. That’s how you look when you talk about helping people find their confidence—you light up. There’s nothing better than finding your passion and turning that into what you do with your life, you know?”
“You’re so right,” she said, and the way she looked at him in that moment made him feel on top of the world.
A rustling sound came from the front door, and they both stilled, listening. Then Brooks’s phone dinged with an Uber Eats alert.
“Pizza’s here.”
“Oooh, yes,” Carly said, rising.
She went to the door and opened it, but when he noticed from the corner of his eye that she didn’t bend down to get the boxes, Brooks looked over.
And found himself looking at Sasha, standing on his porch, staring straight at them.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Carly
Could you just leave my friends alone? Aren’t there enough seniors for you to hit on?
—Sasha to Brooks Martin, junior year
It took Carly several seconds to process what she was looking at.
Her best friend, whose brother she’d just slept with, stood there, holding her dinner.
Carly steeled herself for some comment about her obvious state of undress, but instead, Sasha pinned her brother with a hard, singular stare as she marched inside.
“You orderedRalph’s?”
Carly swung her focus to Brooks, who sat like a deer in headlights, eyes wide and mouth ajar. Weirdly, though, she was pretty sure his discomfort wasn’t because she was here or the fact they’d just been caught in a compromising situation.
No, his focus was on ... the pizza?
“Uh.” He popped his knuckles, shoulders high and tense. “Yeah, we—”
“How long have you been doing this?” Sasha demanded.
What was Carly missing? Why was Sasha reacting so strongly, and why was Brooks acting like he’d done something wrong?
He swallowed, and Carly’s breath caught at the pain in his eyes. “I haven’t. I mean, this is the first time. I swear.”
A long, deep exhale audibly left Sasha’s body. “Thank God. I had it once last year and I felt like shit for days. This makes me feel so much better.”
“You had Ralph’s?” Brooks asked. “Without Macy and me?”
From where she still hid by the now-closed front door, Carly couldn’t see Sasha’s expression but imagined it wasn’t pretty as her friend dropped the boxes on his coffee table with considerable force.
Brooks nodded, looking duly chagrined. “Right.”
“What are you even doing here?” Sasha asked him.
“What areyoudoing here?” he countered.
“I came for the cucumbers you promised me. I expected to let myself into an empty house, because you’re supposed to be at your work thing.” It was then that Sasha seemed to remember Carly, and she whipped back around to look at her. “What is this? Is something going on between you two?”
Carly tugged at the hem of his T-shirt, as if bringing it lower on her thighs would make this look less suspicious. “It’s ... not what it looks like?”
Brooks dropped his head into his hands.
