Page 44 of Meant to be Falling
She’s a hell of a lot of fun and drives Jensen up and back down the wall. It’s hilarious watching them face off over everything and nothing, the two of them looking for any and every excuse tomake up.
The thought has me trying to cover my laugh by fake coughing into my shoulder. Lana doesn’t believe it for a second, but she looks tired, like this entire interaction has been too much for her.
Hell, I’ll probably need to decompress after this one too.
“Mason, it was great seeing you, but I need to get these kids out of here before my cart looks like yours.” There’s a playfulness in her tone I can’t quite figure out, but it will have to wait till later because this is an out for both of us.
“I have about nine hours of meal prepping to do,” I joke even though it’s closer to the truth than anything else. “It was really great meeting you guys. Beck, good luck with football. AndHolland, make sure you tear it up on the soccer field.” They both smile and give me a high five before we part ways.
It’s not until I’m halfway to my truck that I hear someone call my name.
“Hey, wait!” Beck yells as he jogs across the parking lot toward me. Lana calls after him but his gaze is steady—focused—as he stops in front of me.
“You all right?”
“Why was your hat at my house?”
“I stopped over to see your mom. We’re friends.”
“Are you her boyfriend?” he asks, his question not unexpected but it also is. Beck’s expression is hard to read, but I’m already all in.
“We’re figuring some things out.”
“You don’t like her?”
I smile softly. “I do, Beck. She’s amazing, but she’s juggling a lot so I’m trying not to pressure her before she’s ready to take that step.”
His mouth opens and closes, his brow furrowing as he scuffs at the ground with the toe of his sneaker.
“Are you nice to her?” he asks, and now it’s my turn to be surprised. For all his bravado, Beck is still akidand one with a damn big heart it seems.
“Yes.”
“My dad isn’t nice to her.” I’d gathered as much but I don’t dare say it.
“Maybe we can both be extra nice to make up for it.”
“Okay.”
“Beck?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t want to hurt your mom, and I don’t want to hurt you or Holland. Your mom and I wanted to have things a little more figured out before I met you guys, but now that it seemsthat plan has changed, we’ll just have to make it up as we go. All right? We’ll figure it out together, make sure everyone is on the same page. Would that be all right?”
He mulls it over for a second before nodding, a small smile gracing his lips. “Yeah.”
“Cool,” I say, feeling like I ran a marathon while standing here. “Beck?”
“What?”
“You need to tell me if there’s something you don’t like. From me or anyone else, all right? I want this to work, but I can’t do that if I don’t know there’s a problem.”
He stares at me, turmoil clear on his face as he seems to war with an internal struggle only he’s privy to.
“Why?”
I know from the way he’s looking at me that he doesn’t meanwhy do I want to knowbut ratherwhy do you care?
