This Is Falling(49)

“Oh wow, this is soooo good,” I say, knowing fully well that an onion has just slid from my mouth down my chin. I try to catch it, and feel a little embarrassed, though I will never admit that to him, but Nate quickly stops me with his napkin, wiping my chin clean, and then leaning in for a kiss.

“So, my parents are coming to visit in October. They’ll be here for the Classic Tournament. My dad, he uh…he’s kind of excited to watch you play,” I say, taking short glances at Nate while I talk and pick at my fries.

“Oh yeah?” he asks, nodding, his brow a little pinched.

“Yep.” It’s quiet for a few minutes after that, and I start mentally kicking myself for only saying yep, when Nate leans back along the corner of the booth and stretches his arm out so he can look at me.

“I gotta ask. You’re not making your parents come here and having them meet me just because you feel bad, are you?” I didn’t think of it that way, but I can understand Nate’s reaction now. I had some work to do to make sure he knew I was just as ready to take this step as he was.

After taking a long drink from my soda, I push my tray away and drop my napkin on top, then turn my body so my leg is bent in the booth and I’m facing him. “No. I was supposed to go home again for fall break. But that was before,” I say, suddenly warm and anxious.

“Before I made you feel bad about not wanting me to meet your parents?” he asks.

“No. Before I realized how much I don’t like being away from you,” I say, waiting while his eyes stay on mine.

His lips smile, and whisper softly, “Oh.”

“That, and my dad Googled you,” I tease, just needing to break the tension.

“What is it with you people and cyber-stalking?”

Nate carries our trays to the trash and reaches for my hand at the door. He walks me all the way around to my side, opening the door for me while I get in, and then shuts the door softly, like I’m someone important—important to him.





Nate





I have kissed her exactly three times so far, and she hasn’t protested a single one. Once on the head, once in the elevator, and once in the middle of the best-damned hamburger I’ve ever had.

When she said her parents were coming and wanted to meet me, I felt like crap for making such a big deal out of it. But I really think she meant what she said, and I can’t help but feel hopeful that she would rather be here, in a state dozens away from her home, than go back to the place she knows.

There was still so much I wanted to know, needed to know. But I had to be careful how I extracted information from Rowe’s head, because so much of it is covered in the scars of her heart. We have an hour of nothing but conversation time, though, so I hope I can get to some of her best secrets today.

“Oh, I should warn you. Ty and Cass…first fight,” I say, still pissed that I won’t be able to talk Ty into spending the night in Cass’s room tonight. Unless, of course, things have changed from how they were when I left.

“You’re kidding? What happened?” Rowe asks.

“Well, it’s probably Ty’s fault. Like I said, my brother’s default mode is * when it comes to women. Cass is really the first one he’s been with for more than a week, if you don’t count his go-to girls.”

“Ty has go-to girls? What exactly is a go-to…oh…never mind.” Her innocence was cute. I forget how little Rowe probably knows when it comes to things like that, because she can make herself seem so sure and confident.

“Right. Well, they ran into one of the go-to girls at Sally’s. Some girl we met when he came down here early with me for summer ball. And, well, you know Cass. She called him on it, pretty much right in front of the girl, and he ended up getting slapped by them both. Of course, now he’s all mopey and shit and refuses to go talk to her,” I say, glancing at Rowe to see her genuinely interested in Ty and Cass’s break up.

“We have to fix things,” she says, and I can tell she means it.

“I’m not sure it’s ours to fix,” I start to say, but I can feel her eyes snap to me quickly, so I stop. “But maybe we can somehow get them to talk?”

“Yes. They just need to talk,” she says, pulling her phone from her purse and sending a text that seems to take her minutes to complete. “There. Phase one—done. Now, give me your phone.”

For some reason, I willingly go along with whatever she wants, and reach into my pocket and hand her my phone. I’m not a meddler by nature, but for some reason, Ty and Cass being together seems important to Rowe, and maybe her reasons are as selfish as mine—wanting time for us to be alone. But I feel like there’s something more to it, and if it’s important to her, then it’s damn important to me, too.

“There. I texted your brother, too. We’re having a little goodbye picnic for Paige, and they’ll both be there. Paige has a lot of alcohol, so that got them both to say yes.”

Of course it did. My brother has endured far worse for cheap drinks. You make them free? There’s no keeping him away. “Okay, so where is this picnic taking place?”

“Yeah, about that…” she has a tone in her voice that tells me I’m going to be sorry I asked. “You think you can sneak us onto the outfield, just one last time?”