Page 79 of Break Your Fall

“You look like you need this more than me.”

Banks pulls my stare from the ocean by dangling a full bottle of beer in front of my face. I take it from his hand as he sits next to me on the sand, welcoming the liquid and the company. I pop off the cap and laugh when he produces another beer for himself.

“And what look is that?” I ask before taking a sip, making a face as I swallow.

“The same look my dude used to have,” he says. “End of the fucking world.” He clinks his bottle against mine and takes a chug while I think of his last text.

Oh my god I have to shit brb

I smile around another drink. “So what was with your text?”

He takes a moment to shuffle through the chaos in his brain, then nods at me once he finds the text. “I had to make sure you didn’t go anywhere.”

“Were you following me?”

“No.” He makes a face, then smirks, pointing out toward the waves. “I was following her.”

I look ahead to see a girl walking close to the shore. She stops to snap a picture of the setting sun.

I roll my eyes and swallow more beer, the alcohol warming my limbs. “What was she like?”

Banks drags his legs up to rest his arms on his knees. “Who?”

“My sister,” I say, low, affirming that I have one.Baby steps.

He just stares at me like he’s still waiting for me to answer the question, so I say, “Jesus’s Bell,” hoping that will ping into his head, but he still just stares at me. “Jessabelle,” I emphasize with a chuckle.

“Oh, yeah, your sister,” he chimes with an exaggeration that raises my brow. He swallows some beer, then winks at me.

“I’m on to you.”

He leans over at me. “You have to be closer for that.”

I shove him back, spitting some of the drink I’m taking around the lip of the bottle.

“I’m just saying, my lap is open.”

“What was she like?” I repeat with a stronger voice. He’s not getting out of this.

Banks waves his hands around as he tries to come up with an answer, then just says, “She was a bitch.” I smack his arm. “Ow.You asked!”

“Any girl who turns you down is a bitch,” I point out with a tease in my tone, my lips around my bottle right before I take a drink.

“No, she didn’t turnmedown, she turned myplaydown, which is worse.”

“I thought she was just the costume designer,” I note with a face.

“Yeah, like, the best one,” Banks says with wide eyes after a swallow of beer. “Everybody loves her, and she didn’t wanna do it. She stomped her big ass foot all over it, even after one of the guys called ithumorousandfresh.” He frames the words in the sky with his free hand, and I find my sympathy for his loss.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “I know how hard you worked on it.”

He waves me off, then says, “She wasn’tsobad. I knew there was a reason I kind of liked her, for a few seconds,” he stresses to my grin, then grins back at me. “She has a connection to you.”

I study him, my beer paused at my mouth as I take in his words, the way he said them—more genuine, less flirty. I smile and take my drink.

“You should date me.”

I scoff. “I’m looking for something a little more serious,” I say with a pointed look.

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