Page 48 of Adorkable

“Becks,” I said calm as possible—which wasn’t calm at all. My hands were already slipping. “Could you get the ladder?”

“So you can what,” he scoffed, “pull a Catwoman and spring onto the thing? Sal, just drop. I’ll catch you.”

I vigorously shook my head.

“Just get the ladder, please.”

“Sal, I’m standing right beneath you. I’ll catch you.”

“No, you won’t.”

“Yes, I—God, Sal, stop being so stubborn and just drop.”

I whimpered, fingers slipping another inch.

“I’ll catch you. I promise.”

“You better,” I said then let go.

I couldn’t control my girlish shriek, but Becks made no sound as I fell gracelessly into his arms. He caught me like he did this every day, as if girls dangling from rain gutters were his specialty. Who knew? Maybe they were.

Raising my head, I asked, “Have you done this before?”

“Never,” he said, eyes smiling.

“You sure?”

“Positive.” He gave me a pointed look. “But you know, unlike some people, when I say I’ll catch someone, I actually do it.”

I sighed. Of course, he would bringthatup. “You’re never going to let it go, are you?”

“Nope,” he said and readjusted his hold. Surprised, I gripped his neck with both hands. “Some things are hard to forget.”

“I said I was sorry about a million times.”

“I know.”

“And I was the one who got hurt, not you.”

“I know, Sal.”

“Then why do you always bring it up?” I muttered.

“Best day of my life.” Becks shrugged, jostling me again, and I narrowed my eyes. Of all the times I’d asked him that exact question, he never gave a straight answer.

Mom came out of the house toting five food trays and smiled when she saw us.

“Hi, Becks,” she said, as I scrambled to my feet, cheeks flaming. “Dare I ask?”

“Hey there, Mrs. Nicholls.” He grinned. “I walked up and saw Sal stuck, hanging from one of the gutters. Naturally, I saved the day.”

I cut him a glance. Nice how he forgot to mention he was the reason I’d been stuck in the first place.

“Sounds like history repeating itself,” Mom said.

“Yeah,” he replied, “except no one got injured this time.”

I rolled my eyes. “It was second grade. You were bigger than me. What’d you expect?”

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