Page 296 of As the Rain Falls
“At least, I hope he does,” I mumble, pouting a little.
It’d be really sad if he didn’t.
I’m a catch!
Beckett disappears and returns ten minutes later, holding a bottle of orange soda and a white chocolate bar. He fills our tank, and I try not to stare at him too much through the rearview mirror.
“For you,” he says, handing me the drink as he slides into the driver’s seat.
I take it. “Thanks.”
Another car pulls up for gas. I ignore it while watching Beckett as he rips the packaging open with his teeth, takes a bite, chews a few seconds, and then grimaces.
“I hate white chocolate,” he groans.
I take a sip of the soda, pausing when the bubbles make my throat hurt. “They didn’t have anything else?”
“No, they did.”
He offers the chocolate to me.I take a small bite, only then noticing it’s my favorite kind: white chocolate with toasted almonds. Not fancy or special, just a gas station find, but the taste is good enough.
“Like it?”
“It’s good,” I admit. “Maybe a bit too sweet.”
“Mn.” Beckett starts the car, steals my drink, and takes a long gulp. I pout, annoyed, but he only shakes his head. “Learn to share.”
“I thought you hated it.” I scoff.
“And I do. I’m just trying out something.”
“What?”
He smirks. “If you don’t remember, I’m not about to point it out to you either.”
I blink, feeling a little confused. “Okay.”
At least now I get to eat the chocolate, too.
“The city’s awfully quiet,” I say, watching the empty streets as we drive.
“This isn’t the busiest area either,” Beckett replies, checking the rearview. “And it’s going to rain later, like it did last night.”
“Really?” I roll my eyes. “I was starting to enjoy the sun again.”
“The east side is flooded,” he says, readjusting his seatbelt. “Mateo’s lucky his mom’s apartment is on the second floor.”
“Yeah, but the salon isn’t, right?” I bite my lower lip, worried. “What if something gets ruined?”
“It’s not enough water to damage anything,” Beckett reassures me. “Just means she’ll have to mop.”
I nod, swallowing hard. Mateo’s mom seems to have worked very hard to afford buying everything. I don’t want anything bad to happen to her.
“We should stop by later and help.”
“Sure.”
A moment later, rain starts to fall. It thickens after a while, pounding the windshield and fogging up the glass. Beckett tries to drive through it for half an hour before pulling over on the side of the road to wait it out.
