Page 68 of Forever to Fall
Mallory dabbed at her lips with the towel and focused on slowing her breathing. “I’m fine. It’s fine. Beckett and I aren’t—”
“Completely in love with each other? Yeah, I’m not buying that.”
Mallory spluttered, trying to think of the perfect excuse. Crumbs fell from her mouth, a sad version of confetti. “We’re just friends.”
“Uh-huh. I don’t buy that for a heartbeat. You already forgot our conversation from last week? I don’t think friends feed each other cheese and fix each other’s hair.” She thrust her hands on her hips and sighed. “I saw the looks you two were giving each other back there. Beckett looked like he’d rather tame a pack of wild lions that talk with Julia. And you, miss grumpy pants, look like someone punted Fernando across the diner. You two are clearly made for each other.” CeCe trailed her finger through the pile of sprinkles and added, “You need to tell Evan the truth.”
“I know.” Mallory’s pulse hammered in her temples. She idly rubbed the tender skin, willing herself out of a headache. If CeCe had figured it out, how hadn’t Evan?
Reading her mind, CeCe soldiered on. “And I’m guessing my sweet fiancé is clueless about you two, right? God, I love that man with all my heart, but he certainly can’t see the forest for the trees.”
“We...we...” Mallory felt like a broken record, repeating nonsense while CeCe raised an eyebrow.
Evan burst through the kitchen door, an even bigger smile on his face than the last time she saw him. “Guess what,” he declared, striding to CeCe and picking her up. He twirled her in a circle before placing her back on the ground and kissing her senseless. “We’re going out after the engagement party. Mom and Dad will watch the kids, so all us couples can have a night out. Alice suggested the pub in Elm River, what do you say?”
“The couples?” Mallory asked, already hating where this was going.
Flinging an arm around CeCe’s shoulder, her brother grinned. “Yeah, and you of course. Julia and Beckett seem to be hitting it off, so I thought we’d see where that goes.”
In that instant, Mallory truly hated her brother and his blind optimism toward love. She wished he’d wear a pair of rose-colored glasses for her and Beckett, but apparently not. “Hard pass,” she spat, plodding toward the rear exit.
“Mal?” Evan chased after her, snagging her elbow before she could make her escape. She couldn’t look at him because she was moments away from a total, nuclear meltdown. This wasn’t happening, it couldn’t. She would not make a scene at her brother’s engagement party.
“I’ve got a headache. You guys have fun.” She shrugged off her brother’s hand and pushed outside. Behind her, she heard CeCe shouting for her to come back, but she couldn’t.
Mallory hated being a drama queen, but right now she couldn’t fathom spending time with a bunch of couples pretending she wasn’t in one, pretending she hadn’t been in love with Beckett for fifteen stupid years. This wasn’t a new dynamic, unfortunately, being tacked on as the single person; the one who couldn’t find their other half. It made the whole moment more frustrating because she had found her other half. But Beckett chose to stay quiet, to literally take another woman out for the night. Yet again, she’d gotten it all wrong. Their stolen kisses and secret nights together weren’t the beginning of something permanent. They were a continuation of the same pattern they’d been in forever.
Maybe it was finally time to break the pattern?
It took her the drive home to realize she was still in CeCe’s old sneakers, the fabric too tight on her toes. Mallory kept the shoes on because they felt as awkward and useless as she did at that moment.
CHAPTER 22
Beckett was in hell. He hadn’t had a chance to find Mallory before she left, and now he had a very drunk Julia on his hands—literally. “You look so cute in your glasses,” Julia slurred, her third cocktail of the evening dangling from her fingers. Her other hand tugged on his collar, and Beckett didn’t know how to pull free without hurting the poor woman.
“Julia,” he gasped as she spilled her appletini on the leg of his slacks. The neon-green liquid made it appear like an alien vomited all over him, which would be preferable to his current situation. “I really need to get up for a moment.” Beckett was so far down in the booth, he was practically horizontal.
