When I Fall

Looking over my shoulder, I watch Tessa and Luke move through the crowd. Tessa reaches the table first, waving a dismissive hand in front of her.

“I know, I know, we’re late. Blame Luke.” She tugs her skirt down, looking around the table. Her eyes land on Beth, then me. She points a finger between the two of us, mouthing, “‘bout time.”

Christ. It’s going to be the Beth and Reed show all night. Maybe we should’ve stayed home.

Luke steps up, wrapping his arms around Tessa and pulling her against his chest. “If she said it was my fault we’re late, she’s lying. I was ready an hour ago.”

“Where have you been?” Mia asks Tessa, leaning forward. “I’ve been calling and texting you like crazy, and I get one response from you? What the hell?”

Tessa bites her lip, smiling up at Luke. He drops his mouth to her ear and whispers something to her. She giggles.

“Tessa!” Mia shouts.

“Babe, you better tell them,” Luke says, kissing her temple.

Tessa looks around the table, smiling so big her one lonely dimple is on display. She takes a deep breath, clamps her eyes shut, then holds up her left hand. “We got married yesterday!”

Mia screams, clamping her hand over her mouth. Ben nearly spits out half his beer, choking on the rest he inhaled. My mouth falls open as I hear Beth utter, “holy shit,” under her breath.

Holy shit is right. This is fucking awesome.

“You got married? And you didn’t tell any of us?” Mia flies out of her chair and nearly tackles Tessa to the ground. “I can’t believe you. Oh my God, I’m so happy right now, but I could seriously punch you in the face.”

She wraps Tessa into a hug, and they both start doing this weird combination of laughing and crying. It’s the strangest fucking sound I’ve ever heard.

I offer my hand to Luke, standing. “Congrats, man.”

He shakes my hand, the biggest grin I’ve ever seen him have wiping across his face. His other hand runs over his buzzed hair. “Yeah, thanks. It’s fucking crazy. I’m still waiting for this shit not to be real.”

“Fucker. I laid into you about this and you were planning on doing it all along? You should’ve said something.” Ben pulls Luke into a hug as Beth brushes against my back. She joins the girls in their hysteria, hugging Tessa and admiring her ring.

Luke snorts, pulling back from Ben. “I should be thanking you. Saying all that shit to me and watching you with Mia. I don’t know what the fuck I was waiting for. I kept thinking I’d do it when she wasn’t expecting me to ask, but she was always looking at me, always ready. After all that shit on Wednesday, I looked at her and realized I didn’t care if she was expecting it or not. If I went another day without asking, I was going to start ripping your deck apart and breaking boards myself.”

I cross my arms over my chest, frowning, looking between the two of them. “If either one of you wants shit to break, fucking ask me. I got a ton of spare wood in the bed of my truck. There’s no need to start pulling boards off the deck.” I settle my gaze on Luke. “Did you guys go to the courthouse?”

He nods. “Yeah. I didn’t want to wait. And I didn’t care if anybody else was there.” He shifts his eyes between Ben and myself. “No offense.”

“Do my parents know?” Ben asks, his eyebrows lifting when Luke shakes his head. “Shit. My mom is going to kill you.”

“She’ll get over it,” Tessa says, coming up and standing next to Luke.

He wraps his arm around her as Mia and Beth filter into the group.

“This is how we wanted to do it. We can have a party or something if the families want to get together.” Tessa looks over at Ben. “Maybe if your deck ever gets finished, we can have it at your house.”

I narrow my eyes at her. “It’s almost finished.”

Ben laughs, pulling Mia in front of him, staring at me over the top of her head. “There’s nothing left but the stairs, right?”

“Pretty much. I’ll be over sometime tomorrow to get started on them. After five, probably. I’m going with Beth to volunteer at the soup kitchen first.”

All heads snap in my direction, including Beth’s. I ignore all but hers.

She touches my elbow, looking up at me with wide, curious eyes. “You want to go with me? Really?”

“Yeah. Can I?” I ask, suddenly feeling anxious about inviting myself to this.

Beth never asked me to go with her when she told me she was volunteering tomorrow. This could be something she doesn’t want me to be a part of. Talking about being homeless was difficult enough for her. Maybe she doesn’t want me to see what it looked like.

Shit. Why the fuck did I just blurt that out?

My arms fall to my side as I become very unsure. “If you don’t want me there . . .”

She wraps her arms around my waist, squeezing me tight. Her chin hits my chest as she smiles up at me. “I want you there. So much.”

“Quick. Someone take a picture of this.”

I glare at Tessa as I pull Beth against me. Everyone else is smiling, staring at me and Beth, acting like we’re some fucking exhibit at the museum they’ve all paid to look at.

Jesus Christ. What is the big deal?

The song changes overhead, something a little slower.

Mia spins and grabs Ben’s shirt, pulling him. “Let’s go dance, babe.”

“Angel,” he weakly protests.