Page 79 of Falling Together

I watch him go, smiling at me before joining Luke. Seeing the two of them together makes me happy, because it’s a vision of our future together.

I never imagined myself as a mother, but now, I can’t picture anything else. This is the life I want.

No matter how reckless I had to be to get it.

Chapter Twenty-Three

GRANT

“You up?”

“Go away.”

“It’s the first day of school. You need to get up.”

Luke groans, rolling back over and burying his head under the pillow. “Leave me alone.”

I flip on his light as I leave his room. “Ten minutes or I’m coming back down here to get you out of bed. And try wearing something other than a hoodie.”

Another groan.

I knew today would be hard getting him up for school since he’s had all summer to laze around, but he clearly isn’t ready to go back.

It feels like we barely had any time this summer to do anything. Back in LA, he’d be playing baseball, but not this year. I’ve been so busy with the team, getting settled here, and spending time with Georgia, that I feel like I haven’t done much with him. Even if he had wanted to, it would’ve been hard to pull him out of the basement where he’s been locked up playing video games.

I head up to the kitchen and pour myself a cup of coffee and start making him eggs.

I remember these days of heading back to school. I was always playing baseball during school and loved getting to go in early and hit the gym. Being on the team made it easy to make friends. Something I worry about with Luke now.

He’s the new kid in town and I want him to make friends and be able to go out and do things. I hate that he’s always texting with friends back home. It’s not like he can fly down and see them every weekend. Hopefully he has a good first day—I doubt he’ll tell me about it, but maybe he’ll open up to Georgia.

He stumbles upstairs in a blue T-shirt and jeans, hair still a mess.

“Couldn’t run a brush through your hair?” I ask.

He glares at me before going to the fridge and pulling out the orange juice and drinking straight from the bottle.

Probably shouldn’t comment on his manners this early or he might yell.

“Are you ready for your first day of school?”

Using the spatula, I pile eggs onto Luke’s plate. I didn’t want him scarfing down a bowl of cereal.

“Kind of,” he says, plopping down on the barstool at the counter.

“High school is a big deal,” I say.

“Daaaad,” Luke groans. “Please don’t.”

“What? I just want to make sure you’re ready.”

“I’m fine.”

“Fine is not an answer,” I say.

He rolls his eyes at me. “The bus is going to be here soon.”

“Soon,” I point out. “Finish your eggs, please. You need a good breakfast to learn things today.”