Fall to You (Here and Now 2)

For Sue—the sweetest lady, the best mother-in-law, and the coolest nana to my kiddos. Thank you for all you do!

Fall to You is the second book in the Here and Now series. It is not a stand-alone and is intended to be read following Lost in Me. Hanna’s story concludes in book three, All for This.

Torn between two men…

When I woke up after the accident, I couldn’t remember anything from the last year—including my relationship with Max Hallowell or anything about Nate Crane. Now my memories are returning, but instead of answering my questions, they’re leaving me with more.

The man who broke my heart and wants to be my future…

Max is all I ever wanted, and now he wants to marry me. He’ll do everything he can to fill my life with love, family, and security. I need those things now more than ever. But can I trust him?

The man who stole my heart and wants to let me go…

Nate never made me promises, and I never asked him to. I’d been on the rebound, looking for a distraction, and he made me feel beautiful and wanted when I needed to feel those things most. He says he has to let me go, but what if I can’t let go of him?

With every revelation and every passing day, I feel more like Alice down the rabbit hole. I’m falling. Who will catch me?

Three Months Before Hanna’s Accident

MOM’S EYES water as she hands me the velvet box. “I wish your grandmother were alive for this,” she whispers. “She always loved Hanna, and she would have been so happy to see you with her.”

My hands are shockingly steady as I open the lid to reveal the modest ring my grandmother wore on her left hand until the day she died. Hanna deserves something with a little more flash, but I know she’ll appreciate the sentimental value of this ring more than a giant rock I can’t afford.

I close the box and clasp it in both of my hands, exhaling slowly. I never imagined I’d be anxious to get married. I thought I’d be the guy whose girlfriend would have to guilt him into it. But I’ve never been with anyone like Hanna.

“When are you going to do it?” Mom asks, tucking one leg under herself on the couch. I’m pretty sure I made her night tonight when I came by to ask for Grandma’s ring.

“Next weekend.”

“You don’t need to be nervous. Hanna loves you.”

My phone buzzes with a text alert. Once, twice, three times—a sure sign someone is sending me a long text that has to be delivered in several pieces. I pull it from my pocket and unlock the screen.

At first, I don’t understand what I’m looking at. Mom is saying something, but I can’t make it out over the roaring in my ears. My eyes are glued to my phone. These texts were sent over five months ago, but it feels like eons, and looking at them now makes bile crawl up my throat. I’m not the same man I was then, but leave it to Meredith to never let me forget a screw-up.

Meredith: You’re seriously going out with Hanna Fat Ass Thompson.

Max: You’re seriously going to start this conversation by being a bitch?

Meredith: Just tell me how this happened.

Max: It’s a temporary arrangement. She needs a self-esteem boost.

Meredith: I had no idea you were taking charity cases.

Max: No worries, I still prefer blondes.

Meredith: So what’s it like to fuck a fatty?

Max: Don’t be a bitch.

Meredith: He dodges the question.

Max: Trust me, I’m not going to let this charade go that far. She’s a sweet girl, but she’s not my type.

Meredith: Am I your type?

Max: You know you are. But last I checked you were still hung up on Will Bailey.

Meredith: That was so last month. Come over here and I’ll prove it.

Max: What do you have in mind?

Meredith: You. My mouth. More specifically, your dick and my mouth.

Max: Shit. Don’t say that when you know I can’t.

Meredith: You said yourself that your thing with Hanna is just a charade.

Max: I don’t want her hurt. Period. I’ll have to take a rain check.

Meredith: I can keep a secret. I know when to use my mouth. And where.

Max: This is a bad idea.

Meredith: I’ll see you in fifteen, then?

Max: Make that five.

If I could go back to December, back to those early days of my relationship with Hanna, back when I thought it was all temporary, a favor for a friend. If I could go back there and knock some sense into myself, I would.

At the very least, I’d tell myself to stay away from Meredith. She’s had her claws in me most of my life, and she can’t stand that she doesn’t control me anymore.