JAX (The Beckett Boys #2) - Olivia Chase Page 0,48

it. I didn’t want them to worry. We’re supposed to meet Jax in a half hour for lunch, and I wanted them to get to know him first before they judge him.

It doesn’t help the nervous flutter in my gut that when I asked him to meet my family, he kind of got uncomfortable. But ultimately, he did agree. We still haven’t talked about that fight we had the night of the date, and the tension has been lingering there, unspoken between us. Neither of us wanting to ruin the peace.

“Your father’s going to get the car,” Mom says, walking up to me. She has Cam on her hip. There’s a deep line between her brows. Shit. “So, are you going to tell me why we initially heard from you that you were graduating cum laude, but during the ceremony, they didn’t say it? Did they just mess up, Brooklyn?”

My heart stutters. “They didn’t mess up.” I make myself keep a steady voice. “My GPA wasn’t high enough.”

Her lips thin in disappointment. “Really, Brooklyn. When were you going to tell us? And how bad is your GPA? Everything was fine last we talked. Have you just been lying to us this whole time?”

“I wasn’t lying,” I hedge.

“Don’t try to be cute. A lie by omission is still a lie. What happened?”

Cam taps Mom’s cheek with a drooling giggle, and she shifts him to the other hip.

I swallow. “I almost failed one of my classes.” And dropped low in another one, but I refrain from sharing that detail.

“Are you serious? Why? If you were doing that badly, why not get a tutor, or tell us? We could have helped.”

“It’s fine,” I tell her, fighting back my irritation. This is exactly why I didn’t mention it. Because I knew when she found out, I’d get blasted. And I didn’t want to deal with it right now. “The professor let me redo a paper, and I passed.”

“Just barely, given how it dropped your GPA. You were already on the fence as it was. I hope this doesn’t impact your scholarship for your masters program.” Disappointment drips from her, and I hate my reaction of shame and guilt. I let myself get caught up in Jax—that’s the truth of it. I didn’t study as hard as I should have, and I paid the price. But I don’t need someone else rubbing it in.

“There’s your father,” Mom says with her chin thrust in the air. Dad pulls up, and she puts Cam in the car seat in the middle. I take my place on the other side of him, glancing at Della over Cam’s head.

She shoots me a frown, and I can tell she’s wondering what’s going on. I shake my head and look forward.

It’ll be fine. We’ll go see Jax, and lunch will be so great because he’ll charm them into loving him the way I do.

Shit.

I love him. It’s true. I love Jax Beckett, and there isn’t a thing I can do about it. Somewhere along the way, I did what I swore I wouldn’t do. I let him into my heart.

I’m both anxious and scared to see him at lunch. Will he be able to read it all over my face? Shit. I press my suddenly damp palms to my pants-clad thighs. Drawing in a few slow breaths helps calm my pulse to a reasonable gallop. I can’t let him know how I feel—today is already going to be difficult enough.

We pull up in front of the casual lunch joint and go in. There’s a free table near the center of the room, and we take it.

Our waitress comes by and brings us water, which we sip. I avoid looking at Mom, and Della won’t stop staring at me—I can feel her gaze flicking between the two of us. Not right now, I will her. I can’t talk about why Mom is mad at me. I’m already on edge.

A glance at my phone confirms we’ve been waiting ten minutes. No sign of Jax. Oh God, why does he have to be late today of all days? I stare at the tabletop and will him to get his ass here. He’s been doing good lately about being on time…well, reasonably so.

“Where is this boy?” my mom asks in a deceptively light tone. “Can he not tell time or something?” Mom is really uptight about people running late.

“He’ll be here,” Dad says as he reaches over and takes Cam’s hand. Cam gives a chortle