Free Believe in Us (Jett #2) by Amy Sparling Page A

classy, okay?”
    Dad and I laugh and we agree to do the best we can but Mom doesn’t exactly look convinced.
    “I can’t believe my best friend adopted a seventeen-year-old after only knowing her a couple of months,” Mom says. She sinks her chin into her hand and gazes out the back window.
    “Well if things had gone the way Becca wanted them to, she’d have a teenager right now. Hell, she’d probably have three or four kids,” Dad says. “Can you imagine how great it’ll be when they get their new baby and he drives Park crazy the way Jett used to drive me crazy?” Dad chuckles and shakes his head. “It’ll be awesome.”
    “Hey!” I say, pretending to be offended.
    Mom waves away my worry with her hand. “You were a great baby, Jett.” Her head tilts. “Kind of a pain in the ass when you were five to seven though . . .”
    I wince. “Sorry.”
    Mom shrugs. “Back then we were only a couple years into the business and we were still working out all the kinks. That kid room at the Track practically raised you, not us.” She points a carrot stick at me. “But you turned out okay, so far.”
    I glance at my phone. “I wonder if they’re back yet?”
    Dad is closer to the back window than I am, and he gazes out of it. “Doewn’t look like it.”
    “You’ll be back with her before you know it,” Mom says, rolling her eyes. “Jace, were we as love-struck as our kid? We couldn’t have possibly been that bad.”
    Dad’s brows lift. “Of course we were! You were totally in love with me from the start,” he says, shaking his head. “Couldn’t keep your hands off me . . .”
    Mom makes a sarcastic face and looks at me. “So things with you and Keanna are getting kind of serious?”
    My parents are cool—way cooler than most of my friend’s parents—but it’s still awkward talking to them about my relationships. Especially since I’ve never really talked to them about girls before. Keanna is my first real girlfriend. Simply saying yes, we’re serious, doesn’t seem like it’d do the relationship justice. But I say it anyway.
    “Well I never thought I’d hear my son say that,” Dad says with a mouth full of broccoli.
    “Okay, you’re acting like I’m some kind of man slut,” I say.
    Mom and Dad look at me. I throw up my hands. “Okay, I’m not anymore. I’m an honest man now.”
    “Well, while we’re on the subject of girls, you should probably brace yourself for dealing with Keanna over the next few days or weeks,” Mom says. “She’s going through a lot, and she’s already been through a lot in her life. You may think she’s the only thing you care about, but she has a lot of stuff in her life right now, so don’t get upset if she can’t dedicate all of her attention to you.”
    “That’s a good point,” Dad says. “Don’t get upset if she doesn’t text you constantly,” he says, nodding to my phone which I’ve been looking at every few seconds. “She’ll need you to be there for her but don’t be pushy about anything.”
    The words kind of sting because I want to spend every waking second with her, but I nod. “That’s actually good advice. Thank you.”
    My parents exchange a look. “Our advice is always good advice!” Mom says. “It’s funny though,” she says, looking off in the distance. “When you were a baby, Becca and I used to talk about having kids close in age and then they would date each other. Now, it’s kind of happening.”
    I smile. “With any luck, Keanna and me will turn out just like you and dad. And Becca and Park.”
    Mom picks up the veggies and starts packing them away in the fridge. “Maybe you should aim for being like Becca and Park, not me and your dad. Being a teen parent sucks and ages you terribly.”
    “Aww, don’t say that, Mom. You look amazing. You don’t look a day over twenty-five.”
    She pats my head as she walks by. “That’s my son. Now go get dressed up nice and show Keanna how lucky she is to have