Page 110 of Small Town Sizzle

Sheriff Clark writes something down, his pen scratching against the paper. “And then what happened?”

I take a deep breath, my mind replaying the scene in vivid, horrifying detail. “He wouldn’t stop. He fought Alex off and came at me again. That’s when I… when I shot him.” My voice wavers, and I glance at Jazlyn, her face buried against my side. “It was self-defense. I swear. He wouldn’t stop.”

Sheriff Clark nods again, his voice soothing. “You’re doing great, Maya. Just a few more questions, and then you can rest. You’ve been through a lot tonight.”

Rest. The word feels foreign, impossible. My body is running on pure adrenaline, my mind spinning with what-ifs.

What if I hadn’t acted fast enough? What if Alex hadn’t been there? What if… what if I’d hurt him instead?

That thought nearly shatters me, and I blink back tears, focusing on the sheriff’s calm presence to keep myself together.

“There’s no doubt in my mind this was self-defense,” Sheriff Clark says. “But we’ll need your statement, as well as Jaz and Alex’s, just to cover all the bases. It’s routine.”

I nod again, barely registering his words. My eyes drift to the yard, where first responders are moving around, the blue and red lights from their vehicles casting eerie shadows on the trees. Devon’s body is already gone, loaded into the coroner’s van, but the image of him on the floor of my kitchen, lifeless and still, is seared into my mind.

“Do you have somewhere to stay tonight?” the sheriff asks.

“No, we can stay here.”

“Maya,” he says softly.

“I mean, we can stay at my parents’ house. They’ll…oh no, I should call them. My mom, my mom will be freaking out.”

“I already have a deputy on the way to get them.”

“No, no, after Megs, my mom she…”

“It’s okay, Maya, let’s focus…” Sheriff Clark replies.

The sound of hurried footsteps pulls me out of my thoughts, and I turn my head just in time to see Garrett sprinting into the backyard. His face is a mix of panic and fear, his eyes locking on me instantly. Sheriff Clark tenses, his hand instinctively going to his weapon, but I lift my hand, stopping him.

“It’s okay,” I say quickly, my voice trembling but firm. “It’s my boyfriend.”

Garrett doesn’t stop until he’s in front of me, dropping to his knees and pulling me into his arms. The moment his arms wrap around me, the walls I’ve been holding up so tightly crumble. My body shakes uncontrollably as tears stream down my face, soaking into his shirt.

“I was so scared,” I whisper, my voice breaking. “I thought… I thought I’d killed Alex. I thought—”

He pulls back just enough to cup my face in his hands, his thumbs brushing away my tears. “You didn’t,” he says firmly, his voice steady and grounding. “You didn’t, Maya. Alex is okay. Jazlyn is okay. You did what you had to do.”

I nod, but the guilt and fear still cling to me like a second skin. He leans in, pressing a soft kiss to my forehead, then my lips, his touch both comforting and overwhelming. For a moment, everything else fades away—Devon, the cops, the chaos—and it’s just him. Just us.

Garrett pulls back, his hand going to the back of Alex’s neck as he looks him directly in the eye.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, we’re okay.”

“Where’s George?”

“They…they took him to the vet,” Jaz sniffles an answer. “Devon kicked him, and he couldn’t get up.”

Garrett curses under his breath as he pulls Jazlyn into a hug. He reaches for Alex, opening his arms and giving him the space to walk into them if he wants to. Alex hesitates before he leans into his dad. Tears fill my eyes as I watch this first real moment between the two of them.

The four of us are standing there in the middle of my backyard and hugging—one big huddle of a hug. I’d cry, but I’m so numb that I don’t know what to feel or even say.

Behind him, I see Laura and Ethan approaching, their faces etched with worry. Laura rushes to the kids, pulling them into a tight hug, her soft murmurs of reassurance reaching my ears even over the pounding of my heart.

“Maya,” Garrett says, his voice pulling my attention back to him. “What happened?”