Page 90 of Small Town Sizzle

I roll my eyes, but my heart flips at his words. He’s so damn charming, and it’s so easy to be around him. It scares me sometimes—how natural this feels, how quickly he’s become such an important part of my life.

I can feel myself slipping into the negative. I can feel my intrusive thoughts revving up, telling me about how unfair it is that I finally found an incredible man who checks off all my boxes, who treats me like a queen, and he doesn’t know that he’s my nephew’s father. It’s like Megs had to play a cruel joke on me from beyond the grave. My heart hurts at the thought of losing him. I don’t even want to think about that possibility, but no matter how hard I try to dismiss it, it’s still there.

We find my parents in the stands.

“Oh, Garrett,” Mom gushes as she wraps him in a giant bear hug. “Your mama would be so happy that you’ve stuck around.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Greene,” he chuckles.

“It’s good to see you, kid,” my dad says as he shakes his hand.

My mom practically beams as she watches Garrett interact with everyone, especially when Chantelle and Jaz run up to greet us. I can already see her mind working, probably imagining wedding bells and grandkids. My dad is more reserved, but he’s polite and even cracks a joke or two, which is a good sign.

How will my parents react when they find out that he’s Alex’s father? Will they be so kind to him then? Will they understand why Megs didn’t tell any of us? Will they hold that against him for the rest of his life?

As the game starts, Garrett and I settle into our seats, and I’m hyperaware of how close we’re sitting. His arm brushes against mine, and every once in a while, he leans in to say something, his breath warm against my ear. It’s distracting in the best way.

“The team’s not bad,” he says after a particularly good play. “But they’re not as good as we were back in the day.”

“That’s right,” Ethan chips in with a chuckle.

I groan. “Don’t start with me, Garrett. We’ve been over this.”

He laughs. “Just stating facts, Maya.”

“They’ll never give it up,” Laura interjects with a giggle as she rolls her eyes. “They’re holding onto the past a little too hard.”

As the game goes on, we fall into an easy rhythm—teasing each other, sharing popcorn, cheering for the team. There are moments when his hand finds mine, or his knee bumps against mine, and every time, it sends a jolt of electricity through me. It’s like he’s always finding excuses to touch me, to remind me he’s there.

I can see the pride in his eyes when he sees Alex and Mason out on that field together.

“Man, they really do look like us out on that field,” he says offhandedly to his brother. “It’s uncanny.”

I gasp and then cover it with a cough. No one seems to notice, thank goodness. The comment throws me off. Of course the two boys look like Ethan and Garrett out on that field; they’re the next generation of them.

“They’ve been friends for so long, they can read each other like we could,” Ethan adds.

“Man, I can’t believe he’s only a freshman, Maya. He’s incredible.”

He’s so proud, and it gives me hope that maybe he won’t react badly to any of this. Maybe, he’ll be excited about the thought of being Alex’s dad, and he’ll want to make up for lost time.

At one point, during halftime, he leans in close, his voice low. “You’re having fun, right?”

“Yeah,” I say, surprised by how much I mean it. “I am.”

“Good,” he says, his eyes soft as they meet mine. “That’s all I want.”

My chest tightens at his words, and I almost forget how to breathe. He’s so genuine, so… him. And it makes what I have to tell him later all the harder.

As the second half starts, I try to focus on the game, but my mind keeps drifting to the journal in my purse.

How am I going to do this? How do I tell him something that could change everything between us?

Should I have talked to my parents about this first? Mom would have had great advice, I think.

I should have at least run it by Laura. She knows Garrett way better than I do, maybe she could have given me pointers on how to tell him.

But had I spoken these words out loud to anyone else before I told Garrett, I would risk his feelings being hurt that I didn’ttrust him enough to share it. Or he might think that I was keeping it from him, and that’s the last thing that I want.