Page 38 of False Start

Sebastian looked ready to pout when Kyle bent to one knee in front of him.

“Who’s Titan?”

Sebastian’s cheeks went pink, and he looked at the ground before softly replying. “My gecko.”

My heart broke at how disappointed my son looked that I’d said no, but Kyle didn’t miss a beat.

“A gecko?! That’s so cool! I can’t wait to meet him. I’ll have to look up presents for geckos. Do you have any ideas? I gotta make a good first impression if he means so much to you.”

Sebastian grinned a little. “Geckos don’t getpresents,” he said on a giggle.

“Why not? Everyone likes gifts. Come on, what should I get him? Does he like... toy cars?”

Sebastian laughed. “No!”

“Does he like soccer balls?”

Another laugh. “No! He’s a lizard!”

“Well, help me out then!”

“He likes crickets,” Sebastian offered, and as soon as he did, Kyle snapped his fingers.

“Crickets it is.”

Sebastian was placated, though he still looked a bit sad.

“Trust me,” Kyle said, looking my son right in the eye. “I’m not going anywhere. We’ll have all the time in the world for Titan and anything else you want to show me.”

Sebastian’s little brows pulled together, like that concept was foreign to him. Then, he smiled so big it showed off two front teeth he was going to lose soon, and I had to look up at the sky to fight off whatever emotion was trying to strangle me.

I told Sebastian to start packing up our picnic. He loved to help clean up — always had. And as he worked on folding the picnic blanket, I ran a hand through my hair, shaking my head a bit before my eyes found Kyle.

“I guess we’re really doing this.”

Kyle smirked, his glass-like eyes looking a bit more blue than green with the sky stretching out behind him. “I guess we are.”

My stomach fluttered at the wing tips of a hundred butterflies with the way he looked at me, but I quickly put a lid on that.

I was thankful for his help. It was sweet. It was kind. It was a way to give me a bit of peace while I worked on finding him a house, and then I’d have my commission and Sebastian and I could leave, and Kyle could go back to his superstar life.

This is temporary, I reminded myself.

And I’dkeepreminding myself until those stupid butterflies died.

Kyle

“Why do you look so nervous?”

Braden turned to look at me from the driver’s seat of his beat-up piece-of-shit car the following Friday. I’d considered hiring a driver along with a few decoys for this trip to the airport, but when Braden offered to drive, I realized there was no better way to fly under the radar.

There was no way inhellanyone would think an NFL player was in this car — let alone two.

“I don’t,” was my answer.

“The only one looking at your sorry ass right now is me,” he said pointedly. “And trust me when I say you look like you’re two seconds away from being caught cheating on a math quiz.”

I cracked my neck, hanging one arm out the window and watching the trees pass. “You know how I feel about weddings.”