Page 20 of Tessa and Nash

Her voice is calm. Too calm. It’s the same voice she used when Clay first talked about leaving for the circuit. When Boone told her Ellie was his. When Dallas brought home paperwork instead of excuses.

I open my mouth.

Nothing comes out.

Boone watches me over his glass.

Boone has always been the bar. The standard. If he’s not disappointed yet, it’s because he’s giving me time to explain myself.

Dallas doesn’t need explanations. He just waits long enough for lies to trip over their own feet.

“I just didn’t want to make a big deal out of it,” I say finally, grasping for something that sounds reasonable.

“That ship has sailed,” Faith mutters, not unkindly.

Lila tilts her head, studying me. “Do we know her?”

“Yes,” I say immediately.

Too quickly.

Every adult at the table looks at me.

Great. Perfect. Outstanding work, Nash.

Rose smiles. She believes in people the way some folks believe in gravity. Faith believes in effort, in fixing things before they break.

Rose murmurs. “She must be special.”

My chest twists.

Because that’s the problem. This lie would be easier if it didn’t touch something real. If I didn’t want that word to fit someday. If I wasn’t so tired of being the one people laugh with but don’t lean on.

Mom folds her hands. “You could have told us.”

I picture her disappointment settling in. That recalculation behind her eyes, the one that says she expected better of me.

I didn’t want to be a screw-up.

I wanted them to take me seriously.

I picture Boone’s disappointment if I say it out loud. Dallas’s quiet concern. Mom’s silence… the worst kind, the kind that says she’s already shifting who she thought I was.

I’ve spent my whole life being the fun one. The idea guy. The one with big plans and unfinished edges.

I can’t be that guy again. Not tonight.

But as I part my lips, with no clue what’s about to come out of my mouth, Wyatt lets out a delighted shriek and slams both hands on the table.

“Peas!” he announces.

Before Rose can react, he sweeps his arm across his plate.

Green arcs through the air.

One lands in Boone’s water glass. Another hits Faith’s sleeve. A third bounces directly off Rusty’s nose.

Rusty startles, then immediately decides this is the best thing that’s ever happened. He lunges forward, scrambling under the table, tail wagging so hard it thumps against chair legs.