Page 175 of Small Town Firsts

He sets off down the hall toward her bedroom, where he deposits her onto her bed. She scrambles underneath the covers, pulling them up to her chin.

I hand him the book she’s favored lately, and he lowers himself down onto the edge of her bed, opens the book, and begins reading. Reluctantly, I step out of the room, giving them their privacy.

And by privacy, I mean I hover just outside the door, listening as he reads to her, taking the time to do different voices for all of the characters. Her eyes are drooping when he turns the last page, but she sleepily demands an encore.

She loses the battle to sleep less than two minutes in, and my heart feels like it weighs a million pounds in my chest as I watch him lean down and press his lips to her forehead. He pulls back and stares at her a few moments before setting her book on the nightstand. I haul ass and hurl myself onto the couch, not wanting him to know what a creeper I am.

Though judging from the look on his face, he’s fully aware—then again, my labored breathing is probably a dead giveaway that I haven’t been sitting here calmly waiting.

“So.” He tucks his thumbs into his front pockets and rocks back on his heels.

I stand. “So.”

Lord, this is painfully awkward. “Any chance I could use your restroom before I head out?”

“Oh, yeah. Okay. Sure. It’s the door across from Tatum’s.”

ALDEN

Turning on my heel,I walk to the hall bath. I turn on the faucet and splash my face with some cold water. Tonight has been a lot to take in. But, Tatum is…she’s magical. And something in my gut is saying she’s mine.

I’m about to head back out when something in the trashcan catches my eye.

“What the…” I crouch down to get a closer look. Sure as shit, it’s the paternity test I gave her. A wrath like I’ve never known lights my insides in a blazing inferno.

I storm out of the bathroom and stalk toward Natalie, a.k.a. Mia 2.0—it’s fitting, seeing that she’s a lying, conniving bitch. “You really thought you could fucking fool me?” I’m up in her face, begging for a fight.

“Wh-what are you talking about?” she asks, sounding genuinely confused. But, I know all too well how deceitful women like her can be. To think she almost had me fooled…What’s that fucking saying?Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…Well, thank God I discovered the truth before twice could fully hit.

“That’s cute, Nat.” I laugh a hollow laugh. “Keep up the innocent, woe is me act. But I gotta be real, it’s not very becoming on you.”

She looks up at me with wide tear-filled eyes, but I can’t seem to find it within me to care. “Al-Alden, I r-really don’t know what you m-mean.”

I scoff, disgusted with her antics. “I saw the paternity test in the garbage. There’s only one reason you’d toss it. You figured you had me snowed and didn’t need proof anymore.”

I’m expecting her to beg for forgiveness and understanding. I’m expecting her to plead her case in a mess of snot and tears. But she does neither of those things. Nope. She shoves past me and marches down the hall toward the bathroom.

She returns, box in hand. “This, Alden? You mean this?”

She thrusts the box into my hands, her face red and tears running down her cheeks. It’s then I notice it’s…empty.

“I sent the samples in this morning! I’m not trying to hide anything from you. I made that mistake once already and look how well that turned out.”

Her words, so full of conviction, take the wind out of my sails. “What?” I ask, my brain not quite comprehending what she’s saying.

“I have nothing to hide, Alden.” Her words are a quiet whisper.

Deflated, I drop down onto the couch and hang my head in my hands. “How did everything get so messed up?” I mutter the words more to myself than aloud, but she still hears me.

“This is my fault. All of it. I should have been honest from the start. I know I’ve said it a million times, but I really am sorry.”

I scrub a hand over the stubble on my jaw. “No. Well, yes, but it’s more than that. The way things ended with Mia really fucked me up.”

Natalie cautiously claims the seat next to me. “What’s Mia have to do with us?”

A long, weary sigh escapes my lips. “Nothing. Everything. Fuck.”

“Talk to me, Alden. Please.”

---