“Well, I for one love tacos and I can eat them any day of the week,” I chime in.
Garrett grins before turning to Lance. “See, he has no issues. I’m heading home. Y’all can come now if you want or whenever.”
“I’m going to get Hilary and the kids, then I’ll be over,” Lance says as he walks out the door.
“I’ll follow you there,” I tell Garrett. I’m hoping maybe I’ll catch a glimpse of Paige. If not, I may text her and ask if I can see her when I leave Raegan and Garrett’s.
As I pull into a parking spot, I notice her car. I walk with Garrett to his apartment and follow him inside. I hear voices as we step inside. My ears must be playing tricks on me because I swear I hear Paige. Man, I really do have it bad for the girl.
I hear a little girl call for her mommy, and just as Garrett walks from in front of me to grab a beer out of the refrigerator, I see Paige scoop a child up into her arms. What the hell is going on?
“Paige?” I ask as I walk towards her.
Her eyes widen when she sees me and she looks as though she may cry. “H-hey, Austin.”
“Mommy, who is this?” the little girl asks her.
I turn away and notice Raegan’s eyes are wide too. Garrett whispers something to her and she leans back and whispers something else. Suddenly I feel like I don’t need to be here. At least not unless someone tells me what is going on.
“This is a friend of Mommy’s. His name is Austin,” Paige tells the little girl. Then she looks at me and takes a deep breath. “Austin, this is my four year old daughter Darla.”
She’s terrified right now. I can see it in her eyes. She’s probably scared I’m going to freak out. I can’t lie, I’m upset she didn’t tell me about this sooner, but I can quickly get over it.
“Hi, Darla, it’s nice to meet you.” I grab the little girl’s hand and give it a kiss.
“What happened to your arm?” she asks innocently. Paige gasps but I shake it off. She’s only four years old, she doesn’t know any better.
“The doctor had to take it off,” I tell her.
“You had an owie? I get owies sometimes. Mommy makes them better.”
I laugh. “Yeah, I had a bad owie.”
“Darla, why don’t you go play, sweetie?” Paige tells her as she sets her down.
I watch as the little girl runs away from us before looking back at Paige. “So this is why you wouldn’t make many plans with me?”
She nods her head slowly. “I understand if you’re upset with me. I was going to tell you about her, I promise.”
“You should have told me, Paige,” I whisper to her.
“I wanted to, but I needed to protect her. She’s all I have.”
“So that ex, he’s her dad?” I ask.
She nods. “She doesn’t know him, though, and he’s about to move, so please don’t say anything out loud.”
“I won’t. I understand why you didn’t tell me.” I swallow.
Raegan walks up, breaking into our conversation, and I’m a little glad about that. “You guys okay?” Her eyebrow is raised and I understand her concern.
“Yeah, we’re good,” I tell her.
We break away from our little circle as Lance and Hilary come walking in with the kids. Everyone starts talking and it’s easy to forget Paige just dropped a bomb on me. I have nothing against kids. I’ve never thought of dating a girl with a kid, but dating Paige with a kid, that feels different.
Chapter 23
Paige