he’d be my second choice. I know he loves you. I saw it with my own eyes the last few times we hung out. I didn’t want to see it, but I did. I do. Then he wore that shirt earlier, and if I’d had any doubts, they would’ve gone away then.”
He saw it?
But wait... “What shirt was he wearing?”
My cousin blew out a breath as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. A moment later, he had the TSN app open and an ad was playing. “Give it a sec,” he warned me when I glanced at him. It was a short pregame video, and a second later, the footage moved to players entering the stadium.
The second one they showed was the only one who mattered.
And when I saw what Boog was talking about, my knees went weak.
He had on a T-shirt I had never seen before—a heather blue one with huge white font on it that said, “THE LAZY BAKER.”
Me. He was wearing me.
“You see?” he asked before hip bumping me. “But for real, I was serious about that ground rule, so you two need to figure it out.”
“Thank you for being okay with it,” I managed to murmur while I kept watching his cell phone screen until they focused on another player arriving.
Had he made the shirt? Had he ordered it? It wasn’t like it mattered, but I couldn’t help but feel this incredible, overwhelming shot of straight-up love filling my veins at what he’d done.
And he hadn’t said anything.
“What am I going to do? Tell you both not to be happy? Loving you, B, is the easiest thing in the world. He never had a chance,” Boogie said, getting me to lift my face up to look at him and that face I really did love so much. I set aside Zac and his shirt for a minute. “Some things do good by themselves, but some things do better together, like cheese and burgers.”
I nodded at him, keeping my eyes wide so that I wouldn’t tear up still. “Cheeseburgers are pretty amazing.”
My cousin grinned. I shoved his shoulder a little, and he shoved mine right back.
“I told Liz that night after you dropped him off at the hospital that it was only gonna be a matter of time.”
Boogie and I both turned around to the row above us to find Paw-Paw with a smile on his face. It was him that had made the comment. Liz was Zac’s mom’s first name.
“Paw-Paw,” Ms. Travis groaned from her spot beside him. She had a temporary tattoo on her cheek with Zac’s number 4 on it, and his jersey on under her jacket.
The older man put his hands palm down on his chest, covering the White Oaks logo of the thick jacket he had on. “I did say it. I’m not lyin’. The last time Zac came by and he told us all about Bianca, didn’t I say it again?”
She blew out a breath and glanced at me with a faint smile. “You did.”
Oh man. I hadn’t even thought about being quiet or telling Paw-Paw or Ms. Travis about… us—not when it was just yesterday that he’d said anything.
Maybe Zac had wanted to tell them? Maybe… he didn’t want them to know?
Nah.
Well, too late now anyway.
Folding my hands together, I looked up at both of them with hope in my heart. “Are you both okay with me and Zac seeing each other?”
“You’re going to be doing more than seeing each other,” my fucking sister scoffed under her breath as she pretended to look toward the field, but I didn’t take my eyes away from the two Travis family members. I kicked her in the leg instead.
“Yes,” Ms. Travis confirmed, that faint smile turning into a fierce one. “I need help keepin’ that boy in line. I hope you’re up for it.”
I was up for it, and I told her so with a laugh.
A second later, my phone vibrated from inside of my pocket, and I took it out, wondering who would be texting me. Deepa?
The name on the screen had me freezing.
ZAC THE SNACK PACK: You make it?
I smiled down at my screen.
Me: Yes. Paw-Paw and your mom are behind us.
Me: Connie glued a mustache to my face, by the way.
I got a response almost immediately.
ZAC THE SNACK PACK: A mustache??
Me: A blue one. I think Trevor might have done the sign of the cross when he saw it.