“So,” Sawyer said, settling into the chair across from me, “how are we doing? Scale of one to ‘I'm booking the first flight to hide out somewhere tropical.’”
“Somewhere around a two?” I took a sip of my latte and sighed. “This is really good coffee.”
“The owner will be so pleased. He takes it as a personal insult when people don't appreciate his foam art.”
I glanced down and realized he'd made a little heart.
“It's perfect.” I tilted my head. “So...what’s the story we’re gonna tell your family?”
He leaned back in his chair. “Honestly? My family’s known I’ve had a thing for you for a minute now. Not exactly a secret around here. So, when we say we started talking after... Well, they’ll probably just ask how I pulled that off.”
I caught the blush creeping up his neck and smirked. “Oh, really?”
“Can you blame me? Turns out, you’re pretty damn easy to like off-screen too. So maybe we say we started talking after the night everything went down, took it slow, and well—now we’re dating.”
“Alright, I can work with that.”
The bell above the door chimed, interrupting our conversation.
Sawyer smiled and raised his hand in greeting at the sandy-haired officer who strolled in. “Henry.”
“Sawyer James,” Henry said, genuine warmth in his voice. “Good to see you back in town, even if it's just for a visit.”
“Good to be back.” Sawyer stood to shake his hand. “Henry, meet Ellie. Ellie, this is Henry Reynolds. We grew up together.”
Henry gave me a polite nod. His expression was calm and unreadable, as if he either didn’t recognize me or didn’t see the need to, which was a nice change of pace.
“Nice to meet you,” he said, extending his hand.
“You too.” I smiled and shook his hand.
“This is my partner, Matt Rogers.” Henry gestured to the slightly older officer with gray hair. “He just transferred from Shadow Ridge.”
Matt nodded hello, and I could see him trying to place me, but he was polite enough not to say anything.
“So,” Henry said to Sawyer, “heard you bought the old place on Maplewood.”
Sawyer grinned. “You heard right. Time to put down roots.”
“That house has some history,” Henry said carefully.
“Yeah, well, I'm not superstitious.” Sawyer shrugged. “It's got good bones, and the price was right.”
Henry chuckled. “Fair enough. Well, welcome back to town.”
After they moved to the counter to order, I turned to Sawyer. “They seem nice.”
“Henry's good people. We played football together in high school.” Sawyer's expression darkened slightly. “His brother, on the other hand... Well, that's a story for another day.”
I wanted to ask about that, but my phone chose that moment to explode with notifications. Alert after alert flooded my screen, and my stomach dropped as I read the headlines.
NFL Star Sawyer James and Singer Ellie Miles: Officially Dating!
Ellie Miles Breaks Silence on New Relationship with Sawyer James.
Pop Star Ellie Miles and NFL Star Sawyer James Officially a Couple—Fans React!
“Sawyer,” I said, turning my phone so he could see.
