“Yes,” AJ responded quickly and firmly.
“Then tell her. Tell her what you want for your life, for her life, and for the baby’s life. And do it today. Do not make that girl have to go to bed one more night questioning what is going on in your head.”
AJ nodded, and Niko pulled away from the curb.
Niko let go of the steering wheel for two seconds, lifted his hands in frustration as he asked the universe at large, “And what thefuckis Gianna doing here?!”
4
The first notesof Pachelbel's Canon floated through the air, and the entire crowd rose as one, murmuring in a unison that made the moment feel rehearsed and inevitable.
Tiana, who was a hopeless romantic, despite all evidence to the contrary, felt the sound and emotion settle into her nervous system like a tranquilizer dart. Watching two people publicly proclaim their undying love to one another never failed to act as a balm to her frazzled soul. The messages she’d received from the WAGs remained buzzing around as active live wires in her brain, causing her to be on edge. Her phone represented an emotional IED ready to detonate and blow up her life at any moment, but she’d put it in her purse, silenced it, and done her best to force it to the back of her mind. For the next twenty minutes she wanted to lose herself in the world of true love.
She felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes as Mrs. Costas made her triumphant entrance, the Greek matriarch’s hands tucked into the crooks of her twin grandsons’ elbows. The effect was both regal and touchingly vulnerable. Yaya, as all of Hope Falls called her, was five feet tall if she wore her lucky heels, and this evening she’d gone for comfort in ballet flats. And shewasn’t alone. The Costas twins on either side towered over her, but they moved as a unified front, every step measured to match her deliberate shuffle. Their faces—handsome to the point of unfairness—were mirror images of each other, thick, dark hair swept back, angular cheekbones, and chiseled jaws outlined by carefully maintained scruff. Their eyes, light golden brown surrounded by thick lashes that women paid good money to have, perfectly complemented their olive-skinned faces, but only one flashed a light of mischief as they guided their grandmother through the throng.
Of course he was the one Tiana was drawn to. He walked on the right side of his grandma, and despite their physical similarities he exuded a magnetism that the other twin did not possess
Tiana didn’t just see him, she felt him, as though he drew the oxygen from around her and replaced it with a pulse. Just like the first time she’d seen Niko Costas ten years earlier, time warped, now moving in slow motion. She watched the corners of his eyes crease and a dimple appear in his right cheek as he bent and whispered something to Yaya that made her laugh out loud.
As she watched him, Tiana tried to shake off the sensation that she was a protagonist in a rom-com. But as the trio continued down the aisle, Niko lifted his gaze and locked eyes with her. She felt the jolt of awareness deep in her belly, a sudden spark zinging down her spine. The world blurred at the edges, leaving only the sharp tingle of his gaze and the amused quirk of his mouth. Tiana’s breath hitched.
He didn’t look away when their eyes met. In fact, he seemed to absorb her attention, holding it for the entire walk down the aisle. Tiana’s skin tingled, her heart pattered in her chest, and by the time he’d passed her row, she was dizzy and her knees were weak.
For the ten years she’d been with Brock, she’d been aware of Niko Costas, she’d seen him on the periphery of the sports world, and she’d harbored a secret schoolgirl crush on him. She’d seen him but not spoken to him at the first ESPYs she’d attended when she began dating Brock. Then, over the years, she’d witnessed behavior, behind-the-scenes behavior, and heard whispers about him that had only caused her crush to amplify. Not behavior that was plastered on the tabloids or used for clickbait. They weren’t about his fighting or the women. Eight years ago, she’d seen him speaking to a valet at a golf tournament she attended. She had needed to take a moment for herself due to some anxiety she was feeling, and she was hiding out in an alcove that she thought was very hidden. A valet ended up having the same idea, and he also came to the area but didn’t see her. She stayed where she was, not announcing her presence because she didn’t want to embarrass the kid. She was still hidden when she heard a male voice asking where the restrooms were. That’s when she heard the valet, who couldn’t have been more than sixteen, clear his throat and say, “They are down the main hall to the left, Mr. Costas. Would you like me to show you?”
Niko then asked, “Hey, man, are you okay?”
The kid said, “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.”
His voice clearly indicated that he wasnotfine.
Tiana had no clue what Niko did, but after a few minutes of silence, the kid broke down. He said that his father had passed away two years earlier, and his mom was ill, so he was the sole provider for his five siblings and himself. He was working three jobs and trying to finish school. They had just gotten an eviction notice, and he had no idea what he was going to do because his mom needed full-time care, but if she went into a home, his siblings would be split up. By the time he finished talking, Tiana was silently crying.
Niko listened, and all he said was, “Don’t worry man, I got you.”
The kid said, “Thanks for listening.”
Niko told him, “Listening was just the beginning.”
They walked away, and Tiana went back to the party. A week later, Tiana went back to check on the valet. She’d brought ten thousand dollars, which was all the personal money she had in her own account, and was going to offer to pay for in-home care for his mother. When she arrived, she was told the valet, Danny, no longer worked there and given no other information. She went back to her car wondering how she could follow up on him when a very twitterpated caddy rushed up to her and informed her that Niko Costas had played ‘fairy godfather’ to Danny. He’d not only got Danny’s mom full-time round-the-clock in-home care, but he’d also hired help with the kids and set up college funds for each of them. He set up a trust fund that Danny could use for household expenses so he no longer had to work, and he could focus on his family.
She didn’t know if that was the first of his ‘fairy godfathering,’ but she definitely knew it wasn’t the last. She’d heard that Niko found out about a maintenance man at the Waves stadium whose wife was battling cancer and him paying the man’s salary so he could spend her last two years by her side before returning to his job. A woman at the coffee shop he frequented had six kids and mentioned that her washer and dryer had broken down. The next day, two brand new Whirlpool’s showed up on her doorstep. When he found out a husband of one of the PTs was harassing her during their divorce, he paid him a visit and no one knows what he said or did, but the man not only never gave her an ounce of trouble again, he also ended up giving her an extra grand a month for alimony. He’d supported and stood by dozens of teammates withpersonal issues spanning from addictions, mental health issues, illnesses, and scandals.
Those were stories no one knew about. He remained anonymous when people tried to thank him for his generosity. He refused to accept any accolades or even thanks for being what he described as the bare minimum of a decent human. She was only aware of the charitable acts she hadn’t witnessed herself because WAGs talked, and whenever his name was brought up, typically one of them had a story about him to share in that vein.
She’d intentionally kept her distance from him because she’d always felt guilty for her crush. She’d tried so hard not to feel the way she did, but the first time she saw him at that awards show, she and Brock had only been dating for a month. And it’s not like she indulged it or dwelled on it. The moment she laid eyes on him, it was like a lightning bolt shot through her body.
Tiana had that same sensation now as she watched, dazed, as the Costas trio made their way to where the groom waited under the arch. Both grandsons pressed a kiss to Yaya’s cheeks before handing her off to her groom-to-be.
“You may now be seated,” Pastor Harrison instructed, and everyone sat down.
Pops held onto her arm for leverage as he took his seat next to Tiana. Once he was settled, she too sat and was grateful to get off her wobbly legs, still feeling the aftershocks of their eye contact in her bones, as though something fundamental in her had shifted.
Tiana had always been susceptible tobigfeelings. Since childhood, she’d felt the world too acutely, with colors brighter, sounds sharper, and emotions more immediate and overwhelming. Maybe she was born that way, or maybe it was her environment. She would never know. But one of the reasons she’d made her life in a small town—why she ran a private yoga studio instead of relocating to the big city—was that she neededthe space to breathe, the room tofeelwithout being annihilated by the environment surrounding her. But Niko was different. He was the only person who had ever rattled her to her core, so deeply, in a matter of seconds.
Her thoughts swirled like a tornado. Was this her Hope Falls Effect moment? The town was famous for them: newcomers falling madly in love, long-lost relatives reuniting, spontaneous career changes, and all sorts of life-altering magic that made the place so damn endearing. But she knew it was just a marketing campaign to get tourism year-round. HFEs were not real. That’s not what she’d just experienced. What she felt had to be his pheromones.
Tiana’s heart continued to beat at twice it’s normal rate as she told herself to ignore her nervous system and focus on the wedding itself. As she did that, she couldn’t help but notice that everyone around her was coupled off. On her row alone, the chief of police and fire captain, Eric and Jake, who were also brothers, were seated with their wives, Tessa and Lily. In the row in front of her were the Dorsey brothers Lucky, Logan, and Levi and their wives, Deanna, Emma, and Shelby. Behind her sat the Wells sisters, who owned Brewed Awakenings coffee shop, Ava, Viv, and Grace, with their husbands, Asher, Glenn, and Easton. Just like in the classic holiday movieLove Actually, love was all around.
