The next test arrived at Noah and Jess’s engagement barbecue. We walked into their backyard together while someone argued with a speaker and somebody else tried to establish official cornhole rules. Maya noticed several friends exchange looks, leaned close, and said people were staring. I told her to let them, pleased with how confident I sounded, and she squeezed my hand as though she believed I meant it.
For an hour, everything was easy. Then Jess’s aunt approached us beside the drinks table, looked from Maya to me, and announced that everyone had known we would eventually get together. Maya laughed when the aunt claimed she had once described us as either secretly dating or emotionally incompetent. Then the woman smiled at Maya and asked, “So, is he your boyfriend now?”
Maya glanced at me. It was a tiny movement, a simple invitation to say yes in front of someone else, and I felt the attention on us as suddenly as a hand against my back. I smiled and said, “Apparently, I’m under new management.” The aunt laughed, Maya joined her for half a second, and I mistook the sound for evidence that I had handled the moment well.
