Page 116 of Once Upon a Fake Date

Because there was Parker, standing outside on the sidewalk, holding a bouquet of pink roses with that smile that he only wore for me.

Meeting him halfway, I came to a stop in front of him, wearing a pair of denim shorts and a cute pink polka dot top tied in a knot at my waist. It showed the slightest sliver of midriff, but it was a warm day for May, so I was perfectly comfortable. I’d been unpacking the last of the boxes from my room at the sorority house, working up a sweat.

My boyfriend handed me the flowers, and I took them automatically, staring down at the beautiful roses.

“What are these for?” I asked, burying my nose in them.

“Can’t a guy buy his girlfriend flowers without needing a reason?” Parker looped his arm around my shoulders as he walked me back inside. “Especially when they just moved into their first apartment together?”

I shrugged, hiding my smile as I held the flowers tighter to my chest. “I suppose.”

“That’s my girl,” he said, nuzzling his nose against mine.

Fake girlfriend or not, I’dalwaysbeen his girl, hadn’t I?

As of today, it was officially summer. My bedroom in the sorority house was now empty. Parker had moved out of the lacrosse house, too, and since neither one of us hadactualfurniture, we’d bought ourselves a bed. The rest of the furniture in the apartment was thankfully supplied by both of our families, who were very eager to pawn things off onto us.

Our apartment was basically fully furnished, though, so I couldn’t complain. My childhood desk sat next to Parker’s. The spot where I’d written our names in a heart with a Sharpie underneath my desk was still there, feeling like a wonderful twist of fate. We’d lost each other for so many years, but then we’d found each other again. Maybe the universe had known what it was doing when it gave me Parker as a child. Like it knew one day, he’d be my everything.

“I love you,” I murmured against his ear as we walked into our apartment together.

Parker’s face lit up like it always did when I told him how I felt. “I love you too.”

I leaned against him, feeling grateful beyond words.

He wasn’t completely off the hook from lacrosse yet since they had the playoffs starting next week. Luckily, I’d be able to catch every game—well, as long as they kept winning—and I was so excited to scream for my man. His parents were going to come down too, and even though it had been a long time, I already couldn’t wait to see Mrs. Maxwell. She’d been so good to me when we were younger, and Parker had assured me she was ecstatic that we were together.

It was going to be the best summer ever, and it was all because of the man by my side.

“What are you thinking about?” Parker asked as I sighed happily, resting my head on his shoulder.

“How lucky I am.”

Ella and I had talked every night since she’d left for the summer, and we really talked. She told me about Cam, about how they’d been talking about the future, and I shared about everything that had happened over the semester with Parker and I. Well, almost everything. Some moments were too special to share.

Still, I wasdeliriouslyhappy. It should have been illegal to smile this much.

“Me too.” He scooped me up into his arms, carrying me the rest of the way into our apartment.

“Put me down,” I giggled.

He flashed his pearly white teeth at me. “Nah. Think I’m going to carry you around everywhere from now on, Rosie Girl.” Parker winked.

I rolled my eyes, loving the attention. The way he doted on me was sweet. I didn’t have to second guess his feelings for me, because he showed me every day how much he loved me through his actions and his words.

“You know…” I murmured, cupping his cheeks. “We haven’t christened our new bedroom yet.” I wiggled my eyebrows.

“And here I planned to feed you,” Parker said, making atskingsound with his tongue as he dropped me on my feet.

I hummed for a moment as if thinking it over. “Bed first,” I responded. “Food later.”

He laughed, and damn if it wasn’t my favorite sound in the entire world.

What I’d learnedin the last week was that Parker’s teammates reallylovedto tease him about us. He’d invited a few of the guys over to our place after practice this week. They were all spending a lot of time each day on the field and in the gym, so I knew how important it was for them to have some time to relax and unwind, too.

Samuel was quickly becoming one of my favorites, mostly because he and Parker were the closest and I liked how wholesome their friendship was.

“He tried to deny how into you he was from the beginning,” Samuel said with a laugh. “But it was so obvious from the moment he saw you at the Halloween party that you two were going to end up together.”

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