Page 84 of The Romance Rivalry

“Well, hate to break it to you, Irene, but I win,” I say.

“What do you mean, you win? They just explained that it’s a tie. There is no winner in a tie. And we never settled on a tiebreaker. Anyways, I kinda like the thought of it ending in a tie. We’re both winners because we have each other,” she says in an adorable aegyo. She leans over and pecks me on the lips. I grab her before she pulls away and give her a harder and longer kiss before letting her go.

“Charles, tell the group what my supposed unchecked trope is.”

“Instalove,” Charles says.

“See? Now, unless there’s some other person you’re in love with that I don’t know about...” Irene holds out her arms like she’s proven her point.

“Check the box, Charles,” I say to my friend. He smiles wickedly back at me. He’s the only one who knows. Until now.

“That’s cheating. The challenge is over. You can’t tell me you’ve suddenly fallen in love with... who? Wait. WHO IS SHE?” Irene is up on her feet, her nostrils flaring. Ready to take down whoever this mystery person I’ve fallen instantly in love with is.

“Irene, I fell in love with you the moment I saw you,” I confess.

She falls to her knees in front of me and narrows her eyes. “Liar. I was there, remember? You harassed me in our lit class. You forced me to be your partner. You...”

“That wasn’t the first time I saw you,” I admit. “The first time was when I stumbled on your account and you were reviewing a book.Flowers from the Stormby Laura Kinsale.”

Her eyes widen in shock. “I love that book,” she whispers.

“I know. You said so in your review. You cried.” I swallow back my own emotion. I remember it so clearly. This beautiful girl, full of energy and spark, talking about a romance between a duke committed to an asylum and a Quaker who learns to communicate with him. I was mesmerized.

Her eyes begin to fill with tears now and I pull her to me, bringing her down into my lap. “Baby, don’t cry. It was a beautiful review. I’d never seen anyone be that free with her passion before. I was a goner. I knew I wanted more. I went to your profile and watched at least two hours of your reviews and posts. It inspired me to read more. You inspired me to start my own channel. I hoped... well, I hoped I would be able to get to know you.”

“What? Are you serious?” Her expression is so open, so amazed, so... “You stalked me?”

She scrambles off my lap.

“I didn’tstalkyou,” I say. Although now that I think about it, I can see how it might sound a little creepy to her. “I just wanted to be around you. I wanted to get to know you. And the internet, and the college gods, apparently, helped make that happen.”

“That’s weird,” Jeannette says.

“It’s not weird,” I disagree.

“I mean, I didn’t think it was weird when you first told me at orientation. But now, not gonna lie, it sounds a little weird,” Charles admits.

I stare around at my friends, the people who supposedly like me the most, and can’t believe they’re accusing me of being weird. “It’s romantic,” I say.

“Um, is it, though?” Irene asks. But there’s a sparkle in her eye and she’s trying very hard not to let the smile free.

“You tell me, Irene. Is it romantic?” I ask her.

“Okay, fine. It’s kinda romantic. I’ll give you that.”

“Yes. Instalove, check. I win.” I say.

“Congratulations, baby,” Irene says as she kisses me on my eye, on my nose, on my cheek, and finally on my lips. “But I just gotta say... I’m feeling a lot like a winner myself these days.”

Looks like we all win... and Happily Ever After is a pretty sweet prize.

Epigraph

My favorite part of time-travel romances is when the past is sprinkled with all those Easter eggs that help make sense of the things going on in the present. Those aha moments between the author and the reader, the inside jokes where we point to each other’s eyes in an “I see you” way. Those are so fucking fun. But best of all, they help us realize that love starts somewhere... and sometimes even before our two MCs have ever met. So satisfying.

—@aidentheguyreadsromance

Epilogue

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