Page 166 of Can't Always Get What You Want

All eyes turn to him.

“Not before she admits she’s madly in love with me and she’s my girlfriend.”

The room collectively gasps.

I gape at him. “You are unbelievable.”

“Say it, Starshine,” he insists, smug as hell, arms folded likehe didn’t just bleed through three shifts and run a mile in skates. “Sing my little jailbird.”

I want to murder him.

Hailey swoons onto a folding chair, practically melting onto the floor. “Say it, Nova. He stormed the basement of an arena for you.”

“I’ll say it when you admit you’ve been in love with me since you saw me at the ESPY Awards,” I fire back.

“Pfft,” he counters. “I’ve already admitted that to your brother.”

Oh.

Oh…

He has?

“Shoot me now.” Gio curses, stabbing the clipboard with his pen. “This wait is worse than childbirth.”

“Fine,” I announce defiantly, grabbing the bars with both hands. “You want a declaration?”

He lifts his chin. “Hit me with your best shot.”

The entire holding cell holds its collective breath. Someone dims the lights (unclear how or why), and it feels like we’re the only two in the room, despite the audience.

“I, Nova Montagalo,” I shout, like I’m breaking a curse. My curse. “Am hopelessly,stupidlyin love with Luca Babineaux—and I want to spend the next few weeks making everything up to him. And making up for lost time.” I suck in a breath. “You are the most amazing man and I’m sorry.”

I can’t say sorry enough.

The security guard sniffles. “This is better thanBridgerton.”

“I’m sorry,” I repeat. “For freaking out. For not saying I love you back the first time—and for taking so long to realize that being scared doesn’t mean I don’t feel everything in my body when I look at you.”

Luca holds his breath.

“Also.” I clear my throat. “I’d very much like to kiss you again. And maybe other things.Later.Not in here.”

Luca grabs the bars like he might bend them open with sheer emotional willpower.

“Nova,” he says, voice low and shaking. “You just made me fall in love with you all over again.”

Gio slaps the clipboard onto the guard’s desk. “For the love of Christ—if someone doesn’t open this door in the next thirty seconds, I’m filing a grievance with the League and you’ll all be watching recaps from your couches for the rest of the season.”

“Why are you such a buzzkill?” the drunk asks, breaking the stunned silence. “Dude, I thought you werecool.”

The guard jingles her keys at Luca.

He nods. “Guard. Can you please let my girlfriend out of her jail cell?”

His girlfriend.

The guard, who’s openly crying into her sleeve, finally unlocks the gate and steps aside with all the flair of a game show host.

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