Page 196 of Can't Always Get What You Want

Wait.

No.

No way.

I look again. Closer.

It’s not a lost AirPods case.

It’s glossy, yes.

And small.

But square.

And it’s been placed in the center of two cans, too carefully to be an accident.

It can’t be.

I blink at the box.

Then I blink at Luca.

Then at the box again.

When I turn back around, he is down on one knee. He exhales sharply—nervous, jittery—and reaches for the middle shelf.

I take a step back, then forward, then back again. I have no idea what to do with my hands. Or my face.

Or my whole body, honestly.

“Oh my…” I whisper, hands covering my mouth, immediately checking for this life milestone. “What are youdoing?”

WHAT IS HE DOING?!?!

“What does it look like I’m doing?” he asks, reaching over to pluck the lacquered box from the shelf like a man about to propose in the canned goods section. “Nova.Babe.”

Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.

He is not!

“Nova Montagalo,” he begins, eyes locked on mine. “The first time I saw you, we were at the ESPY Awards. You were wearing that red dress—and I remember thinking two things at once: that you were the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen…and two, that you weredefinitelyout of my league.”

I choke on a watery laugh as he goes on.

“I don’t know if you remember having to use the ladies’ room that night, but the entire time you were inside it, I kept trying to think of things to say when you walked out. And when you did I froze. Asked you if it went well.” He laughs. “Nothing was more devastating than joining the Baddies and learning I wouldn’t be allowed to date you—not that I would have had the balls to ask you out.”

Tears continue forming in my eyes.

People around us are beginning to notice us. A woman gasps as she rounds the corner with her cart. One of the stock guys gawks as he pushes a flatbed full of water bottles.

But I only see Luca.

“The best day of my life was the day I saw you on that dating app.”

My throat constricts as I whisper, “Mine too.”

“The only thing I’ve ever wanted was a family of my own,” he continues hoarsely. “To have someone love me the way you love me. I want babies with you. I want to build a house with you. And I want to keep having sex with you on Saturday afternoons.”

---