Page 189 of The Fake Date Agreement

I try Javier. Same thing.

And Reid?

This can’t be a good thing when none of them are answering their phones, right?

At eight, I’ve called them three more times each, and I’m debating whether to call them again and hoping it won’t make me look desperate when I spot a cab outside.

That has to be them. Maybe they were in a rush and forgot their phones?

I stuff my phone in my purse and gather the hem of my dress as I get to my feet.

I’m smiling until I see who steps out of the cab.

Not Reid, Caleb, or even Javier.

Marc.

He jogs up the stairs, and the doorman opens the door for him. And he comes to a sudden halt when he spots me.

He still has a black eye from his short-sighted attempt to punch Caleb in the back of the head. It’s not as dark as I thought it would be so he must have applied concealer to hide the worst of it.

Javier said he would find something that made Marc lose the ability to use his words. I hadn’t believed him.

Mission accomplished. Such a dress does exist.

He’s in a tux, but I can’t imagine anyone would have invited him to this event. Not after the way Caleb practically threatened to kill him when he turned up at my dorm to talk to me and wouldn’t leave.

He looks as handsome as he always has, yet I don’t see him the way I used to. Before, a suit would make me weak at the knees. Now, his appearance does nothing for me.

“That dress is…” He shakes his head and approaches. “Beautiful.”

I remember Javier’s words from before. He said if Marc only sees me when I’m in makeup and a dress, he doesn’t deserve to see me at all.

Javier said it’s about the woman, not the dress. That’s what Marc is seeing. He’s not seeing me. He stopped seeing me years ago.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

He seems tense but determined. “I came to talk to you.”

I peek over his shoulder. “We can’t talk now. I’m waiting for?—”

“The three players who have been using you?”

A flare of anger sparks up in me, surprising me.

I don’t like confrontation, but everyone has their limit, and Marc has pushed and pushed at mine. “I think you should leave.”

A blonde woman at the check-in desk is eyeing us with interest when Marc grips my arm and leads me to the side of the lobby. “This is important, Tobie.”

I try to pull my arm free. “I see, so you weren’t interested in me anymore, but now that Reid, Caleb, and Javier are paying me attention, you want me back?”

He flattens his lips. “It isn’t like that.”

“It feels an awful lot like that to me. Like I’m the last loaf of bread in the store that you didn’t want until someone else put it in their cart and suddenly you want toast.” I cringe. Maybe one day, I’ll get better at this confrontation business because what just came out of my mouth doesn’t make much sense.

“I love you, Tobie.”

I pull on my arm. “No, because if you loved me, you wouldn’t have slept with another girl behind my back. Would you?”

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