Page 214 of The Fake Date Agreement

He kisses the back of my hand. “Because you understandhimand what’s important to him. And you care.”

“Oh.”

The lights change, and we drive on. Downtown Lamont isn’t as hectic as it usually is. With most of the university emptied out for spring break, there are thousands fewer people in town than usual.

“What about you? Is your family coming to the game?”

He pulls to a stop outside a glass and stainless-steel hotel that stretches into the sky.

“I don’t know, Tobie. Nessa has been trying to convince our parents, but they’re stubborn. I finally told them how I felt about hockey and how much it means to me.”

“And?”

His smile is sad. “Nothing. I’ve heard nothing from them. I made my choice, and I guess it was the wrong one for them. Who knows when or even if I’ll ever see them again?”

“I could get Nessa if your parents agreed,” I offer. “You said they wouldn’t want her sitting alone, and she wouldn’t be if I went to Boston to bring her here. I would be with her.”

He tugs on my hand. “Come here,Gatinha.”

Confused, I unsnap my seat belt, and he urges me into his lap so I’m straddling him. A valet is standing literally right outside his window, but Javier neither seems to notice nor care.

“For that,” he says softly, leaning in to kiss me, “I would marry you on the spot.”

My eyes widen. “You don’t mean that.”

“There are fewer things I’ve meant more.” He gives me a searching look. “We all need to talk about what comes next. Together.”

“I know,” I agree, looping my arms around his shoulders. “After the game and once we’ve gotten Caleb better so he doesn’t miss it.”

He kisses me so long and deep that when we eventually get out, my knees give way. After he saves me, he tips the valet and leads me into the hotel, the glass doors silently sliding open.

I’m too busy ogling our sumptuous surroundings that when I glimpse my reflection in a mirrored wall, I blanch.

This is not the done-up Tobie.

This is the sweatpants-wearing, hair just short of a tangle, glasses not sitting straight on my face version of Tobie, safe for my dorm room on a weekday evening when no one will see me but Max. And I didn’t even realize it until now.

I’m not just out in public. I’m in a five-star hotel.

“Gatinha?”

My eyes fly to Javier. “Yeah?”

He draws me closer to his side. “Everything okay?”

I try to work out how to tell him I can’t believe I’m out here looking so scruffy. It’s hard to do with the woman at the front desk literally rightthere.

And then I realize I don’t care.

Not as much as I would have before.

Not because three men love me, and I love them. Or… not only.

Because over this last semester, I started to accept me for me. Not just my body, my wants and needs, but all of it. So what if I’m out in sweatpants with my hair a tangled mess?

I’m never going to see this woman again, and the only people who I want to think I’m beautiful do.

I squeeze his hand. “Fine. Everything is fine.”

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