Page 212 of The Fake Date Agreement

“I’m bruised and sore, but that’s not nearly enough to stop me from looking after my woman. I wish I had a bath, but a shower will have to do for now.”

He carries me into his shower, and we spend more time kissing than cleaning each other. When he turns to press my front to the shower wall, I assume I know where things are going.

“Close your eyes and relax,” he says.

I do, and Caleb Boucher washes my hair, and I nearly fall asleep on my feet two seconds into a scalp massage that feels like heaven.

Chapter 51

Tobie

“I’m going to see Javier,”I whisper.

Caleb smiles in his sleep when I kiss him on the cheek and slip out of his bed.

I’m bending to pull on my sweatpants when his fingers circle my wrist, and he tugs.

He kisses me. “Tell Jay I’m sorry for keeping you so long. I know you wanted to see him, and he wants to see you.”

“I will. Love you.”

The corners of his eyes crease. “I love you, Myers.”

I finish dragging my clothes on and slip out of his room. Only to halt when I spot the man in black jeans and a white button-down shirt leaning on the wall opposite, hands stuffed in his pockets. Javier.

His expression is impossible to read. “Hey.”

Ithinkhe’s happy to see me, but his dark brown gaze lands on me, then darts away again like a nervous butterfly. “What’s wrong?”

“Reid said you were back,” he says. “He said you would probably come to me yourself, and I told myself to let you do that, but?—”

I don’t care if he’s happy to see me.I’mhappy to seehim.

“I missed you so much.” I walk into arms that open the moment I move toward him. And I breathe in the scent of his skin, my eyes burning as I wrap my arms around him. I don’t know how close I came to losing them all, but it was close. Too close.

“I missed you, too,Gatinha,” he says against my hair, squeezing me tight enough to hurt.

I peer up at him. “I was going to come see you sooner, but I fell asleep in the shower and I have no idea what time it is.”

“Not that late. Around five.” He steps back and takes my hand. “Let’s go.”

I don’t move.

“Tobie?”

Because I’m looking for it, I see it. Guilt. Suddenly, his unreadable expression makes sense. “I just spent God knows how long beating myself up for Caleb winding up in the hospital.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” he says instantly.

“And me running away wasn’t yours.”

His smile drops. “I should have told you about Daniela turning up. Then it wouldn’t have mattered what picture your ex took. You’d have known why she was here and what she was trying to do.”

“She made the biggest mistake she’s ever made, and she can’t let it go.”

He cradles the side of my face. “And the mistake was?”

“Letting you go. That’s why she keeps coming back, and it’s why she can’t move on with her life.”

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