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I laughed as I folded my legs beneath me on the couch. “Who am I to stand in the way of true love? Austin obviously likes you. And even though he might be an annoying big brother to me, I know he’s a good guy. He’s a hundred times better than Derek. At least he better be.”
I didn’t realize when I invited Nina to the hometown date over the weekend that I might be stirring the pot for another romance. My brothers constantly surprised me.
Nina squealed. “Oh yeah! I was hoping you would say that. I didn’t know what I’d do if you said no.”
I hugged her. “Probably sneak around.” We both smiled. “My brother is smarter than I thought, but just be careful. He is a lot older.” I reached for the remote.
“Yes, ma’am. Besides, if things don’t work out with Austin, Nash is next in line. He’s single right?”
“Nina! My brothers are not the next Love Match bachelors.”
She laughed hysterically on the couch. “I’m just kidding. Calm down. The only one I’m interested in is Austin. We’re taking it super slow. We’re just going to get together next weekend to see how it goes.”
That didn’t seem slow to me, but Nina looked happy, and for the most part, I trusted Austin. He wouldn’t hurt her like Derek. “Ok, so give me the lowdown on this episode. You said something about an overnight date?”
“Best episode of the season! You aren’t going to believe these dates.”
“Why? What happens?”
“It’s unreal. Ok. So, they’ll have whatever date for the day, then they’ll go to dinner and on the table is an envelope from Mitch Henderson. He leaves them some kind of note enclosed with a room key for a dream suite.”
“Dream suite? That sounds a little strange.”
“Oh my God, London. It’s amazing. They always have champagne and roses and there is usually a hot tub. It’s so magical.”
“So does Victoria choose which one of the guys she has the overnight date with?”
Nina laughed. “No, she doesn’t have to pick one—it’s all of them. Three dates, three overnights.”
I wasn’t sure how I was going to handle my one overnight date with Beau, if I could even get him to agree to it, much less how I would manage three of them. “This is crazy!”
“No, it’s called romance, London. Shhh, it’s starting.”
The rose petals fluttered across the screen. “Good evening, I’m Mitch Henderson. On tonight’s episode of Love Match, Victoria will face the most challenging decision yet on her journey to find love. Our bachelorette will have three different dates with three special men who have all professed their love for her. Who will she choose? Who will she let walk away? Will she be in love by the time these nights are over?”
I looked at Nina, who was glued to the TV. This was the last Love Match episode Beau and I had to reference for our date project. The final was due next week and we were going to have to complete our research before the finale aired. Granted, neither one of us was aware of the hometowns or the overnights when we planned the project in January, but it seemed unavoidable at this point in the semester. One last date. One final overnight before the end of the project.
I watched as Victoria spent one lavish night after another with the bachelors. I wondered if Beau was watching too. I pulled out my phone.
You watching LM?
I waited for him to respond for what seemed like ten minutes, but commercial breaks are excruciatingly long when you watch TV in real time.
Yep
Ok. He was back to one-word responses. Every time we were apart, it felt like I had to start all over again. I worried I wasn’t going to succeed in my agreement with Professor Garcia. Beau and I weren’t so far apart, we were still connecting, and I just needed Beau to remember that. I needed to erase all of the excuses that kept surfacing that he used to distance himself from me. Excuses that were interfering with us. I could remember how we felt together. He had to, too.
Where do you want to go for the overnight?
I typed the question into my phone and hit send.
Are you serious?
Very
This was my last chance. If Beau didn’t go on this date, everything I had done was for nothing. I didn’t need to channel any of my leading lady roles—this was all me—this was London James.
Finally, he texted.
