“Hey.” Colton kept an arm around my back but brought his finger up to boop my nose. “You don’t have to worry about that.”
My heart started to race, the thud resonating at my jugular. “Even if we’re fake?”
Colt stilled, looking somewhere past me. “Our arrangement hasn’t changed. Not for me, at least. Nobody else. No labels.”
I nodded. “Not for me, either.”
Colton looked like he did in college when he ate too much and was trying to be cool about it. He stepped back from me and crossed one arm across his middle, sending the other through his hair. “Hey, so . . . I’m kinda worried about what people are saying out there. The team said we should give it a couple days before making a statement, but, I don’t know. That feels kinda weird too.”
He scratched his neck, then rubbed the back of it.
“Yeah. It does. And, you know . . . kinda weird for the team to talk about your personal life.”
“Exactly,” he said, some of the anguish leaving his expression. “So. I don’t know. Maybe we could . . . get ahead of it? But I don’t want to put the spotlight on you any more than I already have.”
I let out a morose chuckle. “I mean, if we’re sticking to the tenets of fake dating, part of it is making a public appearance. What kind of spotlight are you thinking?”
Colton popped his jaw and pulled on his temple, opening and closing his mouth several times like he was afraid to speak. I reached for his hand, squeezing it. “Hey. I’m fine. What should we do?”
Colton blew out a long breath, shaking his head to clear it. “Sorry. Yeah. I could . . . post a pic of us.”
I shrugged and let my hands slap my thighs. “Easy peasy. Works for me.”
He gnawed on the inside of his lip. “The problem is, I don’t have any current ones. Just, you know, from back then.”
Back then. College. When we were really together, and not together to get the internet off his back.
“How about a quick one now? I’m not dressed up, but it’s a casual weekend vibe, I guess,” I said, gesturing with my hands to try to relieve some of the tension between us.
“Vi, you look great,” Colt said, cocking his head at me.
“Oh, stop.” I stepped to his side and put my arm around his back. “I assume you have the fancier phone and longer arms.”
I looked up at him with a grin, and Colton froze, eyes flitting over my face. My stomach dropped when his gaze so clearly went to my lips. He licked and bit his bottom lip, and I must have let out an infinitesimal sigh. He was going to kiss me, wasn’t he?
“Right. The phone,” he said, shifting to get his phone out of his pocket. He opened his camera app and held it out for a selfie. “What pose?”
I had one arm wrapped around his back,and patted his chest with the other, looking up at him. “Just take a bunch. Act natural.”
“Oh, natural?” he laughed, gaze dropping to where I looked up into his face. He puckered his lips and pressed them to my forehead. I closed my eyes and breathed in the joy of the moment. It wasn’t about the camera, or the autumn sunshine framing us. It wasn’t about the crisp breeze or the smell of decaying maple leaves.
It was about the sweet man who, for that moment, held me as his own.
THIRTY-THREE
COLTON
OCTOBER | COLUMBUS, OHIO | TAMPA, FLORIDA
“Jones! Let’s go!”
I glanced back to the airport’s entryway, finding Coach looking like he was ready to kick my ass.
“Coming!” I called. I lowered my voice and turned to Violet, who still had an arm around me. “I guess I better go. Can we talk while I’m gone?”
Violet’s smile was soft. “Sure. Send me the pics.”
I chewed my cheek and hoped Violet couldn’t see how my heart started to pound. She wanted the pictures for herself? “I can tag you too. Or collab? Whatever you want.”
