Page 90 of Unromance

I’M STILL SCARED.

Next card.

BUT I WANT TO TRY WITH YOU.

Next card.

SO HERE I AM, UNROMANCING YOU.

Next card.

ONLY, UNLIKE ANDREW LINCOLN, I’M HERE WITH HOPEANDAN AGENDA.

Next card.

THOUGH, I’M NOT VERY GOOD AT EXPRESSING MYSELF.

Next card.

I HOPED THIS WOULD ENSURE THE WORDS CAME OUT RIGHT.

Next card.

SO:

Next card.

MASON ALEXANDER

Next card.

ÁLVAREZ-WEST*

Next card.

*ACTUALLY REAL NAME

Mason laughed through his nose, watching as Sawyer’s nervous smile faltered as she revealed the last card.

I LOVE YOU.

He could tell she’d spent extra time on this one. On the others, her messy scrawl was off-center and lopsided. But this one was perfect. The placement of the letters intentional, knowing the weight of the words they would come together to form. He stared at it for a long time, trying to keep a lid on the hope welling in his chest.

“This isn’t—” he said hoarsely, clearing his throat. He needed to be sure. “This isn’t for the list, right?”

She shook her head. “No, this is for me. For us, hopefully.”

“Because… you love me.”

She nodded. “Because I love you,” she said softly.

He pushed off the doorway to scoop her into his arms, but she held up her hands. He froze.

“Wait, I—I’m not done, and if you kiss me now, I’m going to forget, because those sweatpants and that haircut are really doing it for me.”

He smiled, resuming his lean against the doorframe. “By all means, gesture away, but I thought you said the note card scene was creepy.”

“Well, yeah,” she said hesitantly, propping the last card against her knees so it was still facing him, like a reminder. That she loved him. That was real. “That was his best friend’s wife—wait, you don’t have a wife in there, do you? Am I too late?!”

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