Page 59 of 28 Dates

A laugh bursts from my throat, and as tears begin falling, another note, this one with my name written on it, makes me catch my breath.

In a much more grown-up script, but still very much a man’s, are the words:

Check your phone.

Oh God. I drop the book to the bar, and I’m a fumbling mess, pulling my purse strap over my head. My hands shake so bad I can barely undo the zipper, and I almost drop my phone as I pull it out.

I press the home button, lighting up the screen. There’s a notification from the dating app. I swipe right, forgetting to enter my passcode. It takes three tries, and a teardrop falls onto my screen, screwing me up the fourth time.

Finally, I’m in my phone, opening up my message, and it takes less than a blink to read the text. It’s from Michael.

Turn around.

I spin on my heels, and my phone falls to the bar. My hand grabs the edge of it to steady myself, and my other hand flies to my mouth.

“You’re gorgeous,” Jonas says. He’s at the mouth of the hallway that leads to his office.

How long has he stood there? Watching me? I haven’t spoken. There are so many things to say, and all my thoughts have fled.

“Are you mad?” he asks and steps forward.

I’m already shaking my head. I can’t believe it’s been him the entire time. I can’t believe I didn’t notice, or put it together. But no, mad is not the emotion I’m feeling. Surprise, yes. A dash of guilt for not realizing before. More than a dash of guilt for not realizing so long ago that for me…it’s always been Jonas.

“You did this?” I finally ask, and I don’t know what I’m asking about. The restaurant. The app. The stupid book that has kept me laughing and making me think that the guy on the app somehowknewme. But he did…because he does, because the guy who I texted earlier, telling him I couldn’t meet him because I met someone else, is the very man standing in front of me.

“You did all of this for me?” I repeat, when he doesn’t answer.

Jonas is stunning. He’s dressed in a suit, and it’s so spectacular it takes me another minute to realize he’s moving forward, coming closer. I’m still frozen in shock at all he’s done, all he’s done forme,then he’s directly in front of me, pressing his warm palm to my cheek and lifting my head to meet him head-on, and saying, “I’d do anything for you, Caitlin. I love you.”

“Oh.” My knees buckle and he grins, reaching out to hold on to me as I stumble backward. “What?”

His head lowers. His hand at my cheek tilts me further, and then his lips are at my mouth, his breath against my cheek. “I love you, Caitlin.”

“I’ve hurt you.”

“You did. I’m willing to risk it again. I take it you’re not mad.”

I forgot he asked me that question. I shake my head. “No. No, I’m not mad. I came here tonight to tell you the same thing.”

His smile is blinding. The largest and freest I’ve ever seen him smile, and Jonas is always a happy guy. “Tell me what?”

I grip his hand at my cheek. My fingernails dig in. This is it. The moment I surrender. The moment I give away parts of myself I’ve never willingly done before. “I came tonight to tell you I love you.”

“Yeah?”

“It terrifies me.”

“I’m brave enough to see you through it.”

Tears run down my cheeks, and he leans in, kissing one away, and then another. I sniff. “I thought you moved on. Ashley. The app…”

I trail off. There’s so much to say. So many questions. So much time to ask them, but I’m impatient to get it all behind us.

“She and I were doomed to fail from the beginning. She was never and could never be you.”

“Jonas—”

I barely get his name out when his lips crash into mine, and I’m shocked by the suddenness of it, the passion and the way he kisses me so beautifully, I immediately open to him. And for the first time, I taste him, cling to him, and kiss him back without anything standing in between us. Without anything preventing us from being truly together.

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