Page 66 of Facing the Line

“Well, thank you.” Could I have walked into anything better? My weariness from my day slips away as I stash my backpack. “Mind if I shower first? I went straight from the hospital to the gym.”

“Of course, anything for you. But hurry before I eat all the popcorn.” With an impish grin, she bounces on the mattress and shoves a handful into her mouth, and I can’t resist moving closer to drop a kiss on her nose.

After I rinse off the combination of gym sweat and hospital grime—ugh—I toss on a pair of gray sweatpants and a Harrison hockey t-shirt.

“Looking good, Joe.” Hadley gives me a suggestive once over as I exit my en-suite bathroom. “Did you learn about gray sweatpants from romance novels?”

“Maybe.” I wink at her. “Is it working?”

“Totally.” She pats the bed, and I snuggle in beside her. She scoots closer to me, and I get a whiff of her shampoo. Goosebumps break out along my arms, but I’m not cold.

As soon as I’m settled, she presses play on the TV show. I try to focus, but it’s hard to not be distracted by the woman beside me—her intoxicating scent, the cute noises she makes as she watches, the way her hair tickles my shoulder as she shifts.

“Ohmygod, it’s happening.” She leans forward, closer to the screen, and I’m forced to pay attention.

One of the contestants, Liam, is down on one knee, poolside. He’s holding up an engagement ring in a black velvet box. In front of him, Grace, another resident of theLove Islandhouse, has her hands over her mouth and her eyes glisten with tears.

The camera zooms in. “Will you marry me?” he asks, and Grace nods, her head bobbing so fast she might need a neck brace. She throws her arms around him, and they share a movie-worthy kiss.

It cuts to a shot of Liam in the interview chair. “I know it’s not how the show is supposed to work. I know it’s not very traditional. But I asked the producers, and they agreed to help.” He shrugs, a goofy grin on his face. “When you know, you know.”

They show footage of them kissing again, then of Grace admiring her massive diamond ring. Her makeup is streaked half across her face, but she doesn’t seem to care. “I can’t believe it,” she says, her smile threatening to crack her face in two.

“I can’t, either.” Hadley snorts, crossing her arms and leaning back away from the screen. She frowns at the computer.

“What?” I ask. “You don’t think it’s real?”

She shrugs, her posture tight. “It might be. But it’s dumb.”

“It’s not romantic?” I take a handful of popcorn and chew.

There’s a line between her brows. “I don’t think it’s practical.”

“Proposals shouldn’t be practical.” Whether it’s the Jumbotron at a sports game, a picnic in the park, on the top of the Eiffel Tower—I shudder—whatever it calls for, it needs to speak love, not sensibility.

“No, I mean—how old are they?” Hadley’s voice is sharp, staccato.

“Pretty young, I think.” I Google it on my phone and then hold up the screen to show her. “Liam is twenty-two and Grace is twenty.”

Hadley rolls her eyes. “There’s no way that marriage will make it.”

“Because they are young?” I ask. “Or because they met on a reality TV show?”

“Well, both, probably. But they are moving so fast. I’d give them higher odds if they were a little older. Had seen more of the world and knew what they wanted.” She throws a piece of popcorn in the air and catches it in her mouth, then speaks around it. “I’m not getting married until I’m at least thirty.”

Oh. Why does my heart sink? I mean, it’s not like I pictured Hadley and I getting married. This arrangement is just for the summer. But I guess the woman in my fantasy future life had maybe started to look a little…blonde.

I struggle for words. Not to argue with her position, but to understand where she’s coming from. “You don’t think true love can strike before then? Look at Hunter and Natalie.”

“Yeah.” Her face softens. “But that’s them. It’s not for me.”

“Okay, that’s fair.” Wrapping my arm around her shoulders, I draw her close, and she relaxes against me. “It’s good to know what you want.”

And me? I’ve always known that when love strikes, it will be forever. I certainly don’t have it all figured out—like what in the hell do I want to do with my life? But I understand where Liam is coming from. When I find the girl of my dreams, I’m holding on and not letting her go.

Chapter

Twenty-Nine

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