Page 53 of He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

The woman standing in front of us looks like she belongs here. She’s probably a few years younger than me, if I had to guess. Nearly six feet tall, pretty, and the type I’d typically go for. She’s got a single lavender aster stem tucked behind her right ear that matches her dress perfectly. As a guy who studies flowers and what they mean, I know a flower behind a woman’s right ear represents her being single. Sneaky.

She’s wearing a short boho-style dress and strappy heeled sandals covered in fringe. Her wrists are stacked with bracelets of every color and design and I’d bet money her name is probably something like Luna or Rain. And I say that with the utmost respect having a best friend named River.

Her eyes are on Hollyn, looking her over, clearly judging her at first sight. Hols look great. She was worried she’d over or under-dressed, but I think she looks fantastic. Gorgeous. She’s a thousand times prettier than the woman in front of us.

‘Was your flight good?’ the nameless woman asks. ‘I hate flying. I’m dreading visiting other contestants.’

‘I hate flying too,’ Hollyn says. ‘You know what helps? Booze.’

I laugh out loud. She had a couple of drinks on the plane and now she’s got a permanent grin on her face. She’s a touch drunk and it’s partially my fault too. The moment we boarded the plane, she started in on how much she hates flying and I’d never seen someone white knuckle an armrest the way she did.

To help, I put her out of her misery with a couple of drinks and she was laughing at old stories in no time.

‘Driving has a higher chance of death than flying.’ A young woman stops at boho girl’s side.

‘You and your statistics.’ Boho girl rolls her eyes. ‘This is my little sister, Genevieve. I’m Celeste.’

I wasn’t far off on the name.

‘Dax.’ I motion to myself. ‘This is Hollyn.’

‘So, what’s the deal with you two? You’re the only man and woman pair. Are you a couple?’

‘A couple?’ Hollyn asks, her voice higher than usual.

‘Just old friends,’ I say, taking the lead, so she doesn’t spew out some nonsense about how beautiful I am again. Not that I didn’t enjoy it.

I glance around the room and everyone looks pretty normal. Most of the other contestants are older than me, which probably means they’ve got more experience, but experience doesn’t always mean anything. My gaze settles on an older man in a floral print suit. His bow tie even has a silk flower in the center. I can’t compete with that, even with my flower pun T-shirts.

‘Hello!’ a woman says, clapping her hands together as she walks onto the restaurant patio. ‘If everyone can take their spots.’

McKenzie went over how the filming will work the second we walked in and it seems as if she knows every contestant and is the go-to person for everyone.

‘Dax,’ Celeste says as our partners walk to our spots ahead of us. She touches my arm as I slow to a stop. ‘Your tattoos are beautiful. I’ve got a few too.’ She raises her left arm to display a watercolor sunflower on her inner arm. Her hand moves to my bicep as she steps closer, her breath now on my neck. ‘Maybe I’ll get a chance to show you the others some time,’ she whispers into my ear, winking as she backs away from me.

What the—? My brain stalls out momentarily as I stand glued to my spot, only coming back to earth when someone claps their hands again.

I walk to Hollyn, who’s now staring at me wide-eyed like she just heard the whole thing. Why do I suddenly feel guilty? Probably because Hollyn seems to own my heart again, and I never want to hurt her. She just doesn’t know it yet.

‘Welcome,’ the mystery woman standing at the front of the room says softly. ‘I’m Jillian. Before we get started, we’d like for each of you to introduce yourself to the others. Who you are, where you’re from, the name of your shop, and who you’re here with. Leo, let’s start with you.’ She motions to the guy in the floral suit.

He beams. How did I notice this guy’s suit yet miss a handlebar mustache like that? A look I cannotpull off. I’d look like a washed-up porn star from the eighteen hundreds.

‘My name’s Leonard Elliott. Leo for short. Born and raised in San Francisco. My shop’s called Rainbow Bouquets, and I’m here with my oldest son, Bradley.’ He motions to the younger guy standing next to him, who sadly isn’t sporting a matching floral suit.

‘We’re thrilled to have you, Leo.’

‘Thank you,’ he says. ‘Being here is taking my mind off the fact that my partner was recently diagnosed with leukemia.’ He chokes up momentarily. That’s rough.

‘Oh no.’ Boho Celeste lets out a concerned groan.

‘We wish him the best in his battle,’ Jillian says.

Leo dabs at his eyes with a floral print handkerchief he’s pulled from his pocket. I glance at Hollyn, now a little panicked. Were we supposed to have something tragic in the wings to help win over fans? Cause I’ve got nothing. My motives for being here are purely selfish.

‘Celeste, go ahead. Tell us about yourself.’

‘Hi,’ she chirps, waving her open hand, her concern for Leo’s partner suddenly non-existent. Her voice is sweet like honey. Nothing like the way she just whispered into my ear about unseen tattoos.

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