Page 126 of Meet Cute Reboot
“And you didn’t need to tell me about her,” I continue. “Not yet. Saturday was our first official date. People don’t unload their life stories on the first date.”
“It wasn’t our first date.”
“It was my first date with the new Luke.”
“Is that what you’re calling me now?”
“Yeah.”
“I guess it fits.”
He squeezes my hand, and a spark of electricity travels up my arm.
I clear my throat and stand. “I think these guys are hungry. I’ll see if I can find something in my apartment to...”
Luke stands and closes the distance between us. He slips his hand between my arm and waist and presses against my back. We meet eyes as I struggle to finish my sentence.
“Cassie,” he says softly.
I wait for him to continue. He drinks me in with his eyes while a faint smile plays on his lips.
“Yes, new Luke?” I whisper. My attempt at defusing the tension with a bit of humor doesn’t work. Luke’s gaze remains steady like I’m the only person in his universe.
“I love you,” he says.
The words permeate my thoughts and cause a jolt of shock to slice through my body. His lips descend onto mine, and I don’t resist. He presses me closer. Not close enough. I wrap my arms around him and give in.
When we part, a slow clap sounds through the room. Sarah is standing in the doorway. Our audience.
“Should I have brought those party favors that shoot streamers?” she asks.
“I think so.” Luke grins.
I glance at Sarah and then fix my eyes on Luke. “Maybe.”
Epilogue
Cassie
I settle into the eight-seater golf cart with Mom, Nana, Madison, Sarah, and Luke. Our tour guide in training, Benjamin, takes the wheel and starts reciting his introduction, much of it verbatim from the speech Luke wrote and presented to me twelve months ago—the night I started letting him back into my heart.
I bought this souped up golfer's dream with my MatchAI profits. We’re in twenty-five states now, going strong. With the steady growth of MatchAI, I built Nana a new garage, replaced the AC and the roof. The inside is next. I’ll start in the kitchen and move to the living room, letting Granny and Nana pick the fixtures—within reason.
When Luke and I revealed the true, gritty details of our past with the Instagram audience, his finagling with the launch, our fake dates—all the ways we lied to them—they were astonishingly supportive. Cupid didn’t receive a black mark, maybe because I told them how she matched me with Luke the day I thought all hope was lost.
We turn onto Benton. Luke smiles at me and grabs my hand. It’s a warm night, the two of us in shorts and T-shirts, like regular tourists.
I snuggle closer to him as the cart quietly whooshes down the street. At our first stop, Benjamin relays details about the house—its age, who built it, what ghosts are purported to live there.
“Benjamin’s doing great,” Luke whispers.
“You wrote this,” I whisper back.
Luke sits a little straighter. “I’m a man of many talents.”
Next Benjamin stops in front of the Hayashi residence and tells us about their female apparition who sometimes appears at the top of the stairs. She also likes to relocate keys, toothbrushes, and knickknacks.
After a few more stops, Luke’s house comes into view.