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Mateo walks the few feet over and says, “I’m so sorry I had to take a phone call in the middle of our date. Turns out nothing was wrong, Isabel just wanted to chat. But I didn’t want to miss it if she needed me.”
“Mateo, it’s fine, really. I’m glad you want to be there for your sister,” I tell him as we start slowly walking back toward the festival center. “Did you still want to go roast marshmallows?” My heart rate is slowly settling back down to normal.
“Of course, it wouldn’t be the true fall festival experience if we didn’t,” he responds with a grin, making me smile. We walk a few paces and then Mateo pauses, turning slightly toward me. “Lana, would it be okay with you if I held your hand?” His cocoa eyes look down into mine with such hopefulness that my heart nearly stops.
I smile up at him. “It would be more than okay.” He beams back and reaches his right hand down to lace his fingers through mine. I didn’t realize how cold my hands were after that intense conversation until my left hand is swallowed up by Mateo’s warmth. We walk toward the fire pit, hand in hand, and I abandon all hope of a normalized heart rate.
One of the churches in Brooklyn has a s’mores station set up, so we roast marshmallows while enjoying the warmth of the fire. He tells me a few snippets about Isabel, and it only makes me want to meet her all the more. We head out when things start to wind down. Mateo immediately takes my hand again as we walk back to the truck, and I’m silently swooning the whole way. Teegan will be so pleased.
We drive back to AOPi, discussing our favorite parts of the festival. When Mateo pulls up outside the house, he leaves the car running and shifts toward me rather than getting out. His face looks serious, and I panic again that maybe he saw Aaron leave the alley and got the wrong impression.
“Lana, I wanted to ask you something,” he starts. My chest locks up with fear until he reaches down to take my hand, lightly tracing his thumb across the back. “I don’t think it’s a surprise that I haven’t been dating anyone other than you, and as far as I know, you haven’t been dating anyone else either,” he says, and I give a soft chuckle while shaking my head. He’s looking down at our hands when he continues. “Maybe this is silly, but I wanted to officially ask you to date exclusively, to ask if you’d consider being my girlfriend.”
I place my other hand on top of his hand sandwiching mine and curl my fingers around his. “I won’t just consider it, I’ll tell you yes right now,” I answer with total confidence.
I want to bottle up the smile Mateo gives me in response and pull it out any time I feel sad or cold or lonely or really just for any reason at all. He squeezes my hands and says, “Well, okay then, Girlfriend. I had a great time at the festival with you tonight. You can officially call me a fall-lover now that I get to spend it with you.”
I wish I could find an excuse to continue sitting in the truck with him, holding his hands forever, but I know he has a soccer match tomorrow and needs to get some rest. “Well, Boyfriend, this was my favorite fall festival too. Thanks for humoring me in my obsession. I should head inside now so you can go get some sleep.”
Mateo gives my hands one final squeeze before turning off the truck and walking around to my side. Even though it’s a short jaunt up to the AOPi house, he still takes my hand, as if unwilling to miss any opportunity to touch me. We’re both reluctant to let go and part ways, but a group of girls coming up the steps behind us pops the magic bubble, forcing us to say goodnight.
The second the door closes, I’m ambushed by girls demanding details about Mateo and me, since our relationship is very much out in the open now. I give enough affirmative but vague answers to get them to leave me alone and then head up to our room. It’s empty, presumably because Amaya and Teegan are somewhere working on something homecoming-related after returning from the festival. I’m grateful for the quiet, even though I know I’ll have to give them a full rundown later.
But for the moment, I lay down on my bed in the silence and soak in the fact that I have a boyfriend. And it’s Mateo Alvarez.
I cover my face with a throw pillow and happy scream.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
It was super late by the time I finally went to bed after giving the Beefs a full play-by-play of my evening, including my cringe conversation with Aaron (I’d never seen Amaya so riled up, and trust me, I’ve seen her riled up plenty of times). Even after going to bed, it took a while to fall asleep since I was running back through every moment with Mateo on repeat. Particularly the feeling of his fingers interlocked with mine.
The clock reads 9:30 a.m. by the time I wake up Saturday morning, immediately smiling again thinking about Mateo’s sweet expression when he asked me to be his girlfriend. I’ve always quietly been a romantic, but I’m still surprised by how giddy I feel.
I reach for my phone and feel it vibrate with a notification. Unlocking it, I see that Mateo sent me a text this morning.
Mateo
Morning beautiful. Text me when you’re up if I can swing by real quick
I sit upright in bed. He knows I’ll be at the soccer match tonight, so I’m not sure what would be so urgent. I text him back to give me twenty minutes and rush to throw on leggings and a sweatshirt, then brush my teeth and hair. Slipping out the front door, I close it quietly behind me and sit down on a porch chair to wait for him to arrive. I’m regretting not grabbing a cup of coffee to make sure my brain is fully functional before seeing him.
Mateo’s truck pulls up the street a few minutes later with the windows rolled down to let in the cool morning air. He waves at me as I walk down to the curb. He turns off the engine, and I meet him by the driver’s door as he opens it. As he steps out of the truck, he hands me a cup of coffee from Raelynn’s with a grin. “Thought you might need a morning dose of energy.”
I accept the cup and take a sip. He has the coffee to half-and-half ratio perfect. “The Lord bless you,” I say with fake piety, making him laugh. “So, what’s up?”
His smile falters a little bit. “Ah, I just had a favor to ask you. Or not really a favor, just a request, I guess.” He runs his hand through his hair and rubs the back of his neck, a subconscious movement I’m catching on to as his equivalent of my fingers playing piano. “I mean, it’s okay if you say no or don’t want to do it, you might think it’s a little silly, and that’s totally fine, I won’t be upset or anything.”
Mateo always has such a humble confidence about him, it’s a little bit adorable to see him act so nervous around me. Strike that—it’s extremely freaking adorable. I can’t help but smile before I put him out of his misery. “Mateo, last night I said yes to being your girlfriend, so there’s a pretty high likelihood that I’ll say yes to whatever you’re trying to ask me.”
That makes him grin. “You’re right, you did say yes to being my girlfriend.” His dimple is killing me right now. “Well, this request is related. On the soccer team, there’s this sort of…tradition, I guess you could say. If players have a girlfriend, they give one of their old jerseys from a past season’s kit to their girlfriend to wear to the soccer matches.”
He leans into his truck and comes out holding a soccer jersey with Alvarez stitched above the number fourteen. He smiles a little sheepishly as he looks into my eyes. “So, I was kind of hoping that maybe you would wear my jersey from last year when you come to the match tonight? But I understand if you don’t want to?—”
I cut him off by placing my hand on his forearm and taking the jersey from him. “Mateo, I’d be honored to wear your jersey tonight and at any match I’m able to attend.” I tuck the jersey under the arm holding my coffee cup so I can take his hand with my free one, making his face light up.
“But I need you to understand something before I wear this. At the last match, I was literally sitting on my hands to keep from wildly yelling throughout the whole game. But no holds barred tonight—I will probably be jumping and screaming my head off, so you have to decide if you want me associated with your name while doing so,” I say with a sly smile.
Mateo throws his head back in a laugh. “I’ll expect nothing less, Lana. Don’t let me down,” he teases with a wink. “I’ve got to go get some homework done before warmups later. But after the match tonight, a bunch of the guys from the team and some of their girlfriends are planning to grab some late-night food. Would you want to come with me?”
