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All in all, my mind and heart have settled down, so I’m entirely level-headed by the time I walk into tutoring. Which is good since the girls give me the hardest time ever about not telling them about “mi novio guapísimo” for the first twenty minutes. Even though she doesn’t understand Spanish, Shaista is starting to come out of her shell and joins the teasing.
After Bible study at AOPi is over, I FaceTime Mateo, per his request. He apologizes profusely again for not understanding what I needed yesterday, and I apologize profusely for overreacting and being unfair to him. It’s an apology standoff that ends with a dimpled smile from him that makes me wish I could kiss him through the phone screen.
I start each day logging in to check my application status—always still pending. However, I unfollow the UC Davis hashtag on Instagram because I can’t handle seeing any other acceptance videos when my future with them is still a big question mark.
I get an unexpected but welcome distraction from worrying about law school in the form of an email from Elena, one of the directors of the advocacy group I worked with in D.C. over the summer. They’re organizing group video calls for constituents to meet with their legislators to advocate for the Afghan Adjustment Act, and ask me to help coach the people who sign up and accompany them on their calls. It feels good to have something meaningful to focus attention on while I wait for news from UC Davis. I also love reconnecting with Elena.
Thursday night after the Arrow meeting, we skip out on After Party to celebrate with the soccer team. They officially clinched the regular season title in our conference—unsurprising, with zero losses and only two draws so far. The guys are also still fighting their AFC Richmond costume claims for Halloween, but I’m not at all shocked to find out they unanimously voted Mateo to be Ted Lasso.
The home match on Saturday ends in a 1-1 draw, which is a bummer even though it won’t affect their title. Mateo shakes off the disappointment from the match as we walk through Center Square, choosing a place to eat dinner. Afterward, we go to the pop-up costume store to find a Ted Lasso-esque fake mustache for his costume, laughing hysterically in the process.
As much as I love when he plans super special, thoughtful things for us to do, I also love just hanging out doing mundane things together. Mateo himself is the common denominator, with or without the extra romantic gestures.
Halloween night arrives, and I promised Amaya and Teegan that we would stay in and watch not-really-scary movies. But after dinner, I go to Mateo’s house to help him finish his costume and take pictures of all the guys transformed into the Greyhounds.
Mateo opens the front door when I arrive, and I do a double take at his clean-shaven face. I guess I knew in the back of my mind that he’d have to shave before rocking the mustache, but I’m still caught off guard. He hugs me tightly, running his hand through my hair like he can’t resist. Can’t say I object. I breathe in his smell and wish we could just stand here all night instead of parting ways. Alas.
Already dressed in khakis and an AFC Richmond sweater, Mateo leads me to the kitchen table where he has a comb and hair products ready to shape his hair into the Ted Lasso swoop, along with the glorious fake ’stache. He takes a seat in front of me and grins. “Okay, time to work some magic.”
I laugh as I pick up the comb, but my metaphorical knees are shaking as I run my fingers through his hair to try to create a faux side part. Mateo has amazing hair, and for as often as he has his fingers buried in my long hair, I’ve been too timid to reach up and touch his (despite thinking about it—a lot). I rub some pomade on my hands and slowly run my fingers along his scalp and up through the lengths of his hair to swoop and shape it together.
My pulse is picking up steam, and I feel my cheeks warming. Glancing down into Mateo’s eyes, I can see by the intensity reflected in his that he’s having a similar reaction. I wipe my hands on a towel and give a weak smile. “I think it looks as close as we can get it without cutting your hair,” I say as I hand him a mirror.
He softly shakes his head as he takes the mirror and assesses his reflection. Clearing his throat, his voice is still husky as he gives approval. “What do you think, time for the ’stache?” he asks with a wry smile. Giggling, I hold the fake mustache up to his face to see how much I need to trim off to make it the right length.
After cutting a little off each side, I peel off the paper and slowly press the adhesive down along his upper lip. When I stand back to survey the finished product, I burst out laughing.
Mateo grins and looks in the mirror, running his fingers down the sides of his new fake facial hair. He stands up and spins around with his arms out, finishing with a Ted Lasso dance that has me hyperventilating. He finally stops and asks, “Well, what do you think? Is it a good look for me?”
There’s still amusement in my eyes as I look up at his face, but I can’t resist the magnetic pull to touch him again. I gently brush my fingers along his smooth jaw, causing his expression to sober and his posture to stiffen. “I don’t know,” I whisper. “I think I miss your usual stubble.”
Mateo’s darkened eyes reveal an internal war he’s fighting as he leans into my touch. He finally closes his eyes for a beat and blows out a breath before kissing my palm and then pulling my hand down, threading his fingers through mine. “Lana, I refuse to let the first time I kiss you be when I’m wearing a ridiculous fake mustache in a house full of my soccer teammates.”
He leans his forehead down on my shoulder for a minute before kissing my temple. “And don’t worry, the stubble will grow back in a few days,” he tells me with a wink. Pretty sure my heart has flipped itself dizzy by now.
A commotion of laughter in the living room must mean that more of the guys have arrived, so we head out to admire everyone’s finished looks. Andrès comes charging into the room, yelling, “Fútbol is life!” with an incredible wig that makes him look just like Dani Rojas. Chris makes a convincing Roy Kent, complete with a well-rehearsed grunt. All the guys lose it over Mateo’s Ted appearance, and he takes all the attention in stride without once letting go of my hand.
Once the whole team has arrived, I take a hundred pictures of them before they head to a party and I head back to my movie date with Amaya and Teegan. Mateo gives me a lingering hug by my car, rubbing his hands up and down my back. “I know I’m going to go have fun with my team and you’re going to spend some good time with your best friends,” he says as he pulls back, “but I’m not going to lie—it’s positively killing me to let you get in this car right now.”
I smile up at him and run my fingers carefully through his hair and down his jaw one last time. “Go have fun with your team, Ted. And then get to work growing back that stubble.” Mateo lightly groans but smiles as I climb into my car.
Driving home, I roll the windows all the way down because I need all the cold air right now.
The AOPi house is pretty much deserted as most girls have left for Halloween parties at the various fraternities. Amaya, Teegan, and I decided we wanted to enjoy the quiet night to just chill together. None of us have dared say it out loud yet, but we’re all feeling the sober reality that our time together is ticking down.
We have a stash of hot cocoa, candy, and apples with caramel dip ready for a movie marathon. The first movie turns into background noise to our conversation, though, when Teegan asks to see pictures of the soccer team and I fill them in on my interaction with Mateo tonight.
“Ohhhh emmmm geeee,” Teegan exclaims as she fans herself. “I cannot even handle how swoon-worthy that is.”
“You haven’t kissed yet, right?” Amaya asks, and I shake my head in response. “But…you want to kiss him, right?”
“If you say no, I’m going to disown you as my Beef,” Teegan adds threateningly.
I throw a piece of candy at her. “Of course I want to kiss him. I mean, I like him so much—like, so much. And I’m insanely attracted to him.”
“Because he’s insanely attractive,” Teegan interjects, and this time Amaya throws candy at her.
I pop a peanut butter M&M in my mouth and chew slowly, considering how to explain my thoughts. “I think about kissing Mateo pretty much every time I’m with him. But kissing isn’t casual to me, you know?” I say. Both Amaya and Teegan nod, helping me feel not crazy. “I guess I want to be pretty certain that there’s a long-term future coming with a guy before I kiss him.”
