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“Well, anyway, I just wanted to say goodbye.”

“Goodbye?” My mom cleared her throat. “You two aren’t staying here?”

I almost burst into laughter. “You want me and my boyfriend to share a room with Oliver?”

“Absolutely not,” Anne said quickly. “I mean…it’s…well. You two are…and he’s just…”

“Breathe,” I told her. I picked up Aravind’s hand and kissed the inside of his wrist. His breath came out a little shaky. I knew I was laying it on thick, but I didn’t care. “We’re not going to stay here. I didn’t realize he was able to make it, and he surprised me with our own place just up the road.”

“My family’s coming in next week,” Aravind added. “I haven’t been able to stop talking about how in love I am, and they’ve been begging me to bring Tiago around to meet them.”

My heart thumped in my chest, and my mouth went dry. It was a lie, I reminded myself. A lie, a lie, a lie.

“Is that so?” my mom asked. “They know about him? All about him?”

Aravind let out a soft ha. “Uh, yeah. You think I kept my mouth shut about the literal hottest professional hockey player I have ever seen? His rookie year he won the most awards of anyone in the entire league, has led his team to the cup four times in the six years he’s made it to playoffs, and…actually, I won’t say everything else I like about him in mixed company.” He went quiet for a second. “But yeah. They know about him.”

I didn’t know if I wanted to laugh or cry at this point. “We’ll have plenty of time to see you all though. We can come by tomorrow for dinner⁠—”

“Lunch!” Thierry said very quickly. “Lunch. Ollie wanted to spend time with you.”

It really didn’t seem like he did, but whatever.

“We’re going to be at the beach. Just come on down,” Thierry said.

I heard a couple of whispers, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying, and in all honesty, it didn’t matter.

“We’ll try,” I told them.

“I do love the beach, and I look amazing in a Speedo,” Aravind added. I almost choked as I imagined everyone’s faces. He took a step back and tugged me with him. “Nice to meet you.”

No one said it back, not that I was expecting them to. But our hands stayed together, fingers tangled, and he led the way back to the deck and inside the house. He paused just past the door, and then suddenly, I heard a flick before the lights turned on.

“Better,” Aravind said. He let me go and went to the next wall and hit the switch. Then into the living room. Then into the hallway. “Think your dad will have the balls to come and tell me to turn all these off?”

I grinned. “Not a chance.”

“Good.” He stepped sideways and suddenly into my line of sight, and my breath caught in my throat. God, he was so beautiful. He was wearing an oversized cream knitted sweater and leggings with flowers printed up the sides.

He was everything that would terrify and horrify my parents.

And he was everything I hadn’t realized I wanted until now.

“Let’s get your stuff,” he said softly.

I was more than ready to go.

I couldn’t tell if Oliver was asleep or ignoring us as I grabbed my things, but he didn’t budge as I shoved my dirty clothes into my suitcase and then grabbed my other bag. Aravind led the way to his car, and it wasn’t long before we were pulling into his driveway ten minutes later.

His street was on the cove and just as dim as my parents’, but it was a lot easier following him inside since he kept his pace slow and carried one of my bags so I could use my cane.

Inside, he flicked on a few lights—enough so I could get a look at the room without inducing a migraine. The place was a far better layout than my parents’.

The furniture was a soft brown, the carpets beige, the kitchen counters white marble. The contrasts were perfect, and the floors lacked area rugs, so I wouldn’t fall on my face.

And, as far as I could tell, no one had thrown shoes around their room in some attempt to make me trip.

“Okay, so…” Aravind said, hovering in the alcove. “The bedroom situation might be tricky. But I’m thinking you can crash in my room, and I’ll take the couch. It’s super comfortable.”