I grin. “It is wonderful.”
His eyes soften, and he smiles at me so sweetly that I kiss him again.
“They asked for you even though they knew,” he says.
“I know.”
He smiles wide too. We are still smiling as we walk down the corridor, and we are still smiling as we stand in front of my new team manager’s door.
“You must be Florian!” A cheerful woman exits the office. She has blond curly hair—the kind that comes from a curling iron and advanced arm movements, the kind that Mama and Annika do on special occasions.
“I am,” I say.
She grins. Her gaze moves to Mateo.
I tense.
The e-mail said that I could bring someone with me for the tour, but perhaps they didn’t mean it?
But then the woman is flashing an equally large smile at Mateo. “And you must be Mateo!”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I’m Jessica! I’ll be helping you two get settled.”
Mateo and I exchange glances.
I like this place.
Mateo
Everyone in Nashville is friendly and nice, and Florian’s shoulders become lower and lower and his smile broadens and broadens.
He likes it here.
Whichis wonderful.
The staff all seem happy to have him.
Florian will be fine, I realize. I do not need to be here. He does not need a portable security fake boyfriend.
When we separate, he will be sad, then fine.
Jessica leads us around the arena. Florian’s teammates are on an away game, and Florian will meet them the day after tomorrow for practice.
Jessica gives us a list of possible apartments to rent and another list of neighborhoods where we can buy houses together. Which—well, it’s wild to consider something like that.
But Florian and I aren’t in a real relationship. People buy houses together who are in real relationships.
“Thank you, Jessica,” Florian says. “Yes, we would love to take a look at that.”
It’s strange to hear Florian refer to me as part of a ‘we’ with him, but when I glance at him, he squeezes my hand.
Florian and I say goodbye to Jessica, armed with our information about Nashville and the team, then Florian and I take an Uber back to the hotel.
We spend the afternoon visiting the apartment complexes that Jessica recommended, and neither of us says that maybe it is strange looking at apartments like we’re a real couple.
Florian and I choose an apartment. It’s furnished, which is convenient, and we soon find ourselves wandering a one-bedroom apartment with sleek wooden furniture. Black-and-white framed photos of guitars hang over the bed.
