Page 90 of Make-Believe Match

“I do, but Sara doesn’t.” She smiled. “And I’m one hundred percent positive she’d prefer pizza out with you to dinner at home with her sitter tonight.”

“Awesome. I’ll come by and pick her up around six if that’s okay?”

“Of course.” Jennifer looked at me. “But are you sure you want Sara tagging along on your dinner date?”

“Yes! I can’t wait to meet her,” I said. “Devlin has told me all kinds of great things about her.”

“He’s so good with her. With all those kids.” Sighing, she focused on Devlin again. “Camp Lemonade is really going to miss you.”

“I’ll miss them too.” Devlin cleared his throat. “Ready to go, Lex?”

“Yes.” I smiled at Jennifer. “So nice to meet you. And I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for my family.”

“Family is the most important thing in the world,” she said, placing a hand over her heart. “And Devlin has certainly helped mine. I was thrilled to help his.”

For a moment, I was confused, since it wasn’t the Buckley family she’d helped. But as Devlin guided me toward the elevator with a hand on the small of my back, I realized what she’d meant.

Iwas Devlin’s family now.

The elevator doors parted, and I stepped inside the car. The moment the doors closed and we were alone, he grabbed me in a giant bear hug and lifted me right off my feet. “Fuck yeah! We did it!”

Laughing, I hugged him back. “Youdid it.”

“Hey, you played a huge role. Your story put heart into the pitch. And you told it perfectly.” He set me down again. Took my face in his hands and kissed me. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Thank you.” As I looked into his blue eyes, the thought struck my heart again, piercing it like an arrow.

We were a family, Devlin and me.

We were a family.

SEVENTEEN

devlin

“Lookat me with two pretty girls at my table. How did I get this lucky?”

I put my arm around Lexi, who sat next to me in a booth at the cozy Italian pizzeria we’d found not far from the townhouse where Sara and her mom lived. Across from us, Sara giggled and kicked my shins beneath the table.

“Can we go for ice cream now?” she asked, her wide brown eyes hopeful. “My favorite place is right up the street.”

“Are you done eating?” I looked at the half-slice of pizza remaining on her plate. She hadn’t eaten much, but then again, she’d chattered almost nonstop since we’d picked her up.

“Yes, I’m done.”

“Then yes, we can go for ice cream now.” I signaled the server for our bill, then paid it while Lexi and Sara named their favorite ice cream flavor. It did not surprise me when they both said it was cookie dough. Turned out, they had a ton in common—they both loved skiing, they both loved Taylor Swift, and they both loved to poke fun at me.

“Sometimes he has this piece of hair that sticks up in the back,” Sara told Lexi gleefully.

“You should see his hair in the morning,” Lexi told her. “It’s hilarious. Sticks up all over the place.”

They kept it up after we left the restaurant, walking side by side down the block in a light drizzle. “Sometimes he doesn’t shave and he has whiskers,” Sara cackled. “And once we went swimming and I saw that he had hair in his armpits. And on his chest.”

Lexi burst out laughing and winked at me over her shoulder. “That’s true. He does.”

I grinned and shook my head. “I’m not paying for the ice cream if this abuse keeps up.”

But my mood was good. I was glad for myself—it always felt nice to score a winning shot—but mostly, I was happy for Lexi.