The Dating Plan Page 74

She had rules about getting too close and she’d broken them. She had a life plan and it didn’t include relationships with motorcycle-riding bad boys who had once broken her heart. She had learned her lessons about love and yet she’d made the same mistake again. Except this time, she had a chance to do it right, to say what she wanted to say, to answer the question that had haunted her the two times she’d been left before: What if they knew?

Act IV: Daisy Throws Herself on Her Sword


“I love you, Liam.” Tears misted her eyes. “I have always loved you, except for the ten years I hated you. But then you came back and I fell in love with you all over again. I don’t care about partnerships or careers or inheritances or distilleries. I care about you, and the kind of person you are.” She drew in a shuddering breath, twisting the sheet in her fist. “I wish you could see yourself the way I see you. You’re a good person, a kind person, someone who makes me laugh and feel good about myself and who I looked forward to seeing every single date. You are funny and sweet and generous, protective and strong. You made me feel both normal and special at the same time. You followed my rules but you also made me break them. You encouraged me to step outside my bubble and be the best person I can be. I like who I am with you. Somewhere along the way, this became real to me.” Her voice trembled. “I want it to be real.”

“God, Daisy . . .” His face crumpled. “Please . . . don’t . . . You can’t love me.” He crossed the room in two steps and took her in his arms. She clung to him, buried her face in his chest, breathed in his scent one last time as she soaked his shirt with hot, wet tears.

Act V: The End


“I love you, too,” he whispered as he released her, and his words tore a hole in her chest. “I will never stop loving you. That’s why I have to go.”

• 27 •


“BETA! I’ve brought more ice cream.”

Layla pushed herself off the couch, patting Daisy on the knee. “Move those bowls of candy out of the way and I’ll go get it from your dad. One carton or two?”

“One. And tell him to be quiet. I’m starting Iron Man 2. This is the one where the palladium core of the arc reactor that protects Iron Man’s heart is starting to break down. He’s in an impossible position—either he slowly lets his body be poisoned or he dies by the shrapnel piercing his heart.”

“Very apropos.”

“Isn’t it, though? If it were me, I wouldn’t have even built an arc reactor.” She tucked her pink princess blanket around her. “Then I would have saved myself the pain of being slowly poisoned by someone I knew I shouldn’t get involved with in the first place.”

“I thought Iron Man was poisoned by palladium.”

“Liam. Palladium. Same difference.”

Layla sighed. “Sometimes I wish you could just watch tear-jerking rom-coms when you’re sad instead of forcing me to sit through Avengers movie marathons and stuff myself with candy. If you keep this up, I won’t fit into my wedding dress. What’s wrong with The Notebook? It’s only about two hours long. You watch it. You cry. And then it’s out of your system.”

Daisy ripped open the bag of Kurkure Masala Munch that Mehar Auntie had sourced from a friend who had just returned from India and shoved a handful in her mouth. Take that, Liam.

“I need to see all the movies to really cry at Avengers: Infinity War. It doesn’t have the same emotional impact if I skip any of the films.”

Max snuggled beside her in solidarity with her decision to check out of the world for a few days and lose herself in junk food and movies. He had been more than content to spend hours with her on the couch watching superheroes saving the universe.

“Is Liam really worth all this?” Layla raised her voice over Daisy’s loud crunching. “His crisis of conscience was too little too late and very ill timed. I mean, seriously, he tells you all this when you’re in the hospital? Who does that?”

“I was fine. I was being discharged. They were keeping me overnight as a precaution. And it’s not about when he said it; it was what he said. I thought I was the broken one in our relationship, but now I realize it was him.” She tossed a few gummy bears in her mouth to counteract the spicy taste of what had been Liam’s favorite snack. “Was Sam worth eating a pot of dal and puking all over your mother’s restaurant floor?”

Layla laughed. “Point taken. But after that I pulled myself together. After one more weekend, I expect the same from you.”

Daisy sank back into the cushions. “That’s not enough time for a full MCU movie marathon if I have to eat, sleep, and visit with people. I’ve only been watching for four days. The hospital signed me off for a full week of medical leave.”

“Promise me,” Layla said. “This weekend will be the end of the Avengers and the last pity food you’ll consume over Liam. You have to move on.” She returned a few minutes later with Daisy’s ice cream and two spoons, and settled on the couch beside her. Layla loved movies, and although the Avengers weren’t her favorite, she watched them just to keep Daisy company.

“How can I move on?” Daisy stabbed at the ice cream—mint chip; her dad always knew what she needed. “I miss him. I feel like a part of me is gone. It started out as a game but somewhere along the way it became real and I . . .” She drew in a ragged breath. “How can two people love each other and not be together?”

Layla scooped up some ice cream. “Because one of them is a hot, broken mess. He was already gone when he walked into that room. He’d made his decision. Do you really think three words could have changed his mind? If he really loves you, he’ll come back, and if he doesn’t, it was never meant to be.” She grinned, the teaspoon half in and half out of her mouth. “I read that on a coffee cup once. I’ve waited a long time to use it.”

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