Josie shrugged. “I thought you wanted to be shown around. Considering you were never invited and all.”
“Sure thing, sweetheart,” Matthew drawled. “You think I’m cute.”
“And annoying.”
Matthew grinned. “Sticking with cute. I have excellent selective hearing.”
Josie snorted and launched herself into a speech that included a list of celebrities she thought were cuter than him. Matthew listened carefully, as if taking mental notes to refute her.
Cameron’s hand shifted to my waist. “That’s… a shocking turn of events. I think we should intervene.” A pause. “Should I do it or will you?”
“I’ll take this one for the team,” I said, reaching out and grabbing the phone from a surprisingly reluctant Josie. She flushed, whirled around, and ran away with a quick “See ya!” Literally. I filed that for later and refocused on Matthew. “Okay, what’s up? Why were you calling? Something happened?”
“I…” Matthew trailed off. His expression fell. “Is the lodge you own in Green Oak free?”
I frowned.
“Yeah,” Cameron said, and I could hear the same hint of concern I was feeling in his voice. “We’re living closer to the club now.”
Matthew nodded. “Then, I have a favor to ask.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Hi, you. I can’t believe you’re still sticking with me. And for that, not only do you deserve all the cake （served by a grumpy but secretly soft man—shirtless, too, because why not?）， but you’ve also earned being at the top of my acknowledgments. Always. Because without you, the reader, the blogger, the romance lover, I wouldn’t be here. So thank you for showing up, putting up with my endless shenanigans, and making this dream still possible. It makes me so incredibly happy and honored that I get to make you smile and fall in love with love a little bit more with my words. I owe you everything.
Jess, Andrea, Jenn, and everyone at Sandra Dijkstra, thank you for being the best dream team an author could ever ask for. And Jess? Thank you for （still） keeping me together when I want to burst at the seams with all kinds of fears that are very reasonable sounding in my head. You’re my superstar agent slash therapist slash godmother. Never leave me, pls.
Kaitlin, Megan, Morgan, and the beautiful team at Atria: Thank you for all the incredible work you do to put my books out there in the world. I cannot wait to see you again, hug you, fangirl over Cameron, and go to goat yoga. Yes. Sorry, but you promised. I don’t care if it’s New York. Make it happen. Do it for us.
Molly, Sarah, Harriett and the rest of my fantastic UK team: By the time this book comes out, I’ll be just about to finally meet you. I hope you’re prepared to be squeezed, because you’ll soon learn that I am a hugger. Thank you so much for your continual efforts and for always being the kindest to me. I appreciate you more than I can say.
Hannah, hi :） You’ve been a very important part of these past few months, and I’m so happy I get to call you a friend. I’m also happy I get to text-scream at you and be that annoying girlie who insists on seeing the glass half-full. Can’t wait for those pictures of husbandbyhan posing with The Long Game.
Mr. B., where are my flowers? I love you, but jeez, man.
Mamá y Papá, gracias por ser mis mayores cheerleaders—and Mamá? Stop taking selfies with my readers at events, you’re stealing my thunder.
María, gracias por estar ahí （y sobre todo por aguantarme）。 I promise you, I’ll introduce you to one of the firefighters that work next door. I just need to figure out a creative way to get stuck somewhere.
Erin, thank you for being the best beta reader one could ask for. I can’t believe it’s been almost three years since I asked you to read TSLD. I’m so very grateful for you （and your knowledge of poultry）。
And before I go, I want to squeeze a few words in to say that I hope you love Cameron and Adalyn’s journey as much as I do. This wasn’t an easy book to write for a long （and frankly boring） list of reasons. We all struggle in one way or another. That’s why both Adalyn and Cameron （but especially Adalyn） were handed more than a few messy pieces of myself. I can only hope you see the magic in their imperfections and vulnerabilities and are able to relate to them. Hopefully, you get to find some happiness in them, too—and come scream at me in my DMs. Because writing slow-burn romance about imperfect, stubborn idiots and not being yelled at is, as Joey would say, “like Friday with no two pizzas.”