Riley rung her hands together. “So, now that you know about the mix-up you can all go back to your normal lives.”
“But the three of us were the great loves of your life, right?” Colin asked.
“Yes.” She smiled for the first time. It was a genuine smile. “I will always be thankful that I had each of you in my life.”
Colin got up and walked over to her and took her hand and looked into her eyes.
“Riley, I’m here because when I saw that interview, I realized I’ve never truly stopped loving you, and if there was a chance to rekindle that love, I wanted to try,” Colin said. “Yes, I thought you were talking about me, about us, in that interview, and I get that there are two other guys here, but I know what we had was real. The timing was just off back then, but I’m here now. So, I’d like to stay to see what could happen. I already planned a special date for us for tonight, if you’re up for giving us another try.”
At that moment, everything she had loved about Colin came rushing back. His sincerity, his kindness, his quiet confidence, his ability to always share his feelings. When she looked into his eyes, she remembered their love and how wonderful it had been.
But before she could answer, Brendan came over and surprised her by taking her other hand. “I’m in, too, Riley. I don’t want to leave,” Brendan said. He looked at Colin. “I don’t have a date already planned for tonight, but I do have a special breakfast planned for us before you start your camp tomorrow. We had a good thing. I’d like to see if we could get that back.”
“Hold on,” Tyler said, joining them. He looked at Colin and Brendan, who were still holding Riley’s hands, and frowned. “Look, you both are part of Riley’s past. You dated a long time ago. Riley and I just dated.”
“A few years ago,” Riley corrected him.
“Yes,” Tyler said, “but I’m not someone you dated in college when you didn’t even know who you were or what you wanted yet.” He looked at Colin. “No offense.”
“Some taken,” Colin said. He still wasn’t letting go of Riley’s hand.
Tyler looked into Riley’s eyes. “Riley, what I mean is, I know who you are now, and we were good together. We made a great team. We had some things to work on, sure, but what couple doesn’t? I still love you, and I think you still could love me.”
“Wow, going big and throwing out the L word,” Brendan said as he looked at Tyler.
“Tyler, what are you saying?” Riley asked, her head spinning.
Tyler gave Colin and Brendan a confident look. “I’m saying that I’m not going anywhere until I’ve had a chance to spend some time with you. I’ve also planned a special date for us and think it will show you that we’re meant to be together.”
Riley, dazed, looked from one guy to another. She gently let go of Colin’s and Brendan’s hands and rubbed her hands together. One at a time, she looked at each of them.
“Are you all saying you want to stay?” Riley asked thinking, please tell me this is not happening. . .
“Yes,” Tyler said.
Brendan nodded. “Totally.”
“Without a doubt,” Colin said. “And our date can start right away. It’s all set up.”
Riley gave them a questioning look. “These dates you’re all talking about, how did you even plan them? You all just got here.”
“Luke,” they all said at the same time.
Riley’s eyes widened. “Luke?”
“He was great,” Brendan said. “He helped with everything.”
“He did,” Colin agreed.
“Unbelievable,” Riley said as her reality continued to spin out of control.
“I asked him to keep it a secret,” Colin said. “I wanted to surprise you.”
Brendan laughed. “Same.”
Tyler just nodded.
Colin smiled his most charming smile. “So what do you say? I know this has all been a lot, but we’re all here. We’ve all planned special dates for you. Why not go on the dates and see how you feel? See if there’s still a spark with any of us. Think of it as if you’re on The Bachelorette and we’ve all planned these one-on-one dates for you, and you can decide who to give the rose to at the end.”
Riley could only laugh. Leave it to Colin, the movie producer, to come with The Bachelorette reality TV analogy.
She looked at Brendan and Tyler. “Are you guys still really wanting to do this?”
“Sure,” Brendan said.
When the two guys looked at Tyler, he flashed them a confident smile. “The dates are already planned,” Tyler said. “I say we see this through.”
Colin jumped back in. “Look, I know it’s crazy, but the only thing crazier would be for all of us to go home and never know.”
“You could let us know the last night of Christmas Camp, at the dance, after you’ve had some time to spend with each of us,” Brendan said.
They were all staring at her.
When Riley looked down at Comet, he was gazing up at her, too.
She exhaled slowly. “Okay,” she said, already wondering what in the world she was getting herself into. Speed dating with her three exes at Christmas Camp while working to save her career and pretending she’s Miss Christmas when she didn’t even celebrate the holiday . . . What could possibly go wrong except everything?
“Fantastic!” Colin said, giving her a big hug. “So my date’s first. It’s super casual as I knew you’d be tired tonight. So we’re just going to relax. You can change into something comfortable—sweats, jeans, whatever you want—and meet me in my room, in say, a half hour. Does that work for you?”
“Your room?” Tyler questioned.
Colin laughed. “Come on, it’s not like that. I just wanted somewhere private where we could talk.”
“It’s fine,” Riley said. “I’ll meet you in your room. Where are you?”
“The Alpine suite,” Colin said.
Brendan stepped forward and gave Riley a hug. “And for our date, meet downstairs at six
