The Pairing (The Proposition, #3)

The tour group arrives in San Sebastian on the last day of Semana Grande, a festival marking the end of summer. Theo’s enjoyment of the city’s celebratory atmosphere and delectable pintxos is soured by her anger at Kit. She feels as though it was easy for him to move on from their relationship while she still wrestles with unresolved feelings. Theo and Kit befriend Birgitte and Lars, a married couple from Sweden, and share how they became friends in second grade after Theo fought Kit’s bullies. Lars advises them, “Take care of good love when you find it” (123).

Theo and Kit go on a boat ride together. The river becomes overcrowded, leaving them stuck in a cave. Theo takes this opportunity to discuss what happened at in London at Heathrow airport four years ago. All this time, Theo thought that Kit broke up with her because he walked away from her. However, unbeknownst to her, he came back. Kit thought that Theo broke up with him because she sent him a screenshot of her return ticket to California. In reality, she bought tickets for both of them and meant to send him his. Kit asks if they’re friends now, and Theo agrees that they are. Later that night, Theo realizes that she’s still in love with Kit and sleeps with a stranger to distract herself. Meanwhile, Kit leaves a bar with a group of potential partners.

The tour group goes on a chocolatería crawl in Barcelona because the city is credited with introducing chocolate to Europe. Theo forgets her phone at the hostel, so Kit takes notes for her and sketches the different foods they sample. A heat wave grips the city, and the air conditioner in Kit’s room at the hostel breaks, so Theo invites him to spend the night with her. They decide to share a bed and to sleep in their underwear so that neither of them has to sleep on the floor or become overheated by their proximity. Theo considers having sex with Kit but then hurriedly moves to her side of the bed and tells him good night. She dreams about having sex with Kit and awakens with her limbs wrapped around him. When she tries to extricate herself, they tumble over the side of the bed, startling Kit awake. He apologizes profusely for his aroused state, and she agrees to pretend that this never happened.

During a tour of Sagrada Familia, Kit joyfully shares his knowledge of the basilica’s art and history with Theo, and she turns away so he won’t see how “the terrible, undeniable, shattering fact of his goodness” brings tears to her eyes (157). Theo and Kit visit Bar Marsella and play a game called “On the Fly” in which they take turns inventing pastries and cocktails. Each new idea must incorporate an ingredient from the one that came before it. Theo suggests a recipe for a Cable Car, which reminds her of the night Kit told her that he’d marry her if she wanted. Kit tells Theo that he is no longer on speaking terms with his father, who ghostwrites for famous novelists. After his wife’s death, Craig Fairfield secluded himself in his office, claiming that he was working on an important manuscript. Six months ago, Kit discovered that this was just a lie he invented to excuse his absence from his children.

Kit invites Santiago, a chocolatier from the tour that morning, to join them at the bar. Santiago brings along his neighbor, Caterina, who is a painter. While Theo has sex with Caterina, she hears Kit and Santiago having sex across the street. She thinks about intimate memories with Kit instead of the woman she is with in the present and then hurries back to the hostel. Theo tells Sloane that she’s falling for Kit again, and her sister replies, “Would that be such a bad thing?” (166).

As Theo watches Kit stroll through a lavender field in Provence, she admits to herself that she never pursued a serious relationship after their breakup because she doubted anyone could replace him. She wonders if he could ever love her again. Kit invites Theo to accompany him to Nice, where a friend of his from pastry school named Apolline has opened a bakery. Apolline’s staff is out sick, so Theo and Kit volunteer to prepare all of the pastries for the afternoon rush. As she and Kit work in perfect sync, Theo hopes that they could still open a restaurant together some day. After the bakery closes for the day, Theo walks in on Apolline kissing Kit, apologizes, and hurries away.

Theo climbs Castle Hill and calls Sloane. During their conversation, Theo receives an email informing her that she has lost her freelance mobile bar’s biggest client. Sloane offers to invest in Theo’s business, but Theo declines because she doesn’t want to rely on her family. The sisters have a fight when Sloane feels that Theo attributes her success to nepotism. Before Sloane hangs up, she tells Theo, “You get in your own way” (181), which is the same thing that Kit said when they fought in London years ago. To cope with her feelings of failure, she goes to a bar and seduces a man who resembles Kit.

After the tour group enjoys a four-course champagne brunch in Monaco, Theo raises the subject of her competition with Kit. She believes the score is six to five, but he says that the score is six to four because he didn’t sleep with Apolline. He assures Theo that he doesn’t have any feelings for his former classmate, but Theo protests that she doesn’t care. She feels a reckless desire to be “one more renegade nepo baby in Monaco” (185), and she uses her status as a Flowerday to score her and Kit invitations to a yacht party.

The yacht’s owner, Émile, invites Theo and Kit to the private deck for a ménage à trois. At Émile’s request, Kit demonstrates how Theo likes to receive oral sex on a peach. Émile leaves to attend to his duties as a host, promising to return. Theo thinks that Kit is above the lust and confusion that she is mired in. She swipes a bottle of Dom Perignon and rushes off the yacht. Kit follows her, and they share the bottle of champagne as they dash through the streets of Monaco. Kit kisses Theo in an alley.