Chapter 15 Real Enough #2
There was only Nico’s mouth, warm and controlled until it wasn’t. Only his fingers tightening at her waist like restraint was a battle he was losing by choice. Only the sound he made low in his throat when she lifted one hand to the back of his neck.
Not loud.
Not obvious.
Enough to ruin her.
He tasted like mint and something darker, something that made her forget every rule she had written.
No kissing.
No confusion.
No private pretending.
Well.
They were in public.
So technically, this was public pretending.
Except nothing about the way Nico’s thumb pressed into her waist felt fake.
Nothing about the way his mouth softened against hers felt strategic.
Nothing about the way her heart cracked open like it had been waiting for this specific disaster felt temporary.
Someone cheered.
The sound snapped reality back into place.
Lena broke the kiss.
Slowly.
Too slowly.
Nico’s forehead almost touched hers before he caught himself.
His eyes opened.
Dark.
Stunned.
A little furious.
Not at her.
At the fact that both of them had forgotten the room.
Lena dropped back onto her heels.
His hand stayed at her waist.
For half a second too long.
Then he let go.
The noise rushed in.
Whispers.
Laughter.
A few dramatic gasps.
Phone cameras.
So many phone cameras.
Talia looked like she had just witnessed either a PR miracle or a legal complication.
Savannah’s smile had disappeared.
Good.
Declan’s had not.
Less good.
Nico’s gaze stayed on Lena.
“What was that?” he asked under his breath.
Her lips still felt like him.
Unacceptable.
“Strategy,” she said.
His eyes dropped to her mouth.
“That was not strategy.”
The words hit low in her stomach.
Lena turned away before her face could confess treason.
She smiled at the room.
Bright.
Effortless.
Doomed.
Then she took Nico’s hand because apparently she had decided to make every bad choice available tonight and said, “Come with me.”
He followed.
Not because of the crowd.
Not because of the campaign.
Because when she tugged, he came.
That might have been the most dangerous part of the whole night.
They made it into the hallway beside the ballroom before Nico pulled his hand free.
The second they were alone, the air changed.
No music.
No cameras.
No Savannah.
Just the two of them and the kiss still standing between them like a crime scene.
Nico turned on her. “Was that in your plan too?”
Lena’s breath was not steady.
She hated that.
“The first three seconds, yes.”
His eyes flashed. “And after that?”
“I don’t know.”
Wrong answer.
Honest answer.
His jaw tightened. “You don’t know.”
“No.”
“You kissed me in front of half the university and you don’t know?”
“You were about to go after Declan.”
“So you put your mouth on me?”
Her face heated. “When you phrase it like that, it sounds less professional.”
“It wasn’t professional.”
“I was trying to stop you from becoming another clip.”
“I didn’t ask you to save me.”
“No,” she snapped. “You just keep standing in front of fires and acting offended when someone notices smoke.”
His expression changed.
Hurt flickered under the anger.
She saw it.
Regretted it.
Still could not stop.
“And you know what?” she continued, voice lower now. “I am tired of pretending I don’t care what happens to you just because caring complicates the campaign.”
Nico stared at her.
The hallway hummed.
A door opened somewhere down the corridor, then shut again.
“What did you just say?” he asked.
Lena’s heart slammed.
Nothing.
Everything.
Too much.
She folded her arms, which was difficult to do with dignity while her mouth was still tingling.
“I said we need to be smarter.”
“No.” He stepped closer. “That’s not what you said.”
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Do this.”
His laugh was soft and humorless. “Do what, Lena?”
“Make me say something we can’t take back.”
The moment went still.
Nico’s face shifted.
All the anger did not disappear.
It rearranged itself into something more dangerous.
Need.
Fear.
Hope, maybe, though she could not afford to call it that.
He came closer.
Slowly.
Unlike in the ballroom, there was no excuse now.
No audience.
No strategy.
Just him.
Just her.
“You think I can take that kiss back?” he asked.
Her breath caught.
“Nico.”
“You think I want to?”
The words moved through her like a match strike.
She looked at his mouth.
Mistake.
His eyes darkened.
Another mistake.
The space between them shrank until she could feel the heat coming off him. Until every rule in her head burned down to ash.
Then her phone buzzed.
Loud.
Violent.
Reality, apparently, had no respect for dramatic tension.
Lena looked down with shaking fingers.
The gossip account had posted.
The video filled her screen.
Her and Nico.
Her hands on his chest.
His hand at her waist.
The kiss.
The caption:
THE KISS. WESTbrIDGE, WE HAVE A ROMANCE.
Below it, comments poured in so fast the screen blurred.
I SCREAMED.
Fake where??
Nico forgot the whole room existed.
Lena Hart you are stronger than me.
Damage control has entered the kissing stage.
Then a second notification appeared.
Another post.
A blurry hallway clip.
Her and Nico standing too close, faces tense, mouths saying words no one could hear.
Caption:
Trouble in paradise already? Or did the fake couple forget which part was fake?
Lena’s stomach dropped.
Nico leaned in and read it over her shoulder.
His face closed.
The softness vanished.
The wall returned.
And this time, Lena felt it like a door slammed between them.
“Nico,” she said.
He stepped back.
Just one step.
Enough.
“We should go back,” he said.
Her throat tightened. “That’s it?”
His eyes flicked to hers.
For half a second, she saw the same panic from the first viral clip.
Not because of the kiss.
Because of what it meant.
Because everyone had seen something he had not agreed to show.
“People are watching,” he said.
Lena laughed once, small and hurt. “People are always watching.”
His jaw tightened.
Then he looked away.
And somehow, that hurt worse than if he had walked out.
From inside the ballroom, applause broke out for the next athlete presentation.
Lena’s phone buzzed again.
Her father.
She did not answer.
Another message appeared instead.
From the anonymous account.
Careful. The last time Nico Reyes lost control, everyone blamed the shove. This time, they’ll blame the girl.