Chapter 5 – Analyse
Chapter Five
ANALYSE
The sun streams through my window, my left eye peeking open. I’m sprawled across my bed, my bonnet halfway off my head. One arm dangles off the mattress, and my pillow is somewhere near my knees.
I blink slowly, trying to decide if I’m ready to get out of bed or if I should just roll over and fall back asleep.
My mouth is dry—I could really use about a gallon of water right now.
What a night. After Mateo left last night, I began to panic about the situation I’ve gotten us both into and popped open another bottle of wine—a decision I’m currently regretting.
A sharp knock rattles the front door. My stomach drops. Please don’t let that be who I think it is.
Another knock, louder this time. “Analyse, it’s me. We need to talk.”
Shit. Nico.
I stumble out of bed, tug a hoodie over my oversize sleep shirt, and yank open the door. Nico is standing there, looking infuriatingly casual, like he didn’t abandon me seven years ago.
“You didn’t give me a chance to explain last night,” he says, his voice almost pleading. “I just want to talk. Please. About us. About our daughter.”
The words hit like a stone in my gut. “She’s my daughter,” I snap before I can stop myself. “And there is no us, Nico. Not anymore.”
His jaw tightens, but he steps closer. “I know I screwed up. But I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere. We can fix this, Analyse. We can be a family. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
Anger flares hot in my chest. “Seven years too late,” I shoot back. My throat tightens. God, I hate that part of me still wants answers. “And for the record, about last night—Mateo—” I swallow hard. “Mateo isn’t—”
“Isn’t what?” a deep voice cuts in.
I whip my head up, heart leaping into my throat. Mateo is striding up the walkway, a coffee carrier in one hand, as calm as ever. His gaze flicks between me and Nico, sharp and unreadable. He steps right into the space beside me like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
“Isn’t what, Lyse?” Mateo repeats, his tone smooth. He shifts the drinks into one hand and slips the other casually around my waist. “Because I could’ve sworn I heard my name.”
Nico’s face hardens, but his eyes never leave me. “So this is real, then? You and him?”
My pulse hammers. Words clog my throat, but Mateo doesn’t hesitate. He squeezes my side and answers for me. “Yeah. It’s real. Analyse and I are together.”
The lie burns hot against my tongue, but I can’t bring myself to correct him. Not with Nico watching me like a hawk, waiting for me to fold.
Nico exhales, shaking his head like he can’t believe it. “Fine,” he mutters. “If that’s how it is, I’ll respect it. But I’m still not going anywhere. I’m going to be in Maya’s life whether you like it or not.”
He turns on his heel and stalks back to his truck, slamming the door shut and peeling off down the street.
The second he’s gone, I step out of Mateo’s hold and press my shaking hands to my face. “Oh my god.”
Mateo sets the coffee carrier on the porch railing, his eyes locked on me. “You almost told him, didn’t you?”
I nod miserably. “I couldn’t keep the lie straight. I was about to tell him you weren’t—”
“Good thing I showed up, then.” His voice low. “Because that lie? It’s the only thing keeping him from thinking he still has a chance.”
I open my mouth to argue, but no words come out. Because he’s right. Nico’s face, that little flash of hope when I almost told him the truth—it scared me more than I want to admit.
By the time Mateo leaves, the weight of what just happened presses down on me until I can barely breathe. I stumble back inside, shut the door, and collapse onto my couch. My head is pounding, and when I finally check my phone, I nearly drop it. Twenty notifications. All from Anna.
I open the first text.
Anna
Call me.
Then proceed to scroll down and see that all the texts are different variations of her telling me to call her as soon as possible.
That’s weird. She left a voicemail. I press play and put the speaker on to listen.
“Lyse, it’s Anna, obviously, I don’t know why you haven’t answered your phone, but Libby said she was taking a walk last night and saw you with Mateo and that you two were having sex against your car? What the hell? Call me back.”
I stare at my phone in disbelief. What is Libby talking about? Having sex against my car? My anxiety rises, and I quickly dial Anna’s number.
“Fucking finally!”
“Anna. What’s with that message you left me? What are you talking about?” I say, panicked.
“Okay, so…Libby told Hilda and Hilda told me that she saw you last night with Mateo and you were canoodling.”
“Canoodling?”
“Yup.”
“You said that she said we were having sex.”
“Right, I needed you to call me back right away and you weren’t answering. I figured that would get those fingers dialing.”
“For fuck’s sake, Anna! I was damn near hyperventilating!”
“Why? It’s obviously not true. You wouldn’t be caught dead doing anything with Mateo.”
The silence is deafening. Shit. I’m really going to have to do this, aren’t I? I’m really telling people that I’m dating Mateo?
“Lyse? Right?”
“Well…”
“Holy fuck balls. You’re fucking Mateo!”
“No! I mean! Yes! No! Oh my god, Anna!”
“Well, which is it? Are you or aren’t you?”
“We’re not fucking—we’re dating.”
The other end of the call is so silent that for a moment I think Anna hung up. I’m about to speak when she says, “Dating? You? And Mateo? Together? You and Mateo are dating? Each other?”
“Yes, we’re dating each other. That’s usually what that means.”
“Wow. I’m shocked. Didn’t you say he was a walking red flag? And I didn’t think he did relationships.”
“Yeah. I did think he was a walking red flag, but you know, we spend a lot of time together because of Maya—they love each other so much—and I got to learn about who he really is as a person.”
“And who is that?”
“A nice guy, Anna.”
Anna sighs. “Shit. I can’t believe this is actually happening. Seb is going to be pissed. You know he gets all macho big brother and tells everyone to stay away from you.”
“He’ll get over it. He just needs to hear it from me first.”
Anna laughs. “Well, you better talk to him soon, because Libby is running her mouth. You’re the best piece of chisme we’ve had in months.”
I roll my eyes. Shit. Living in a small town can be really hard when you’re trying to keep a secret. I need to get to Seb before he hears it from someone else and blows a gasket.
“Ugh. Thanks for the heads up, banana. I need to get ready so I can go tell him.”
“Okay, yeah…and Lyse…just be careful.”
“With Seb??”
“With Mateo. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I’ll be okay, An. But thank you for looking out for me.”
“Always.”
By the time I hang up with Anna, my anxiety is through the roof. The whole damn town already thinks Mateo and I were going at it in my front yard, and Nico now believes we’re a couple. This is spiraling so far out of my control, and I can barely keep up.
Later that day, I’m pacing outside of the bakery when Mateo pulls up. The second he gets out of his truck, I throw my hands in the air.
“We are screwed,” I blurt. “Completely, utterly screwed.”
He raises a brow. “Nice to see you, too, querida.”
“Don’t.” I point a finger at him. “The entire town thinks we had sex against my car last night.”
Mateo barks out a laugh. “Against your car? That’s creative.”
“This isn’t funny!” I snap. “Nico already believes we’re together, and now everyone else does, too. I can’t tell him it was a lie without looking insane, and I can’t tell the town it was a lie without making things worse. Oh my god, what do we do?”
He tilts his head, considering me. “We keep the lie.”
“Excuse me?”
“Think about it. Nico sticks around, he believes you moved on. Everyone else thinks we’re together, so they stop talking about him and start talking about us instead. Problem solved.” He shrugs.
“Mateo, this isn’t some simple problem! This is my life! This is Maya’s life!” I rake a hand through my hair. “We can’t just fake date. We’d have to sell it to Seb, to Mari, to literally everyone. Seb is going to lose his mind.”
“Seb can deal with it,” Mateo says firmly. His eyes lock on mine. “What matters is that you don’t have to face this alone. We pretend until Nico leaves. Until the gossip dies down. Whatever comes first.”
I open my mouth to argue, but the truth is—I don’t have a better plan. Slowly, reluctantly, I nod. “Fine. But we need ground rules.”
He smirks. “Ground rules, huh?”
“Yes, Mateo! Ground rules. No kissing, no touching, no breathing on me.”
He leans in closer, wrapping one of my curls around his finger. “Lyse, I don’t think anyone is going to believe that we’re together if we don’t touch. They know me—and if you’re my girl, there’s no way I’m going to go a second without touching you, being near you, kissing you.”
Heat creeps up my neck and face, and I clear my throat. “Right. Okay. So there will be touching…but we don’t have to kiss.”
“Okay. No kissing. Unless you ask for it.”
I roll my eyes. “Well, we don’t have to worry about that.”
He barks out a laugh. “Whatever you say, Lyse. Anything else we should go over?”
“I kinda already told Anna and Mari. But everyone else is going to want to know how this started.”
“So you already told them but you weren’t sure if we were actually going to do this?”
“I panicked, okay? Everyone else is going to wonder how this started.”
“Easy. We say it’s new. We spent a lot of time together and things just naturally progressed. The rest is nobody’s business.”
“So we’re really doing this, huh?”
“Yes, Lyse, we’re really doing this. But if you don’t want to, just say the word.”
I’m quite for a few beats, and for a second, I think about backing out. Finally, I shake my head. “No, I want to do it.”
A smile spreads across his face. “Great.” He leans down and presses a kiss to my forehead. “Now you’re my girl.