Chapter 27 No More Pretending #2
“I saw you with Tyler,” she said. “And with Jace. And Sofia. And your mom. I saw you give away things you needed. I saw you protect people and then pretend it was irritation. I saw how tired you were. I saw how scared you were. And I didn’t stop caring when it got ugly.”
He looked at her then.
His chest hurt.
“You should have.”
Her expression sharpened. “Do not do that.”
“What?”
“Do not decide what I should feel because you’re scared of what it costs.”
The words struck clean.
Exactly where they needed to.
Nico breathed out slowly.
“You’re right.”
She blinked, like she had not expected that.
He would have been offended if he had not earned the surprise.
“I know I’m right,” she said, recovering quickly.
There she was.
His mouth curved slightly.
“Of course you do.”
Her expression softened.
Then the softness made them both remember everything at once.
The kiss.
The court.
The way he had touched her.
The way she had told him not to run.
Nico looked away first, because wanting her in the middle of an apology felt like another crime.
Lena must have sensed it, because her voice dropped.
“We need to talk about what was fake.”
He looked back.
Every muscle in his body tightened.
“Okay.”
She glanced down at the court line, then back up. “The coffee date was fake.”
“Mostly.”
Her brow lifted.
He sighed. “The date was fake. The part where I didn’t want people filming you wasn’t.”
Her mouth parted slightly.
Then she nodded.
“The hoodie photo was fake to everyone else,” she said. “But the hoodie wasn’t.”
“No.”
“The ballroom kiss started fake.”
His heart kicked.
He stepped closer before he meant to.
“And after the first three seconds?”
Her breath caught.
The echo of her own words from that night sat between them.
She looked at him.
“Not fake.”
His chest tightened.
“The court kiss?” he asked, though he already knew.
Her eyes softened.
“That was the most real thing I’d done in weeks.”
Nico looked down because he could not hold that and breathe at the same time.
Lena came closer.
This time, only a few feet separated them.
“What about you?” she asked.
He laughed under his breath. “You really need me to say it?”
“Yes.”
Of course she did.
Because words mattered.
Because silence had hurt them both enough already.
Nico lifted his head.
“The coffee shop,” he said. “When you put your hand over mine, I told myself it was for cameras. It wasn’t. Not for me.”
Her eyes widened slightly.
“The donor party,” he continued. “When that guy touched you, I wanted to break his fingers. Politely.”
A laugh escaped her.
Small.
Watery.
Perfect.
“I appreciate the manners,” she said.
“I’m evolving.”
“I noticed.”
He took another step.
The distance was smaller now.
Still there.
Still chosen.
“The almost-kiss wasn’t fake,” he said.
“No.”
“The court kiss definitely wasn’t fake.”
“No.”
“And today, in that hearing room...” His voice roughened. “You standing there and not using all of it, even though you could have fixed everything faster? That wasn’t fake either.”
Lena’s eyes shone.
“No,” she whispered.
Nico looked at her and finally let the truth come all the way up.
“I’m in love with you.”
The words left him quietly.
No dramatic shout.
No perfect speech.
Just the truth, rough and terrified and standing under floodlights with nowhere else to hide.
Lena went still.
Completely.
For one awful second, Nico thought he had ruined whatever fragile thing they were rebuilding.
Then her face changed.
Like the sun breaking through clouds after days of rain.
Not bright.
Not easy.
Just warm enough to hurt.
“Nico.”
He took a breath, because now that he had started, apparently his mouth had decided to commit fully to ruining him.
“I don’t know how to be good at it,” he said. “I don’t know how to let someone close without trying to shove them out of the blast radius. I don’t know how to stop thinking love is something I have to earn after I win enough, carry enough, survive enough.”
Her hand rose to her mouth.
He kept going.
“I don’t know what happens if you take that internship and leave.
I don’t know what your dad does with me after this.
I don’t know if my wrist holds through championship week.
I don’t know if the next post ruins everything again.
” His voice dropped. “But I know I’m tired of pretending I don’t want you because wanting you scares me. ”
A tear slipped down Lena’s cheek.
Nico moved on instinct.
Then stopped.
His hand hovered between them.
Permission.
Always.
Even now.
Especially now.
Lena stepped into the touch.
His palm met her cheek.
Soft.
Warm.
Real.
“You idiot,” she whispered.
His mouth curved despite everything. “That feels fair.”
“I’m in love with you too.”
Nico stopped breathing.
The words moved through him slowly.
Not because he did not understand them.
Because part of him did not know where to put something that good.
Lena laughed softly through another tear. “And I’m also mad at you.”
“Also fair.”
“And scared.”
“Me too.”
“And I don’t know what happens next.”
“Me neither.”
Her hand covered his where it rested against her cheek.
“But no more deciding for me,” she said.
His chest tightened.
“I mean it, Nico. You do not get to leave me alone and call it protection. You do not get to make choices for both of us because fear sounds noble in your head. If this is real, then I get a say in what risks I take.”
He nodded.
Immediately.
Because the answer was simple even if living it would not be.
“You get a say.”
“Not just when it’s easy.”
“Especially when it’s not.”
Her face softened.
God.
He was never surviving this girl.
She stepped closer, until the space between them was barely space at all.
“You’re sure?” she whispered.
“No.”
That made her laugh.
He brushed his thumb under the tear on her cheek. “I’m sure about you. The rest terrifies me.”
“Good,” she said softly. “Then we’ll be terrified honestly.”
Something inside him loosened.
Not fixed.
Not healed.
But loosened.
Like a knot finally learning it could become undone.
He bent his head slowly.
Lena met him halfway.
The kiss was different this time.
Not desperate like the court kiss.
Not staged like the ballroom.
Not stolen from a moment that could vanish.
This kiss was a promise with bruises.
Careful at first, because both of them had sharp edges now.
Then deeper, when Lena’s hands slid up his chest and he made a helpless sound against her mouth.
His left arm wrapped around her waist. His right stayed braced carefully between them until she touched his sleeve and guided it around her too.
Not enough to hurt.
Enough to hold.
He pulled back first, breathing hard.
Her forehead rested against his.
For once, silence did not feel like a locked door.
It felt like rest.
Then Lena’s phone buzzed.
They both froze.
Nico closed his eyes. “I hate phones.”
“Reasonable.”
It buzzed again.
Then his did too.
He lifted his head.
The fragile peace cracked.
Lena pulled out her phone, and the glow lit her face from beneath.
Nico already knew.
He saw it in her eyes before she turned the screen.
The gossip account had posted a new photo.
Blurry.
Taken from far away.
Him and Lena on Court One under the lights, his hand on her face, their bodies close enough that no caption was really needed.
But the account had written one anyway.
FAKE COUPLE CAUGHT RECONCILING AFTER HEARING. How many versions of this story are they selling?
Comments began multiplying beneath it.
They’re still together???
This is either true love or the messiest PR campaign ever.
Coach Hart must be losing it.
Nico cleared and immediately back with Lena? suspicious.
Maybe the fake part was the lie.
Lena’s face went pale.
For one second, Nico felt the old instinct rise.
Step away.
Protect her.
Make distance.
Give the world less to use.
Then Lena looked at him.
Not pleading.
Not afraid of him.
Just watching to see which man he was going to choose to be.
Nico breathed once.
Then he took her hand.
Firm.
Public or not, real.
“They’re watching,” she whispered.
He looked down at their joined hands.
Then back at her.
“Let them.”
Her breath caught.
He squeezed her fingers once.
His phone buzzed again.
A message from Declan.
No greeting.
No pretense.
Just one sentence.
Enjoy the romance. I’ll see you on the court.
Nico showed Lena the screen.
This time, he did not hide it.
This time, he did not carry it alone.
Lena looked at the message, then back at him.
Her hand tightened around his.
And under the bright, unforgiving lights of Court One, Nico Reyes understood the difference between being watched and being seen.