An Impossible Proposal

Fiona's heels hit the hallway floor before she even turned the corner. Sharp little clicks, fast. Harper knew that walk by now.

"Luca!"

Harper let go of his hand.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered.

"Hiding."

"From who?"

He just looked at her.

"You'll see."

The door handle rattled.

"Luca Hayes, I know you're in there!"

"She's coming in," Harper said.

"Yeah."

"So answer her."

"Rather not."

The handle turned and stopped. Locked. Fiona let out a groan through the wall, loud enough that a few lockers over probably heard it too. "My dad's going to find you eventually!"

"Her dad?" Harper asked.

"Coach Reed."

"Oh." That explained a lot actually — the hovering, the stuff that kept turning up in his locker, half the rumors going around school. "I get it now."

"Get what."

"You need somewhere to hide."

"I do."

"And if people thought you were already with someone—"

He raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to say the rest.

"They'd stop trying to shove you and Fiona together."

He went quiet for a second like the idea had just landed. "Hadn't thought of that, actually."

"You hadn't?"

"No."

"You looked pretty calm for someone who just figured it out."

"I always look calm. It's kind of a curse."

She sighed. "So what's the plan."

He looked at her a beat too long, and his mouth started doing that thing.

"I think I have one."

"No."

"You don't even know what it is."

"I can tell it's bad from your face."

"It's got potential."

"It has zero potential."

He stepped closer. "What if you were my fake girlfriend."

"Absolutely not."

"Just hear it out."

"I've heard it."

"It solves your Noah problem too. He backs off if he thinks you're taken."

"We've spent our whole lives arguing, Luca."

"That's the point. Everybody already knows we hate each other. Nobody would question it."

"That's not logic, that's the opposite of logic."

"It's actually perfect logic."

She laughed anyway. "No."

He leaned his shoulder against the door frame. "You're scared."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"I'm not scared."

"You are."

"Of what."

He took one step closer, close enough that she got soap instead of the usual sweat-and-grass smell, close enough to see the dumb little dimple on his left side that only showed up when he actually meant a smile instead of faking one.

"You're scared it stops feeling fake."

Her heart did something stupid and uneven.

"I could never like you."

"Never?"

"Never."

"Not even a little."

"Not if you were literally the last guy left."

"Harsh."

"I mean it."

"So do I."

He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear before she could pull back from it. Gentler than she expected, which annoyed her more than it should have.

"What are you doing."

"Checking something."

"Checking what."

"Whether your pulse does anything when I'm close."

"It doesn't."

"It does."

"It doesn't—" She stopped. It did. Her heart was going way too fast for a hallway, for Luca, for someone she'd known since she was in diapers, basically. She didn't like that. She didn't have a good explanation for it either.

Get it together, she thought at herself, not that it helped much.

He'd clearly clocked her face already. "Knew it."

"You know nothing."

"You'll think about it."

"I won't."

"You already are, look at you."

She shoved his chest, mostly just to have something to do with her hands. "You're unbelievably annoying."

"And yet."

He pulled the door open right as Fiona reached for the handle again, and she nearly stumbled in.

"There you are!" Her eyes went to Harper first. Then to the couple feet of space between them. Her smile dropped off her face fast.

Harper looked at Fiona, then at Luca, then back.

"This," Luca said quietly, "is why I need your help."

She had every intention of saying no. What came out instead was, "How long would this fake thing even last."

His grin answered before he opened his mouth.

"Long enough for us both to win."