An Impossible Proposal

Fiona’s heels reached the hallway before she did, each sharp click carrying farther than it had any right to in the nearly empty corridor. Harper recognised the sound now. Fiona never walked quietly, especially when she was looking for Luca.

Harper’s fingers loosened around Luca’s hand almost immediately. She hadn't even realised she was still holding it until the sound of those approaching footsteps reminded her where they were and how close they had been standing. Luca, on the other hand, looked completely at ease. He had one shoulder against the wall, his expression unreadable, as if hiding from the coach’s daughter in a locked room was something he did every Tuesday.

“Luca!”

Harper glanced toward the door. “What are you doing here?” she whispered.

“Hiding.”

She stared at him. Of course he was. Somehow, that answer explained absolutely nothing and everything at the same time.

The handle rattled.

“Luca Hayes, I know you're in there!”

Harper looked at the door, then back at him. “She's going to come in.”

“Probably.”

“And you're just going to let her?”

“I was hoping she wouldn't.”

Harper almost laughed. “That's your plan?”

“It was a good plan five minutes ago.”

The handle turned again, but the lock held. Fiona made an irritated sound on the other side, followed by a few muttered words Harper couldn't quite make out. She sounded like someone who had spent the last ten minutes chasing a person who had no intention of being caught.

“My dad's going to find you eventually!” Fiona called through the door.

Harper's attention shifted back to Luca. “Her dad?”

“Coach Reed.”

“Oh.”

That explained more than Harper wanted to admit. The constant attention. Fiona appearing beside Luca at games, parties, practices, and even places where she had no obvious reason to be. The stories that circulated around school about Coach Reed wanting his daughter and the football captain together. The gifts that somehow ended up in Luca’s locker. The way Fiona behaved as though Luca had already been assigned to her and everyone else was simply taking too long to understand it.

Harper looked at him again.

“You need somewhere to hide.”

Luca's mouth twitched. “That would be the general idea.”

“And if everyone thought you were already with someone, Fiona would probably back off.”

This time he didn't answer immediately. He looked at Harper with a different kind of attention, as if she had accidentally placed a missing piece on the table between them. His eyes moved briefly toward the door before returning to her.

“I hadn't thought about that.”

“You hadn't?”

“No.”

Harper folded her arms. “You seem very calm for someone who apparently has no plan.”

“I always look calm.”

“You don't always look calm.”

“I do when you're around.”

“That makes no sense.”

“It does to me.”

She rolled her eyes, but the corner of her mouth betrayed her. Luca caught it. He always seemed to catch the smallest things, which was irritating enough when they were children and somehow worse now that she had started noticing things about him too.

He pushed away from the wall.

“I might have an idea.”

Harper's smile disappeared. “No.”

“You don't even know what I'm going to say.”

“I know you.”

“That isn't the same thing.”

“It really is.”

He took another step, and Harper instinctively shifted back until the edge of the desk pressed against the back of her legs. The room suddenly felt smaller than it had a moment ago. She could still hear Fiona outside, pacing impatiently, but the noise seemed farther away now.

Luca watched her for a second before saying, “What if you were my girlfriend?”

Harper actually laughed.

It wasn't a polite laugh either. It came out so quickly and naturally that she had to press a hand over her mouth afterward. “Absolutely not.”

“Let me finish.”

“I don't need to.”

“You do.”

“No, Luca. We have spent our entire lives trying to annoy each other.”

“Exactly.”

“That is not exactly anything.”

“It means nobody would believe we suddenly fell madly in love.”

She stared at him.

He continued before she could interrupt, his confidence growing with every word. “Everyone knows we argue. Everyone knows we can't be in the same room for five minutes without one of us saying something stupid. If we suddenly start dating, people will think there's a reason.”

“They'll think we're insane.”

“Maybe.”

“Definitely.”

He smiled. “But they'll believe it.”

Harper's amusement faded when he mentioned Noah. That was the part she didn't want to think about. Noah had already made it clear that he wasn't ready to let the breakup disappear quietly, and Harper had no interest in spending the next few weeks explaining herself to him every time they crossed paths. If Luca's ridiculous idea really could make Noah back off, it had one advantage she couldn't ignore.

She hated that.

“You think this would make Noah leave me alone?”

“I think he'd hate it.”

“That isn't an answer.”

“It is if you know Noah.”

She did. Unfortunately, she did.

Harper looked down at the floor, rubbing her thumb against the edge of her sleeve while she considered it. The idea was absurd. It was also practical, which made it harder to dismiss. A fake relationship with Luca would keep Fiona occupied, give Noah a reason to stop approaching her, and explain the strange rumours that had already started after the classroom incident.

The only problem was Luca.

Her eyes lifted to him again.

“You realise we'd have to pretend all the time.”

“I know.”

“In front of everyone.”

“I know.”

“We'd have to act like we actually like each other.”

His smile widened. “That might be the difficult part for you.”

Harper shoved his shoulder.

He laughed, and something about the sound caught her off guard. It wasn't the loud laugh he used with his teammates or the exaggerated one he used when he was teasing her. This one was quieter. Real. She hated that she noticed.

“We've spent our whole lives arguing,” she said.

“Then we're already convincing.”

“That is not how relationships work.”

“It's how ours would work.”

She should have walked away. Instead, she stayed where she was.

Luca seemed to notice the hesitation because his expression changed. The teasing slipped for a moment, leaving something more difficult to read behind it.

“You're scared.”

Harper's head snapped up. “Of what?”

He didn't answer immediately. He moved closer, slowly enough that she could have stepped away if she wanted to. She didn't.

The faint scent of soap reached her before anything else. It was strange because she associated Luca with football fields, grass stains, sweat, and whatever awful protein drink he carried around after practice. This was different. Cleaner. Softer. Harper found herself noticing the tiny crease beside his mouth when he smiled and the faint dimple on his left cheek that appeared only when the smile was genuine.

She immediately wished she hadn't noticed any of it.

“You're scared it might stop feeling fake,” he said.

Harper's stomach tightened.

“That is the stupidest thing you've said today.”

“That's saying something.”

“I could never like you.”

His eyes stayed on hers. “Never?”

“Never.”

“Not even a little?”

“Not if you were the last boy on earth.”

He gave a short laugh. “That's harsh.”

“I mean it.”

For once, he didn't make another joke.

Instead, he reached up and moved a loose strand of hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear with a gentleness that didn't belong to the Luca she thought she knew. Harper went completely still. She could have pulled away. She should have. Her body seemed to forget that part.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Checking something.”

“What?”

He glanced at her face. “Your pulse.”

She frowned.

His fingers didn't touch her neck, but they hovered near it, close enough to make her suddenly aware of the frantic beat beneath her skin.

“It doesn't do anything when I'm close,” she said.

His mouth curved.

“It does.”

“No, it doesn't.”

“Harper.”

She hated the way he said her name then. No teasing. No nickname. Just her name, quiet enough to make her forget the argument she had been preparing.

She stepped back and pushed against his chest, more to give herself something to do than because she actually wanted him away from her. His shirt was warm beneath her palm.

“You're unbelievably annoying.”

“And yet you're still standing here.”

Before she could answer, the door handle moved again.

Luca stepped away just as he reached for the lock.

The door opened.

Fiona stood on the other side, one hand still wrapped around the handle, her expression triumphant for approximately half a second before her eyes moved past Luca and landed on Harper.

The triumph vanished.

Her gaze travelled between them, taking in the small room, the distance that had suddenly appeared between their bodies, and Harper's flushed face. Her eyes narrowed.

“There you are.”

Harper straightened.

Luca looked completely unbothered.

Fiona's attention returned to Harper. “What are you doing with him?”

Harper opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

Luca answered for her.

“Talking.”

Fiona's expression suggested she didn't believe a single syllable.

Harper looked at Luca, then at Fiona. Her mind raced through every sensible reason to walk away from the ridiculous idea he had just suggested, yet none of them seemed quite strong enough anymore. Noah would keep pushing. Fiona would keep hovering. The school would keep talking whether Harper wanted it to or not.

And Luca had offered her a way to take control of the story.

She hated the idea.

She hated him.

At least, that was what she had always told herself.

“So,” she said slowly, looking at Luca, “how long would this fake relationship actually last?”

For the first time that afternoon, Luca looked genuinely pleased.

“Long enough for us both to win.”