Maya gave a pained smile. “I will. Thanks, Finn.”
Maya took a sip of her coffee. Throwing a side glance at Finn she grimaced.
“So, what’s actually eating you? It can’t be just the final. You’re like a skater on thin ice, all antsy and on edge.”
“Nothing.” Finn slurped the last of his smoothie.
“Liar,” Maya said with a laugh. “I’ve known you a long time. Spill the tea.”
“There’s nothing to spill.” Finn lowered his gaze and picked at a crumb on the table.
Maya sat beside him in silence. Her phone pinged, once, twice, then a dozen times. Opening Instagram, she sighed heavily. “Everyone is liking the posts. Everyone but you.” She peered at Finn. “Why?”
Finn fidgeted with his empty glass; his lips twisted as he tried to think of something to say. Finally, his voice low and his eyes trained on the table, he said, “It’s Sam.”
“Oh.”
“She should’ve been up there on that podium. She deserved to be. It’s my fault she wasn’t.”
“She made a mistake,” Maya said, frowning. “That’s not on you.”
He shook his head, his words catching in his throat. “No, it is on me. I—we—Sam and me … Look. These posts—they’re all anyone is talking about.”
Maya blinked, taken aback. “What? But that’s the point, Finn. You know that.”
“I know.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Look, Mai—the thing is that pretending to be with her—to be her boyfriend—it’s killing me.” He took a breath not daring to look at Maya’s face. “Because I actually do love her. I’minlove with her. Andwe had a moment the other day and I think it’s messed with her head and now she’s … now she’s losing her dream.”
“Oh, well that changes things.” Maya sat back, her face soft on hearing his words.
“Look, don’t say anything to anyone, will you?” Finn said miserably. “I’ll be fine, in time. And Sam deserves to win a medal.”
“What are you going to do?” Maya took his hand and squeezed it.
“I’ll get through this week as best I can, then I’ll stay away from her,” Finn said flatly. “What else can I do?”
“I don’t know, I think that’s a bad idea.” Maya leaned back; her brow furrowed. “You can’t stay away from her, Finn. If you stay away from her, it’ll just make things worse. She’ll think you don’t care—and the reality is that the Montalier reps are keeping tabs on you both. This ‘couple’ thing is working. If your heart isn’t in it then I can’t help you. I can post a million photos of you guys looking all cute and spicy, but people will know. They always do. Now that I know this, I think that’s what your magic ingredient has been all this time—it’s what everyone else has seen. If you pull back, even a little bit, it’s going to fall apart for you both.”
Finn rubbed his temples. “Great. So, what you’re telling me is that I have to keep this up even though it’s killing me.”
“Hey,” Maya said sharply. “Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of sympathy for you, but Finn—Sam has worked her ass off to get noticed. And whether you like it or not, the fake-relationship thing is what’s making it happen. You’re the one who has always said she deserves her dream. Don’t blow it now because you’re scared of your own feelings.”
Finn squirmed in his seat. “I’ve been scared of these feelings since the day I first saw her.”
“Wow!” Maya took his hand. “That’s a long time to be scared of love.”
“The thing is, I’m not scared of love,” Finn said. “I’m scared of losing her if she doesn’t love me back.”
“Sounds like the same kinda thing to me,” Maya said.
“No, it’s not.” Finn was adamant. “Anyway, I think I’ve lost her completely. We had a bit of an argument after her final yesterday. And she stormed off, and she hasn’t contacted me since.”
Maya’s mouth dropped open. “Wait—what? That’s not like our girl. She hasn’t even texted you good luck this morning?”
Finn shook his head. “Nothing. And the worst thing is that I have no idea what happened.”
“This is not good,” Maya said shaking her head.
“No, it’s not,” Finn started. He shook his head and grimaced. “What if I’ve ruined everything—how can I fix this?”
