Matteo’s eyebrows shot up, and he froze mid-movement. “Lucia?”
“Yeah,” I admitted, exhaling sharply. “This whole fake-dating thing?—”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Matteo cut me off, holding up both hands like a traffic cop. “You’re not telling me it’s going sideways, are you? Because if this blows up and my sister gets hurt?—”
“It’s not going sideways,” I interrupted firmly. “She’s amazing at this. Honestly, better at it than I am.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Matteo asked, his protectiveness melting into genuine curiosity.
I raked a hand through my hair, feeling the tension coiled in my chest. “The problem is…it doesn’t feel fake anymore. At least not for me.”
There was a beat of silence, and then Matteo let out a low whistle. “Oh, man. You are so screwed.”
“Thanks for the support,” I said dryly, glaring at him.
“Hey, I told you this might happen,” he said, smirking now. “You’re fake dating my sister, Alex. Did you think you’d come out of this unscathed?”
“I didn’t expect this,” I admitted, gesturing helplessly. “I can’t stop thinking about her, Matteo. She’s in my head, and it’s…it’s messing me up.”
Matteo leaned back, crossing his arms as he studied me. “So, what are you going to do about it?”
“I don’t know,” I said honestly, the weight of it pressing on my chest. “This was supposed to be a PR stunt, not?—”
“Not you catching feelings,” Matteo finished, shaking his head in mock disbelief. “Look, Alex, I love you, man. But if you hurt her, I will kill you. And not in aha-ha, best friends foreverkind of way. I mean in thethey’ll never find the bodykind of way.”
I laughed nervously, but his expression didn’t budge. “Noted.”
“Good.” Matteo’s tone softened slightly. “For what it’s worth, you two kinda work. Just don’t screw it up.”
“I don’t plan to,” I said quietly, the words carrying more weight than I expected.
Matteo clapped me on the shoulder, but his smirk returned. “So, what’s the plan, loverboy?”
I hesitated, then shrugged. “I told myself if I won today, I’d tell her.”
“Well, you won,” Matteo said, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. “So?”
“So…now I tell her.”
“What could go wrong?” Matteo threw his hands in the air with a laugh, but there was a flicker of seriousness behind it.
Everything. Everything could go wrong. But as her laugh echoed in my head and the memory of her smile burned bright, I knew I couldn’t keep this to myself any longer.
* * *
We met the girls in the hotel lobby, and Matteo wasted no time diving into his usual antics. He immediately started flirting with Nicola, who rolled her eyes and shot back a sarcastic remark about him only managing fifth place today.
Lucia glanced at her brother and Nicola, then back at me, her brows lifted in curiosity. “So…” she said, dragging the word out as she wagged her eyebrows. “That’s new.”
“I don’t even want to know,” I replied, shaking my head. “They give me whiplash. One minute they’re bickering, the next Matteo’s shamelessly flirting, and Nicola’s roasting him like it’s her favorite sport. Pretty sure it only makes him like her more, though.” I shrugged. “Who knows where that’s going.”
Lucia’s lips curved into a knowing smirk, but I couldn’t focus on whatever she was about to say because—damn—she lookedincredible. She was wearing a short, deep red, satin dress that melted against her curves and put her long legs on display, and I was definitely staring. But seriously, could anyone blame me? Lucia DeLuca was a knockout.
“You like?” she asked, spinning in a little circle with a playful grin.
“I love,” I said without hesitation, a lazy smile tugging at my lips.
Her cheeks flushed pink as she gently nudged my shoulder. “You look nice too…I guess,” she teased, her smirk softening the jab.
