“I forgot what this felt like,” Lucia said after a beat, her voice softer. “To have a normal day.”
I nudged her gently. “That’s why you have me. And pastries.”
She smirked. “And fake dating a five-time world champion?”
“Minor detail.”
The park was quiet, probably because half the city was working on a Monday. But we needed it. A breather. Something soft.
Lucia was sitting beside me on the bench, her sunglasses pushed up into her hair and her eyes on Gianna, who was toddling her way through a patch of wildflowers with one shoe half-off and zero concern for personal hygiene.
She was humming. I think it was a princess theme song. Crazy that I knew that now, but in the last few months with Lucia and Gianna, I went from knowing nothing about kids to being rather fond of the mini version of my best friend.
“I used to think I was done,” Lucia said suddenly. “Like…maybe love was a thing I already spent. I had my chance and it didn’t work out; I picked wrong.”
I glanced over at her. She wasn’t looking at me—her eyes were still on Gia. But there was a heaviness in her voice I hadn’t heard in a while.
“Then this whole fake dating thing started,” she continued, twisting the strap of her bag in her fingers. “And I thought I could handle it. Just press and PR and pretend smiles for the cameras.”
I arched my brow. “You two don’t look like you’re pretending too much anymore.”
Lucia smiled faintly, the corners of her mouth trembling just enough to betray her. “That’s the problem,” she exhaled, looking down at her hands. “He kissed me. It wasn’t for show, no cameras, no one was watching, and it felt…”
“Dangerous?”
“Like I could do anything,” she whispered. “Like I was invincible. And that…scares the hell out of me.”
We sat in silence for a second, only the sound of Gia’s little giggles and a bird rustling overhead.
I nodded slowly. “You’re falling for him.”
Lucia swallowed.
God, I knew that feeling. I had fallen for the wrong men over and over again. It was like I was a magnet for them. I understood the ache of wanting something to be safe and good, but being terrified that it can’t last because it never had for me.
“He makes me feel seen, Nic. But also…I keep thinking, what if I’m wrong again? What if I’ve got no business trusting my heart after what happened with Josh?”
At the mention of her ex’s name, a slow heat built in my chest. Rage—protective rage at anyone who would make Lucia feel small or unworthy.
“I let him in, and it tore me apart,” Lucia said, voice smaller now. “He made me believe love meant sacrifice. Silence. Shrinking.”
She blinked hard, looking up at the sky.
“And now, when Alexander says something kind, or when he’s just there…when he remembers my coffee order or reaches out to hold my hand when I need steadying, God, I don’t know what to do with it. It’s so easy to give love, Nic. I can do that all day. But receiving it?” Her voice cracked. “That’s harder. Like I don’t know how to hold it without dropping it. I’m broken when it comes to relationships.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. Then softly said, “You’re not broken, Lucia.”
She looked at me.
“You’re cautious. And you have every right to be. But just because one man made you doubt yourself doesn’t mean every man will.”
“I’m scared he’ll change,” she said.
“Alex is different, he’s the type of good not many men are,” I replied gently. Alexander Wight was a good man, a responsible one at that, despite whatever the media was spinning. It felt rare out in a minefield of dating men in the motorsport world. But if anyone was worthy of my best friend, it was him. “Besides, you’re trying so hard to be invincible, you forget that the strongest thing you can do is let someone love you while you’re still healing.”
Lucia’s eyes glistened.
“I don’t want to need anyone,” she whispered.
