Not enough (Fermín López)

Chapter 9

The further into the season they got, the more classes Fermín missed. He even spent a whole week in Saudi Arabia because of the Supercup. His teammates had teased him about how much he texted his "girlfriend" and he used the excuse of needing to know about his classes. But they barely talked about uni when they texted or called. That was still reserved for their e-mails. The rest of the time, they just talked about everything else.

So Lorena didn't expect to see Fermín much during February. Champions League football was back and there were so many league matches too. She also forgot about other things that usually happened in February because she had so much going on.

"Happy Valentine's Day!"

Lorena hadn't seen Fermín approach her but recognised his voice. "I...thank you. I forgot it was today".

He just laughed, moving the hand he was hiding behind his back to show her what it held. A rose. "For you".

"Thank you", she picked up the flower and brought it to her face so she could smell it. "I didn't get you anything, sorry. I wasn't sure you were coming to class this week".

"It's fine".

"But you got me a flower. That's really thoughtful".

"Well, I'm a very thoughtful fake boyfriend", he joked, putting his arm around her shoulder while they walked inside the building.

"And I'm a terrible fake girlfriend".

"Nah, you're the best one I've had".

"Also the only one", she pointed out, making a face that made Fermín laugh more. "Right?"

"A gentleman doesn't talk about how many fake girlfriends he's had, Lorena".

Everyone stared at them. It was odd to see them showing that level of closeness in public. But they didn't seem to notice or care. That was something that happened more and more often.

"Adrián is looking at us", said Fermín while they stood next to Lorena's locker. Her back was to him, and he leaned down to speak to her. Adrián's death stare only got worse and Fermín felt so proud of that.

"When isn't he?"

"Maybe you could give me a Valentine's Day present in front of him to piss him off more".

"I told you I didn't buy anything", she said, turning to find Fermín standing very close to her. His arms went around her waist and she was at a loss for words.

"My present could be a kiss".

"We said we wouldn't kiss while we pretend", would the kiss be pretend too?, she thought.

"We said we wouldn't do anything that made any of us uncomfortable. I'll never make you kiss me, Lorena. It's just a suggestion. You don't have to do anything you don't...".

She knew the speech. He had said it more than once but...a kiss wouldn't make her uncomfortable. At all. Lorena had been feeling weird since she saw the rose Fermín got for her. She knew it was pretend but...their friendship was genuine. Friends could get each other roses on Valentine's Day. And it meant a lot to her he had done it.

"I know", she said before closing the gap between the two of them to kiss him.

They had only kissed once before, also to prove to Adrián they didn't lie. Even though they were lying. But both times, they got lost in the kiss.

"You'll be late for class", said a man when he walked past them and they broke the kiss to see it was their professor.

"We should go", said Lorena, picking up her books and following the professor. But Fermín stopped her so he could hold her hand while they walked.