Not enough (Fermín López)

Chapter 14

The match ended with a 2-1 victory for Barça and Lorena made her way to where she was supposed to meet Gavi. She was happy to be away from the fans she had been sitting next to. Thinking about it, she'd probably accept sitting with Gavi next time if she was offered the option.

"Hey!"

"Lorena, hi!"

They hugged and then Gavi told her to follow him so they could go find Fermín. Gavi didn't even need to show a pass to move around the stadium. Wherever he went, the doors opened for him. It was fascinating to see.

"There's your boy", said Gavi, pointing at Fermín, who was coming out of the dressing room with a few other players by his side. "No pressure but they don't know this is fake so they probably would expect you to actually act like a couple".

"By that you mean...".

"Go kiss him, Lorena. He's literally won Man of the Match".

And she knew Gavi was right. She couldn't meet her boyfriend, after such a good match, and just pat him on the back. But it felt weird. There were so many people there. And they'd all be watching them. But it had to be done if they wanted everyone to buy the lie.

So she left Gavi where he was standing and walked towards Fermín. He spotted her and smiled, seeing her wearing his shirt was a sight for sore eyes.

"Hi, did you enjoy the match?"

But Lorena didn't answer, she put her hands on his face to make him lean down a bit and kissed him. As always, it didn't take Fermín long to react to the kiss by kissing her back. It was like second nature for him. A few of the players who saw them whistled when they noticed them kissing but they ignored them.

"You played really well", said Lorena when they finally broke the kiss.

Fermín was just staring at her, trying to control all of his emotions. She was finally at a match and wearing his shirt. She couldn't look sexier to him. And he had played well, which already meant he felt on top of the world. But the kiss...the kiss made him feel too much. It was the first time they kissed since they slept together and it brought back every second of what he felt that night he spent with Lorena.

"I guess you're my lucky charm", he whispered, leaning down again for another kiss.

"Jesus, Fermín!", said Pedri, slapping his back. "Wait until you get home. There are children here".

The Canarian player left laughing at his own joke and Fermín saw Lorena looking away, her face red from how much she was blushing.

"How about I take a photo of you two? So everyone knows about the good girlfriend who supports her favourite boy?"

Lorena and Fermín looked at Gavi, who was pointing at them with his phone. Fermín put his arm around Lorena's shoulders, bringing her close to him. Her arm was on his waist and they both smiled at the camera. Gavi looked at the photo and gave them a thumbs up before opening Instagram to post it.

"I won't tag you, Lorena. Don't worry. I know you want to keep your account private".

"Thanks".

Lorena took her phone out of her pocket to see the story Gavi had posted and couldn't help but smile when she saw the photo.

"We look good", said Fermín, reposting it on his profile and adding some heart emojis.

"I guess we look alright but you ruin the photo a bit".

"I'm definitely not as pretty as you. That's for sure".

She took a screenshot of the story before locking her phone. That was definitely a photo she wanted to keep and not just see disappear after 24 hours. As she couldn't just ask Gavi to send it to her without getting questions she wasn't ready to answer.

It was getting a bit late so they decided to go somewhere close to the stadium for their dinner. Nothing fancy and probably not the best post-match meal but it was ok. The company was good and that was all that mattered.

"I gotta go, guys. It was great seeing you, Gavi".

"I'll see you soon", he said, hugging Lorena goodbye.

"I'll see you soon too. Are you going to class on Monday?"

"I'll be there", told her Fermín with a salute and she also hugged him. But the hug was a little different to the one with Gavi. It went on for longer and she didn't want it to end.

Gavi kept thinking about what he saw after the match, and what he had seen the previous days, and couldn't keep it to himself anymore.

"You like Lorena".

"What do you mean? Of course I like her".

"You really like Lorena. Bro, I've seen how you look at her. But the way you looked at each other after that kiss? I could almost see hearts in your eyes. You're down bad".

"I...I'm not...".

"Don't bother. I know you and I'm pretty sure she feels the same".

"Do you really think she does?"

Gavi nodded, smiling at his friend. "You keep calling it fake dating but...I feel it's very real. And I'm glad it is. Lorena is great and just look at that photo I took. You look so happy together. You're a good match".

"I guess I should talk to her soon about it. I just don't know how to do it without messing up, you know? Remember how scared she was after we slept together. I don't want a repeat of that".

"I get that. We'll think about it and find the best way to do it".

Lorena was also thinking about it. She could fool herself saying she just loved Fermín as a friend but what a lie that would be. The pride she felt when she saw him play so well wasn't just how a friend would feel. The jealousy she felt when those guys insinuated Fermín could be paying attention to other girls clearly wasn't how a friend would feel. And the way she felt when he looked at her before kissing her for a second time was definitely not how a friend would feel. She loved Fermín...but didn't know how to tell him. Maybe he just wanted to fake date and once the uni year was over, he'd "break up" with her. They never talked about what was going to happen next. It was like they didn't realise the fake dating would have to come to an end at some point.

"Good morning", she said to her parents when she got to the kitchen the next morning. They didn't talk to her when she got back from the match but were now smiling. "Everything ok?"

"Not for you, but we can't say we didn't warn you".

"What do you mean, dad?"

Her father placed their iPad in front of Lorena and she felt her heart break into a thousand pieces. It was an article about Lorena and Fermín. It started with the photo Gavi posted after the match and how it had made fans gush about the good-looking couple. But then...then it showed more images from that same day, judging by what Fermín was wearing. And in those photos, he was hugging another girl. A girl that wasn't Lorena and looked nothing like her. A girl who kept her arms around Fermín's waist while he smiled down at her. And so the headline wrote itself. "Young Barça star cheats on girlfriend hours after making their relationship Instagram official".

That was why her parents were smiling. Lorena didn't have to worry about what came next in her relationship with Fermín. Fake or real...it was over.