lacy | jude bellingham

chapter 07.

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THE NEXT DAY, JUDE AND TYLA WERE SET TO SIT OUTSIDE A CAFE together in order to look like a genuine couple. as soon as they arrived, jude had already felt the presence that a few photographers were lurking around.

once the two settled at their table, tyla immediately reached across and grabbed jude's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "remember," she said softly, her eyes locking onto his, "we need to add some kind of physical touch. it'll make everything look more convincing."

jude nodded, trying to muster a smile. "got it," he replied, though the thought of touching anyone's hand besides amelia's in this way made him feel sick. tyla's hand was cold compared to his ex girlfriend's.

tyla leaned back, still holding his hand as she got into a conversation about her latest music projects. "so, I've been in the studio a lot lately," she began. "i'm working on a new sound—something more experimental, you know? it's really different from what i've done before, and i think people are going to love it."

jude nodded, giving her a small smile. "sounds interesting," he said, though his mind was elsewhere. he tried to focus, but all he could think about was amelia. he missed her—missed the realness of their conversations, the way she would light up when talking about something she was passionate about.

"and get this," tyla continued, clearly excited. "i'm planning to drop the single as a surprise. no promo, no teasers—just boom, it's out there, and hopefully they all love it."

"that's smart," jude responded, adding a bit more enthusiasm to his voice. he didn't care about her music, but he had to pretend. he knew the drill by now—smile, nod, engage just enough to keep up appearances. but inside, he was counting the minutes until he could go back home.

tyla's thumb gently stroked the back of his hand as she smiled at him. "thanks jude, i knew you'd get it. this is going to be huge for us. if the song does well and gets lots of views, that brings some more attention to you for being with me."

jude forced another smile, though it barely reached his eyes. "yeah, for sure," he replied, taking a sip of his coffee to mask the discomfort he felt. he hated this.

tyla sensed that jude wasn't giving her the right amount of attention, so she did what she thought was best. the girl leaned in slightly, her voice almost teasing as she tried to break through jude's skin.

"you know, i never realized how nice it could be to spend time like this," she told him, resting her hand on his arm. "you clean up well."

"yeah, thanks," jude replied as he forced another smile. he glanced at the camera flashing in the distance, reminded that every gesture was going to be publicized.

tyla knew that he had been distracted this whole time and decided to push a little harder. "you know, we could make this a lot more fun if you loosened up a bit. people are expecting us to act like a real couple, right? maybe we should start behaving like one."

jude's gaze flickered to her, "i'm trying, tyla. but this isn't exactly what i wanted."

tyla's smile didn't falter. instead, she leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a light whisper. "you might not have wanted it, but you have to go along with it. so we might as well make the most of it. look, i get it—you're still thinking about her. but the reality is she's probably already moved on, so why shouldn't you?"