Somewhere in the Haze - Pablo Gavi

4. Little Secret

Gavi and I make it make to the house as the sun is setting. The walk wasn't physically long, but having to deal with him and only him for an hour was too much of an ask for the first date.

On our walk we got stopped by a few fans asking for pictures. When they blushed and choked out the question of whether or not we were together, Gavi evaded it each time, introducing me as the little sister of his teammate and bestfriend Pedri.

When Gavi and I get inside the house I hear the shower running and wonder if Pedri timed his shower perfectly so Gavi and I couldn't gang up on him. 

I turn back to Gavi at the door and notice he's taking his shoes off.

"What are you doing?" I ask him.

"Going to play FIFA," he responds casually. "Do you want to play?"

Too tired to object I head over to the sofa. "Sure, why not?" I plop down on the couch, reach for the controller I normally use and turning it on.

Gavi sits down next to me. "Because I'm going to beat you."

I sit up and move down the couch, farther away from him. "Like hell you are."

Twenty minutes into the game Pedri comes down stairs.

"You guys are finally back," he says, his voice chipper.

"Yeah, no thanks to you," Gavi clips back.

Pedri comes around to sit in the large space between Gavi and I. "How was your guys' date?" he teases.

"Way longer then I could handle," I say with a glare at my brother.

He chuckles mischievously. "How long is left in this match? I want to play."

"Here," I say, tossing my controller at Pedri. "Have mine."

"No!" he exclaims, tossing the controller back at me as if it's made of hot lava. "You're losing!"

I stick my middle finger up at him. He doesn't react. I throw the controller back on the couch between us. He picks it up in turn.

I slouch back into the couch cushions, pulling out my phone. I muted Jasper's messages earlier so Gavi wouldn't see them on our date, and I open them now:

Hey Adri, how are you?

I really enjoyed our impromptu hangout yesterday and was hoping we could do it again sometime.

I type back a quick, yeah, how about tomorrow night? and send it. I want to bring him to the Barcelona game on Sunday, but before I do I have to tell him the whole truth about who I am in case Pedri or Gavi or someone else approaches me at the match.

"Who are you texting?" Gavi asks.

I look up and he's looking across Pedri at me. "Nobody," I say quickly. Too quickly. "I was looking on Instagram," I recover, opening Instagram on my phone, "there are already posts of us together at the restaurant and on our walk back." As I scroll through my feed there are genuinely many pictures of Gavi and I together. Most are from our date and walk, but some are pictures from months or even years ago, claiming they knew we were meant to be. It makes me want to gag, knowing Gavi and I's relationship is fake and will be for its entire existence.

"You're welcome," Pedri mutters.

I take the pillow beside me and hit him as hard as I can with it.

"Ow!" Pedri exclaims, stealing the pillow from me and throwing it on the floor behind the couch. He knows I don't care enough to get up and retrieve it.