Chapter 128: Enemies-to-lovers

​"Seriously," I whispered under my breath, leaning my elbows on the counter and rubbing my temples. I decided to just pray that his high-society background at least taught him how to read a measuring cup.

​Right then, my phone vibrated violently against the granite counter, the screen lighting up. I reached out and checked the caller ID. It was Chloe.

​"Hey, Chloe," I answered, leaning back against the stool.

​"Hey, Kain! It’s actually Chleo," the voice corrected with a loud, vibrant laugh on the other end of the line. Even though they shared a contact card under their family name, the twins always had completely different energies. "We’re coming to your meet-and-greet tomorrow, so you better make sure you receive us well."

​"You’re coming?" I asked, a sudden spike of nerves hitting my stomach.

​"Of course we are! We also saw the seating arrangements online," Chleo giggled, her tone turning distinctly teasing. "It seems like you and Reid have gotten pretty closer than the last time you came over. The internet is losing its mind over the pictures."

​I swallowed hard, my throat suddenly going entirely dry. I forced my voice to remain completely level, but my eyes traitorously darted over to Reid, who was currently frowning at his phone screen while trying to figure out how to peel a garlic clove.

​You have no idea how close, I thought, a sudden, frantic warmth flooding my chest.

We were literally dating now.

He had marked me, he had completely taken over my breathing space, not that I’m complaining, and less than two hours ago, he had completely ruined my favorite living room couch.

But there was no way in hell I could tell her that.

Yet, something about what she says struck me.

"Wait, did you say pictures?" I asked, my voice dropping an octave as my hand clamped down hard around the edge of the granite counter. My mind immediately started to race, a cold sweat breaking out across the back of my neck.

​"Yup!" Chleo tittered on the other end, completely oblivious to the sudden horror seizing my chest.

​What pictures? At first, I thought she was just talking about the official team promotional shots we had taken last week—the ones Marcus mentioned in the hallway. But as she kept talking, the floor practically dropped out from under my feet.

​Someone had taken photos of us today. Today. While we were at the high-end boutique, and then another set while we were tucked into that secluded booth at the cafe. There was also one from the supermarket.

​It wasn’t a professional stalker or a media outlet; the photos had been shot and uploaded by entirely different civilian accounts. Just regular people who happened to spot us out in the wild, got excited because of the looming meet-and-greet tomorrow, and posted them online.

​The internet was already going absolutely nuts over it. Everyone was debating whether this was a staged promotional stunt orchestrated by the Serpents’ PR team to build hype for Wednesday, or if we were just genuinely hanging out as regular teammates.

​"But the rumors always say you two can’t stand each other when you aren’t on the ice, and yet look how close you are there!" Chleo read out loud, quoting a viral post that had everyone hyperventilating in the comments. She laughed, her voice ringing clear through the speaker. "’Is this enemies-to-lovers we’re seeing?!’ Seriously, Kain—"

​I couldn’t even hear the rest of her sentence over the ringing in my ears. My eyes darted instantly to Reid. The ’sly bastard’ had looked so relaxed in that cafe, so unbothered, while I had completely let my guard down, letting him buy me clothes and feed me pastries in a public space.

​If people started digging into those photos, if they noticed the way he looked at me, or god no, the way my posture completely softened around him...

​I swallowed a massive lump of panic, my chest tightening as the terrifying reality of our secret relationship hanging by a thread finally hit me.

"Kain? You still there?" Chleo’s voice broke through the line, her laughter fading into mild confusion when I didn’t immediately fire back with my usual deadpan reply.

​"Yeah," I forced out, clearing the sudden tightness from my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to dial back the sheer panic vibrating through my entire system. "Yeah, I’m here. Just... tired from practice. People online read too much into everything. We were just running errands at the same time, that’s all."

​"Uh-huh. Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night, Cap," she teased, clearly not buying the excuse for a single second. "Anyway, we’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t look too miserable behind the table!"

​"Right. See you tomorrow," I muttered, hanging up the phone and setting it face-down on the granite with a hand that was slightly trembling.

​The silence of the penthouse kitchen rushed back in, broken only by the quiet, methodical sound of a knife hitting a cutting board.

​I looked up. Reid was still standing over by the stove, completely unbothered, his large frame slightly hunched as he carefully sliced into a bell pepper.

He had the VeeTube tutorial pulled up next to him on his tablet, his eyes darting back and forth between the screen and his hands with an almost comical level of focus.

He looked so domestic, so completely tucked into my space, that the reality of the situation hit me with a brutal, dizzying force.

​He didn’t know yet.

​"Hey," I said, my voice sounding a little raw in the quiet room.

​Reid paused, the knife resting against the board as he turned his head to look at me.

His grey eyes immediately softened the moment they landed on my face, his sharp brows furrowing slightly when he took in my rigid posture. "What’s wrong, Cap? You look like you just saw a ghost."

​"That was Chleo," I said, sliding off the kitchen stool. My knees felt a little weak, but I forced myself to walk over to where he stood, stopping just outside his immediate reach. "She said the internet is losing its mind right now."

​Reid tilted his head, completely unfazed. "The internet is always losing its mind about something. What did we do now?"

​"We went outside... Together." I said flatly.