XAVIER'S POV

When I asked Melissa if we should go public for real this time, my heart was pounding harder than it ever had in a game. It wasn’t about strategy or tactics anymore—it was about letting the whole world know that this woman was mine. Not a publicity stunt, not a storyline cooked up by Marco, not smoke and mirrors to sell headlines. It was really us.

She hesitated. I caught it—the flicker in her eyes, the way her lips pressed together for a moment as if weighing the risk. ...