Colo boat

Nico Paz never thought that football could hurt more than an injury.
It all started when he met Valentín Barco. At first, it was just chats, laughs, and training sessions together. To everyone else, they were just two friends who got along well. But for Nico, it was much more. Without realizing it, every message from Valentín brightened his day, and every hug after a match made him feel something he'd never dared to express.
She kept that feeling to herself for months.
I was afraid of losing their friendship.
One day she mustered the courage to tell him how she felt. She had imagined a thousand responses, but she never imagined what she was about to hear.
—Sorry, Nico... I wanted to tell you earlier, but... I'm dating Jude.
He felt like the world was stopping.
He didn't answer. He just smiled that fake smile people use when they're trying to keep their voice from cracking. He congratulated him, wished him well, and left.
From that day on, football was never the same.
She no longer enjoyed training. She no longer celebrated goals. Every time she saw Valentín happy with Jude, she felt an emptiness impossible to explain. She tried to convince herself that she could go on, but the sport she had loved all her life now only reminded her of what she could never have.
The journalists began to notice that something was happening.
—What's wrong with Nico Paz?
—Why doesn't she smile anymore?
He never answered.
Until one morning he published a letter.
"Thank you to football for giving me the best moments of my life. Thank you to every teammate, every coach, and every fan who believed in me. But I no longer have the strength to continue. Sometimes you lose much more than a game. Today it's time for me to say goodbye."
The news traveled around the world.
"Nico Paz announces his retirement from football."
No one understood the real reason. For everyone, it was an unexpected decision. Only Valentín, by reading those words over and over, began to put the pieces together.
Too late.
Because Nico had already left the courts behind, taking with him a love that could never become a reality.