Page 48 of The Charade

When she lifted her gaze to Simon again, the way she looked at him with her brown eyes was like a knife in my heart. Because she was looking at him like he was the center of the universe and all she wanted was to be in his orbit.

I'd always thought she cared about me as much as I'd cared for her when we were dating, but with that one look, I knew she couldn't have because she'd never looked at me the way she was looking at Simon.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, hoping to keep my disappointment from showing. But I must not have hidden the pain in my expression very well because when I caught a glimpse of Ava out of the corner of my eye, she was watching me with a sad smile on her face. As if she knew exactly how much it hurt for me to come face to face with the reality of how I hadn't measured up to Sofia's expectations and how Simon did.

Ava slid her hand onto my leg and gave me a gentle squeeze just above my knee.

Sofia must have noticed the gesture because she asked, "So, tell me about what's been going on with you two? It seems like you've been inseparable since you met."

"Things are so good," Ava said with the biggest smile on her lips. "When I saw Carter that first day, I thought for sure that he was taken already. I mean, he's just so gorgeous that there was no way he wasn't already dating someone." She glanced over at me and slid a little closer, slipping her hand around my left bicep possessively. "But then I found out he was actually single, and I knew I had to get on his radar fast since guys like him don't stay single for long. I mean, he's so smart and witty and we were able to connect on a different level than I usually do with guys, since we have some things in common." I was guessing she was talking about our common thread of not always knowing who our fathers were. "And I know it probably seems pretty fast since we just met, like, five days ago, but I just think that if you two hadn't gotten together behind Carter's back and he hadn't been available, I never would have had a chance with him. So, thank you."

Did she just diss Sofia and Simon for cheating on me?

Had she just buttered them up over the past few minutes, only to turn the tables and give them the smackdown?

This girl was an evil genius.

When I watched Sofia and Simon for their reactions, the shocked expressions on their faces told me they were as surprised by the sudden turn of events as I was.

"D-did Carter tell you that I cheated on him?" Sofia finally said after processing Ava's words.

"Oh, no." Ava put a hand to her heart all innocently. "Did I assume wrong? I just thought that someone as famous as you probably has all sorts of offers from guys, and so when one from a prince came through you couldn't resist. Was I wrong? Did my sweet Carter dump you?" She squeezed herself closer to my arm. "He's just been such a gentleman so far that I didn't think he would break someone's heart like that."

I watched Simon and Sofia carefully, interested in their answers since I myself had been wondering the very same thing for months. Had they gotten together before she broke up with me?

"I—we—" Simon cleared his throat, fumbling for an answer.

But Sofia put her hand on his to stop him. "You don't need to answer that, honey." Then tilting her head up so she was looking down her nose at Ava, she said, "I don't know what gossip you've heard, but I'd be careful before you start spreading rumors about us." She stood up and said, "Come on, Simon. I think it's time for us to move along, so I can introduce you to some of mycloserfriends."

19

Ava

"Thanks for saying all that,"Carter said, leaning back in his chair after Sofia and Simon had walked down the stone steps from the terrace to talk to her friends below. "It was perfect."

"I've always wanted to do something like that, so it was fun," I said.

It had been fun. I mean, how many girls could say they put a supermodel and her royal boyfriend in their places at a back-to-school barbecue with her hot fake boyfriend by her side?

Not many.

So even though it was highly possible Sofia might take an embarrassing photo of me and post it to her Instagram stories later for revenge, seeing the jealousy on her face as I'd cuddled up to Carter was totally worth it.

That's right. I have a world-famous supermodel jealous of little ol' me.

I was feeling so high on life right then that I almost told Carter he didn't need to take me shopping for payment since I had so much fun doing it.

But I’d never turn down a free outfit, so I kept that info to myself.

"You sure you're not interested in auditioning for one of the school plays?" Carter asked with a chuckle in his voice. "Because after hearing everything you just said, even I was starting to believe that we might be perfect for each other. And I'm in on the secret."

"I don't know." I leaned closer to him, close enough that I could breathe in the delicious scent of his cologne, which I'd wanted to drown in since that first day in his truck. "Maybe we are."

"You think so?" He narrowed his aqua-blue eyes at me, like he wasn't sure if I was still playing a part or not. But then he sat up straighter, and his tall, muscular physique couldn't help but capture my attention. He said, "Then I guess it's too bad you wrote that little addendum to my contract, forbidding me from falling in love with you, huh?"

And the way he looked at me, like he might have been interested in me for real if I hadn't needed his help with math and we didn’t sign that contract, made me wonder if something could have happened on its own even without this fake dating arrangement of ours.

But then I remembered that Carter only dated supermodels, and while I may be tall enough to be one, I most certainly didn't look like one. So I pushed those thoughts away and simply said, "I guess it's something we'll always have to wonder about, isn't it?"

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