Page 109 of Fake Out Hearts

“Of course I did. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Besides, it was a fucking bargain.”

As if to prove his point, he cups my face with one hand, tilting my head toward him as he kisses me deeply.

It definitely brings my anxiety down, although I can feel every pair of eyes in the space on us, which makes me flush a little. We’ve already given everyone plenty to talk about, and I’m sure this will create even more gossip.

“Do you want to get out of here?” he asks when we break apart, his eyes bouncing between mine. “We can leave right now if you want. Just say the word.”

My immediate impulse is to say yes, but I consider for a second and then shake my head. I refuse to let Shawn chase me away, refuse to let him win. I won’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me flee.

And besides, I know this event is important to Theo. And if it matters to him, it matters to me.

“No,” I say, giving him a soft smile as I cup his cheek. “I want to stay. We still have to have dinner, and I wouldn’t want to miss it. But thank you for looking out for me.”

“Always, princess.” His eyes warm, and he kisses me again.

Theo keeps his fingers linked with mine as the auction continues, his thumb rubbing a soothing path over my knuckles. Shawn is facing the stage again, and I can’t stop my gaze from darting his way as my stomach turns over.

I don’t understand how someone who claims he once loved me can be so cruel. So spiteful. And the more he shows his true colors, the less I understand what I ever saw in him in the first place. I know I shouldn’t beat myself up for dating him—I can’t judge myself now for what I didn’t know back then—but it’s hard not to.

I feel so stupid. So blind and naïve. I gave that man everything I had, so much so that I lost myself in the process. Knowing that he still has this power, this influence, over me makes me feel sick to my stomach. Will I ever be free of him? Will I ever cut the cord bonding us that he seems determined to wrap around my neck for having the audacity to leave him? I can’t stop myself from wondering how much of his behavior is targeted at me, at Theo, or at both of us. Maybe it doesn’t matter.

I sit on pins and needles through the rest of the auction, which is thankfully uneventful. When it’s over, Theo and I makea beeline for the tables on the opposite side of the roof where food is already being served. All the tables are immaculately decorated and sporting some of the finest China I think I’ve ever seen. It looks so delicate that I’m afraid to touch any of it as I sit down and hang my bag from the back of my chair.

There are at least a dozen other empty seats spread around the circular table, but when I glance up, my heart lodges in my throat—because Shawn has taken the seat directly across from me. I feel rage spilling from Theo like a radiator, and I grip his thigh under the table both to calm him and ground myself.

My body tenses all over again, and a sharp pain at the base of my skull throbs. I hate the way even being around Shawn makes me feel. But more than that, I hatehim.

He looks me up and down with a smirk that makes my skin crawl. I left his ass behind, so I shouldn’t have to think about him anymore, but here he is, haunting me. Why the hell is he still so stuck on me? Especially if he thinks I’m such a miserable, drug-addled cheater like he claimed on his show?

After all, he’s the one who broke up with me—on the same stupid show. If anyone has a right to be pissed, it’s me. But he seems determined to ruin my life, to get back at me for some reason. I don’t know or even care anymore what goes on in his fucked-up head, I just want him to leave me alone. For good.

I open my mouth to say something to Shawn, but Theo speaks before I can.

“Are you hungry, princess?”

“Not particularly,” I answer, glaring at Shawn, who just smirks.

“Here, let’s trade. I know you don’t like broccoli,” Theo says as he picks up a fork and starts moving the florets off my plate onto his. He gives me his green beans in return, and even though I feel Shawn watching the entire exchange, it makes me smile. Ilove how my husband is looking out for me, even in the middle of this shitshow.

“Wow, I didn’t know you hated broccoli that much, Becca,” Shawn comments, and Theo drops his fork on his plate with a clatter.

“Almost as much as she hates you. Which you’d know if you ever bothered to ask her about anything important to her,” he growls, and Shawn’s grin morphs quickly into a sour expression.

Something that feels a lot like love swells in my chest as Theo smiles at me. I don’t know what comes over me, but I lean over and kiss him deeply, and he returns the kiss hungrily. I know Shawn is watching, but for once, I’m not doing this for his sake. I’m doing it because I want to. Because Theo makes me happy, and because I want everyone to see it.

Theo beams at me when we break apart, and thankfully, Andrew Wheeler sits down with a beautiful blonde woman in her mid-forties who must be his wife, giving us something to focus on other than Shawn. “That was quite the auction, Camden!”

“Becca must be one special lady. Or an incredible dancer,” his wife adds.

“Both,” Theo says, his smile widening, and my heart lurches at the sincerity in his voice.

“I’m Julie Wheeler, by the way,” the woman says, confirming my suspicion.

A tuxedoed waiter appears carrying a bottle of wine and begins turning over our wine glasses to fill them one by one, interrupting the conversation for a moment.

“The Denver youth league is probably funded for a long while off of your generous contribution alone,” Andrew teases Theo when the waiter leaves.

“It’s the least I can do to give back to the community that’s given me so much.” Theo shrugs casually, resting a hand on my knee under the table where no one else can see. My skin pricklesat the warmth of his palm through the fabric of my dress, and then my breath hitches as his fingers find the slit in the fabric and trail upward.

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