Page 3 of Fake Out Hearts

“Good evening, gents. I’d say welcome to Pitcher Perfect, but this isn’t exactly Aces territory,” she says with a grin and gestures at the Prowlers jersey she’s wearing too. Of course. “Oh, come on, lighten up. I’m kidding. You played great tonight too, but you all look like you could use a drink, so what can I get you?”

I’m first to bark an order for a triple whiskey on the rocks. The waitress raises her eyebrows at me but doesn’t say anything, which is the right move. The rest of the team orders a round of drinks and we all sit watching the sideshow that is Kaplan’s table of sycophants while we wait for the booze to show.

A few minutes later, the waitress returns with a tray balancing our drinks on her shoulder. I snatch the whiskey glass off the tray before she can lower it to the table and down most of it in one go.

“Okaaay, so it’s one of those kind of nights, huh?” she teases as she hands out the other drinks. “Round two?”

“Stat.”

“Can you believe this prick really has cameras follow him everywhere?” Reese asks, tilting his head in Kaplan’s direction as the waitress vanishes into the crowd. “Who the fuck does he think he is? An honorary Kardashian?”

“He’s got a big enough ego to be one,” Sawyer answers and everyone laughs but me. I finish the last of my whiskey instead and watch as Becca shifts in her seat toward Kaplan. She tries to put her hand on the small of his back, but he shrugs her off. She tries again a few moments later and this time he swats her hand away and scowls at her.

“Easy, Camden,” Noah warns in my ear again. He must have been watching me the entire time, which pisses me off evenmore. I don’t need a babysitter. “Not your circus, not your monkeys.”

I open my mouth to tell him to piss off, but a fresh round of shouts erupts from Kaplan’s table, cutting me off. Becca jumps from her chair, knocking it to the floor with a crash, and the assholes with the cameras point them right in her face as the whole bar goes silent and stares. What the hell is happening?

“Are you serious right now?” Becca mumbles at Kaplan through the hand clapped over her mouth. It’s so quiet in the bar that I hear every word. Kaplan shrugs and flashes her the smuggest look I’ve ever seen.

“As serious as your insecurity,” Kaplan fires back, and I’m on my feet before I realize it because I know exactly what’s going on.

Kaplan is about to break up with her.

In public.

On camera.

Chapter 2

Becca

The room feels like it’s spinning around me, like I’m the imploding star that this scene revolves around. It’s so obvious what’s happening, but I don’t want to believe it. The bar has fallen so quiet that I can hear my heart hammering in my ears, and my throat is so tight that I can barely breathe—which is exactly what I need to be doing right now.

I can’t see them, but I feel every pair of eyes in the bar pricking against my skin like knives, and the bright lights from the cameras aimed at my face cause spots to appear in my vision. Then Shawn swims into view wearing a mocking smile, and although it only intensifies my anxiety, at least I have something to anchor to.

He throws his arms wide, welcoming the watching crowd in. “Oh, come on, babe. It’s just not a good fit, but you already know that. Look at you, you’re falling apart. You’re too shy for the cameras.

Yeah, because you’re making an ass out of me in public. Again.The thought scorches through my brain, and I start to say something back, but Shawn talks over me.

“You don’t have the same ambition that I do,” he says, his voice louder. He moves so close to me that I can smell thealcohol on his breath, then leans forward until his face is only a few inches from mine. “And it’s so obvious to me what’s really going on here. You’re jealous because I spend so much time with women infinitely hotter than you.”

My stomach roils and my cheeks flame. I feel like I might throw up, but that’s the last thing I want to happen right now. I refuse to give Shawn the satisfaction of breaking me down in front of his audience, both here in the bar and watching at home.

“Are you seriously going to do this now? In front of all these people?” I ask, my voice coming out much firmer than I feel.

Shawn just shrugs, like I’m the most insignificant person in his world right now. And honestly? That’s exactly how I feel—small and worthless and easily discardable.

“It’s been a long time coming,” he says, giving me an almost pitying look that makes my stomach sour.

He reaches out for me, but I step back. Even the idea of him touching me makes my skin crawl. I’d sooner jump into a bed of bugs than let him put his hands on me ever again. Shawn has embarrassed me in public more times than I can count, but this one takes the cake.

“Look, it’s not you.” He holds out his hands, chuckling almost smugly. “It’s me. I just… I need someone more on my level, you know? Maybe it’s because you’re Canadian or something, I don’t know, but you’re just toobland.”

A wild urge to laugh bubbles up in my gut because this is all fucking insane. It can’t be happening, right? This is just the latest cruel stunt his producers have cooked up for the show. It must be, because there’s no way in hell it’s real. After all the shit I’ve put up with from him,he’sdumpingme?It’s absurd.

I stiffen and reach for my drink. “How’s this for bland, you asshole?”

Before I can stop myself, I throw the contents of the glass right in his face.

---