Page 138 of Fake Married to the Grumps

“What? What are you talking about?”

I try to touch her hand, but she withdraws from my touch. “Gracie, come on. Is this about last night? What I told you about my parents?”

“No,” she answers vehemently. “This is about me, and you … This is about you and me, Trevor. You’re never going to want me, and I was stupid to let myself hope that it’ll be different this time.”

She sniffs again, and her sharp intake of breath sends another slicing ache through me.

“I want to help you, I do. But I can’t do it for much longer, Trevor. I don’t think I’ll last three months here.”

She turns her back to me and muffles a sob with her hand over her mouth while hugging her laptop close to her chest. I retreat from her room, close the door, and lean against it.

The sounds of her sobs makes my chest tighten. I stand there for a long time, listening to her cry until it finally subsides, and silence fills the air.

My head pounds when I finally head to my room for a quick shower. My phone’s buzzing in my practice bag, and I quickly take it out to see it’s a call from Zane.

“Have you seen the news?” Zane asks in a desperate voice. “Goodness, Hawkins, what did you tell Billy? It’s all over the news, man. There’s a media hunt for Gracie right now. Every news outlet wants information from her.”

“What? I don’t understand?”

I drop the call before Zane can say more, then scroll through the series of Instagram feeds and comments on my page before reading the blog post carrying my and Gracie’s photo.

Insider source confirms fake marriage between basketball star player Trevor Hawkins and his high-school sweetheart.

Dang it, Billy!He’s the only one I told about my and Gracie’s arrangement.How could he do this to me?

Chapter 13

Gracie

There’s a crowd gathered outside Trevor’s house, and his phone has been buzzing non-stop while he paces around the living room.

“This is crazy,” Trevor says to someone on the other end. “Can’t you get them out of here, man? And where the heck is Billy? What did he say?”

I try to focus on the media pages I’ve been scouting through. There are a million articles about me posted already, and even my brother Jace hasn’t been spared in all of this.

Sources tell us that the basketball star's best friend was also a key player in this ploy. The fake marriage was orchestrated to get the star player into signing a deal that will benefit Gracie and her family.

“They take the truth, and they twist it,” I mutter under my voice, and Trevor pauses in his pacing to look at me. Our eyes meet briefly, and the flicker of confusion in his makes me sigh.

I avert my eyes and nibble on my lower lip. After overhearing his conversation with his friends the other night, I keep rethinking why I’m here trying to help him.

Now that I know Trevor’s past, I understand why he is never going to want love or a relationship. It’s all the more reason for me to back out of this now. The longer I stay, the more my heart wavers.

And what if I can never change his perception about love?

Jace was right about me getting hurt in all of this, and the only way to avoid heartbreak was to stop this before it got out of hand.

“Gracie,” Trevor calls, and I glance up to look at him. His eyes are solemn on mine, and my breath hitches in my throat for a moment. I can’t control the rush of heat that slices through me, and I am unable to tear my eyes away from him.

“I’m so sorry about all of this, Gracie. I’ll make it right. I promise you I’ll make it right and shut down all these rumors.”

“They’re not entirely rumors, though, are they? And I’m more worried about how this affects you and your reputation with management. You just got back on the team, and if they believe this news, then they might kick you off for good this time. We didlie and deceive them. This was a terrible idea from the start and I …”

“This wasn’t your fault,” he interrupts and closes the distance between us before I can suck in another breath. Trevor sits on the couch beside me and places one hand over mine. His warmth seeps into me and makes me shiver inside. I want to pull away from him, but I feel frozen.

“I …”

“I trusted the wrong person,” he continues, holding onto my gaze. “I should have kept my mouth shut and focused on protecting our secret. This is entirely my fault, and I will make it right.”

---