Page 61 of Perfectly Faked

He comes over, his lips curving on one side. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to remember what I’m supposed to be doing when you look like that.”

Oh.

My heart skips, and I can’t think of a single witty comeback. “Maybe I should change, then.”

He takes my hand gently. “Don’t.I meant it as a compliment. You told me that you’d rather have my honesty.” His eyes hold mine for a beat too long, and I can hardly breathe. “I just wish I didn’t have to share you with the entire world.”

“Okay, is everyone ready on set?” Desmond asks, turning to see if the crew is in place. When he spots me, he comes over for some final instructions. “I already explained things to Leo, so he knows what to do.” Desmond glances at Leo, and I can feel the tension spike in the room.

“What do I do?” I ask.

Desmond smiles. “Why don’t we just surprise you? That way, your reaction won’t be rehearsed.”

“Surprise?” I laugh nervously, looking between the two men.

Leo looks away, strangely silent.

“Okay, I’ll do my best,” I say before Desmond walks away.

I turn to Leo. “Could you at least give me a hint? I’m not into surprises. And you’re acting all weird, which is making me nervous.”

Leo lets out a sigh. “He wants... a proposal.”

I suddenly feel sick. “What?” I say, my voice catching.

“I’m supposed to ask you to marry me,” he grinds out. “In front of the camera.”

I blink, frozen in place, my brain scrambling to process this. “You’re joking.”

“Do I look like I’m joking?” His jaw clenches, but his eyes... they hold something else entirely.

And that’s when it hits me—this isn’t just pretend. Not for me. And maybe not for him either.

TWENTY-FOUR

leo

Desmond clears his throat and claps his hands for attention. “Okay, Leo and Victoria, we want to feel the emotion between you two. Make it real. Make us believe it.”

I nod along, even though I have no clue how I’m going to pull off my hardest acting job ever: shoving the storm brewing inside me back into the box where I keep all my unresolved feelings.

Of all the things he could ask me to do, ithadto be this one—the only thing that will wreck me because it hits too close to home.

“Are you . . . okay?” Victoria whispers in concern.

“I’m fine,” I grind out between clenched teeth.

“You don’t look fine,” she says, studying me.

“Define ‘fine,’ and then we can decide how much I’m lying,” I say, laying on the sarcasm.

I step away from her and start pacing the floor. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can get back on the ice and leave all of this behind. No more playing with my emotions everytime she looks at me with those wide eyes, making me wonder if she still feels something, too.

Time for a reality check:She doesn’t, Leo.

So why is Desmond asking me to do the one thing I used to dream about more than hockey? How am I supposed to propose without her noticing how hard this is for me?

Because this was everything I wanted in college. Back then, I even bought the ring and kept it hidden, trying to figure out the right time to give it to her. But then she shattered my plans and my heart in one devastating blow. And now I have to get down on one knee, put a ring on her finger, and act like it doesn’t kill me to pretend. Like it doesn’t feel like the cruelest kind of irony.

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