Page 78 of Perfectly Faked

“Thought you’d never ask.” He takes my hand and kisses it before we stride out of the restaurant.

Before we reach Leo’s car, I stop in the middle of the parking lot as guilt barrels through me.What was I thinking, letting Leo walk right into the firing squad of my mother?

I cover my face with my hands. “Leo, I feel awful about this. I should’ve warned you.”

“Hey,” Leo whispers, stepping closer, pulling my hands away. His fingers cup my face gently, tilting my chin so I have no choice but to meet his eyes. “Those comments about my past used to sting, but they don’t anymore. You can’t let someone hurt you unless you give them power over you. You know that, right?”

He pulls me against his chest and rubs slow circles on my back.

“It’s still hard, especially because it’s you,” I say. “I’m used to handling her comments, but I can’t stand back and watch her pull the same dirty tricks on you.”

He leans back slightly, his hand stilling on my back as his eyes search mine. “Are you okay?”

“I am now,” I say softly, burying my nose in his shirt and breathing in his familiar scent.

“Just for the record, I was proud of you in the restaurant,” he murmurs against my head. “You stood up to your mom and told her the truth. It takes courage to do that.”

I shake my head. “I just had this sense of calm, like it was going to be okay no matter what she said. I think in the past I was so used to being afraid that if I lost my parents’ support, I’d lose everything, and it was paralyzing. But now, I’m in a different place.” I knot my hands in his shirt, feeling so lucky to have himin my life. “Do you still want to be with me, even though my family is a hot mess?”

Leo tips my chin up and holds my gaze. “Nothing your parents can say will change my decision to choose you.” Then he kisses my forehead gently. “There’s only one thing I ask.”

“What’s that?”

He pulls back just enough to search my face, his hands resting on my shoulders. “Now that your mom knows, I want the whole world to know. We may have faked it for Pro Ice Gear, but I’m done pretending. It’s exhausting. No more hiding. No more fake kisses for the cameras. I want my hands on you, my lips on you, and I don’t care who sees.”

The questions rack up in my brain like a multiple-car pileup. “Wait... so you want to announce this publicly? I mean, won’t the Pro Ice Gear commercial do that for us?”

He smiles softly. “I’m not talking about a big announcement. I mean, I don’t want to hide how I feel about you when we’re out in public. I want to tell everyone—my teammates, your skating coach, even your dad. I’ll stand on a table at Boots and Buckles and announce it, though I’m sure Sherrie’s going to give me a hard time.”

I laugh. “As long as I get a redo at trivia night.”

He lifts an eyebrow. “So you can beat me this time?”

“What can I say?” I shrug. “I need another excuse to kiss you.”

“You don’t need an excuse,” he says, shaking his head and grinning. “As far as I’m concerned, you’ve already won.”

THIRTY

leo

The next day, I head to practice early, hoping to catch Coach Jenkins beforehand. “Hey, anyone seen Coach Jenkins?” I ask Tate, Brax, and Lucian, who are setting up equipment for practice.

As much as I love working with Victoria, I miss the team camaraderie, the adrenaline-fueled games, and the feel of my hockey stick hitting the puck. If Coach is cutting my probation short, then I want to know when I can get back on the ice.

Tate skates over, grabbing some pucks for practice. “He told us he was in a meeting this morning. The assistant coach is running practice instead. Does this have something to do with your probation?”

I slide on my hockey skates. “Yeah, did he mention anything?”

“Not specifically. But he said something about you playing in the next game.”

Brax stops setting up equipment. “Did I just hear you say Leo is playing in the next game?”

“That’s what I overheard,” Tate says.

I hold up a hand. “Don’t get too excited, guys. I haven’t had Coach tell me yet.”

Brax frowns. “How are you not thrilled about this? That’s huge! What’d you do to get him to cut your probation short? Bribe him?”

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