Page 38 of Fake Dating the Prince

They started with the children who couldn’t get out of bed. Flip had years of experience putting on a brave face, so he did most of the talking. He even blew up a latex glove into a silly balloon animal, a trick made possible via an amenable nurse who’d seen him do the trick before and a nearly empty oxygen tank. By the third room, though, they found a groove—Flip played Brayden’s straight man, and Brayden made the kids laugh.

Flip didn’t know how people did this every day. Many of the kids were in good spirits, but not all of them.

Finally they finished with the toughest cases and moved down the hall to a common room. The kids there had more energy—they sat playing video or board games, coloring, or building with Lego. Flip took a seat across from a little girl in pajamas with pink unicorns on them and asked if he could help build her castle. He wondered if Brayden might join him, but instead he took a seat next to the kids playing an ancient version ofDance Dance Revolutionusing the handheld controllers.

“Hey, I remember this game,” he said. “I used to play when I was a kid.”

The children exchanged glances. Then one handed over his controller. “Think you can beat Jess?”

Flip’s companion, whose name was Zoe, turned to look over her shoulder. “No one can beat Jess at this game.”

Having no idea of Brayden’s prowess at video games, Flip only offered, “We’ll see.”

Jess won the first round, but Brayden begged for a rematch. “I haven’t played this in fifteen years. Come on. Give me one song to knock the rust off.” And sure enough, he squeaked out a win in round two.

Jess’s companion whooped, and Jess looked like she was trying to be sour but couldn’t quite manage it. “Beginner’s luck.”

“Old man luck is more like it.” Brayden handed the controller back. “I used to have the dance pad that came with this game—you know, so you could play with your feet.”

Jess narrowed her eyes and scrolled down to another song. “Show me?” She passed the controller to her friend and wobbled once as she slowly stood up.

Brayden cast a quick glance at Flip, then Elin, as though to verify it was allowed, but when no one intervened, he shrugged. “Sure. Okay, so the trick is when you’re just learning, try using one foot for all the up arrows and the other for the back arrows.”

They didn’t have a dance pad, but that didn’t seem to matter—they went through two different songs on Easy before Jess started to visibly fade, and she raised a hand to her face to rub her eyes. “I always wanted to learn to dance for real.”

For a second Brayden looked heartbroken, as though his face were about to crack down the middle. But he composed himself, cleared his throat, and offered, “Well, as it turns out, I used to teach kids how to dance. So if you all want… we can do that.”

Zoe got up to join the lesson as Asher’s partner, but that left the boy who’d been coloring alone as Brayden partnered with Jess. “Do you want to learn too?” Flip asked, holding out his hand. “I can do the girl part.”

The boy considered for a minute and then let Flip help him to his feet. “We can take turns,” he said diplomatically.

Brayden led them through the basic steps of the paso doble—a good dance with big, slow steps that were easy for beginners to learn and easy to count. “Don’t forget that the first count is just to bend your knees,” Brayden reminded them. “And remember, always to the right first, if you’re going forward. That means if you’re following, you’re going back and to the left. Ready? Let’s try one more time before we add the music.”

Not surprisingly, the kids’ energy levels flagged before they really mastered the basics. Flip handed his partner off to an orderly, who put him in a wheelchair to go back to his room. Asher and Zoe were glassy-eyed and pink-cheeked, but Flip didn’t think they would tear themselves away from the visit until he and Brayden left. He made eye contact with Elin, who nodded and gestured at Brayden to wrap it up.

“All right.” Brayden held out his hands to Jess. “We’re going to do this one last time. And because it’s important that you get a feel for it so you can practice when I’m not here, I want you to stand on my feet, okay?”

Jess looked down at the plastic coverings on his shoes. “Really?”

“I won’t let you fall, I promise.”

They got situated, and then Asher hit Play on “Another One Bites the Dust.”

Flip had to look at the ceiling a few times as Brayden carried Jess through the whole song. Jess never stopped smiling.

Later, they stripped off their gowns and waited for Celine to bring the car. Brayden was quiet, and Flip didn’t want to interrupt whatever was going on in his head, so he kept silent too. But he worried. Uncharacteristically, Brayden had his head down. He was shuffling his feet. And—

Brayden’s voice was very small when he lifted a face writ with grief. “Hey Flip?”

Flip didn’t have words either. He opened his arms and Brayden fell into them, clung tight, and pressed his face into Flip’s shoulder. Flip took a deep breath and wrapped him up, trying desperately not to memorize the scent of him, the way his body fit with Flip’s, and failing miserably.

Eventually Brayden took a deep, shuddery breath, pulled away, and wiped discreetly at his eyes. “Thanks for taking me with you.”

Flip swallowed hard. “Thank you for coming. It meant a lot to the children… and to me.”

“You know, I enjoyed it.” He huffed at himself a little disbelievingly. “Even though it’s not easy. You normally do this alone?”

For the nth time that day, Flip found something fascinating about a light fixture. Fortunate that hospitals had so many of them. Kept things nice and cheerful. Lighting-wise, at least. “Yes.”

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