Faking Forever: My Ex’s Hockey Star의 모든 챕터: 챕터 1 - 챕터 10

He walks toward me like he already belongs in my life.I tell myself not to look at him again.I look anyway.He stops a few steps away. Close enough that I feel aware of him. Too aware. His presence presses in, calm and steady, like he isn’t worried about being noticed. Like he knows he will be.“Are you feeling better?” he asks.His voice is even. Polite. Almost distant. But his eyes are not polite. They study me. Quiet. Careful. Like he’s reading something written under my skin.“I didn’t say I wasn’t feeling fine,” I replied.“You didn’t have to.”That annoys me.“I’m not interested in small talk,” I say.A corner of his mouth lifts. “Good. Neither am I.”Maddie shifts beside me. I feel her watching us. Measuring. Curious.“I should go,” I add, though I don’t move.“You can,” he says. “Or you can stay.”“Why would I stay?”“Because you’re not done being angry yet.”That lands too close.“I don’t let strangers tell me how I feel.”“I’m not telling,” he says calmly. “I’m noticing.”

I said yes, and everything changed.That was the thought stuck in my head as I stood beside Alex, knowing the world was about to look at us as something we were not. Or maybe something we were becoming. I did not know which one scared me more.“Relax,” Alex said quietly. His voice was calm. Too calm. “You’re thinking too loud.”“I’m not nervous,” I replied at once. The lie came easily. That scared me too.“You are,” he said. “Your shoulders are tight.”I hated that he noticed. I hated that he cared enough to notice. And I hated that a part of me felt safer because of it.“This is just one appearance,” I reminded him. “You said simply. You said quickly.”“I did,” he agreed. “And it will be.”I looked at him then. Really looked. His face was unreadable, but his eyes were sharp. Focused. Like a man who never walked into a room without knowing how to own it.“You look like you belong here,” I said without thinking.He smiled. Not wide. Not playful. Just enough to be dangerous.“So do you.

The world woke up angry.That was the first thought in my head when my phone would not stop buzzing. Messages. Alerts. Missed calls. My name is everywhere. My face is everywhere. That photo is everywhere.I stared at the screen until the words blurred.“They think they know me,” I whispered.Alex was already awake. I could tell by the way he moved. Quiet. Controlled. Like someone trained to stay calm when things explode.“Don’t read the comments,” he said.“I need to,” I replied. “If I don’t see it, it feels worse.”“You don’t owe strangers your pain,” he said.I laughed softly. “I used to think love meant explaining yourself until people understood.”His eyes softened. “And now?”“Now I know that was survival,” I said. “Not love.”He nodded once.The news spun the story fast. Some called it romance. Some called it a scandal. Some called me names I refused to repeat in my head.I put the phone down.“What’s the plan?” I asked.“We don’t hide,” Alex said. “Hiding looks like guilt.”“An

I did not answer him right away.The question stayed between us, heavy and fragile.Do you trust me yet?I wanted to say yes. I wanted to say it fast and without fear. But trust was not a switch I could flip. It was a wound that healed slowly, and only if no one pressed too hard.“I’m trying,” I said finally.Alex nodded. He did not push. He never did when it mattered most.“That’s enough for now,” he said.I exhaled. My shoulders relaxed a little.We sat in silence for a moment. Not empty. Not awkward. Just full. My mind kept circling the same thought. There was something he was not saying. I felt it the way you feel a storm before the rain.“You’re holding something back,” I said.He did not deny it.“I was hoping you wouldn’t notice yet,” he replied.I gave a weak smile. “I notice everything. It’s a curse.”He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. His hands clasped together. Tense.“There are things I can’t tell you,” he said. “Not because I don’t want to. Because it’s not only my s

Ryan’s voice was soft when he said my name, and that scared me more than if he had shouted.I should have walked away.I knew that.I felt it.But my feet stayed still.“You look tired,” Ryan said, leaning closer, his tone gentle, almost caring. “This whole thing with Alex… it’s breaking you.”I swallowed. I hated that he noticed. I hated that he was right.“I’m fine,” I said, but my voice did not agree with me.He smiled slowly. Not warm. Not kind. Calculated.“Izzy, you don’t have to pretend with me. I know you. I always have.”That word. Always.It dug into old wounds I never fully closed.“You left,” I reminded him. “You don’t get to say that.”His face shifted, regret flashing for half a second before disappearing.“I left because I was scared,” he said. “And now you’re walking into something worse.”I shook my head. “You don’t know that.”“I do,” he said quickly. “Alex lives in secrets. He thrives in lies. You’re just the next headline.”That hurt.Because part of me already fea