All Chapters of Faking Forever: My Ex’s Hockey Star: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1: Broken Promises

The message ends everything.I stare at my phone.The screen does not change.The words stay where they are.I can’t do this anymore. I’m done.Ten years.Ten years of choosing him.Ten years of waiting.Ten years of believing love was enough.My fingers shake. I read it again. Then again. As if the meaning will soften. As if the words will apologize. They don’t.“This isn’t funny,” I whisper, though I know no one is joking.My chest tightens. My throat burns. I try to breathe slowly, the way he once taught me during exams, during panic, during nights when life felt heavy.“Ryan?” I type. Then delete it.I type again. What are you talking about?Delete.I pressed the call.It rings. Once. Twice. Then stops.He doesn’t answer.I sit still. Very still. Like if I don’t move, this moment might reverse itself. Like time might feel sorry for me.Today is our anniversary.Ten years today.He promised dinner. He promised a ring. He promised forever.I laughed once. It sounds wrong. Sharp. Alm

Chapter 2: Collision of Worlds

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.”

Chapter 3: The Offer

Maddie doesn’t ease into it.“You’re going to pretend to date him.”I stare at her. I blink once. Then again.“Say that again,” I say.She doesn’t smile. That’s how I know she’s serious.“You’re going to pretend to date Alex Kane.”I laugh. It comes out wrong. Too loud. Too sharp.“No,” I say. “Absolutely not.”Maddie crosses her arms. “Hear me out.”“I don’t need to hear anything,” I snapped. “I just got dumped. Publicly humiliated. Emotionally wrecked. I’m not signing up to play a girlfriend for a famous man.”“It’s not playing,” she says. “It’s strategic.”“That makes it worse.”She sighs and sits across from me. “Alex needs a girlfriend.”“I don’t care.”“He needs one now.”“I still don’t care.”“He needs one to fix his image.”That gets my attention. Just a little.“What image?”She hesitates. That alone tightens my chest.“Maddie.”She exhales. “There was an interview. Something he said got twisted. Sponsors are nervous. The team is nervous. They want stability.”“And they think

Chapter 4: First Assignment

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.

Chapter 5: Ryan’s Shadow

The rumors started before I could breathe.I did not need anyone to tell me. I felt it in the pauses. I heard it in the way conversations stopped when I walked in. I saw it in the looks that lingered too long and the smiles that did not reach the eyes.Something was wrong.My phone buzzed again.I ignored it.I told myself I was done reacting. Done shrinking. Done letting Ryan pull strings from a distance.Still, my chest felt tight.Maddie called first.“Tell me you’ve seen it,” she said, her voice sharp with anger.“Seen what?” I asked, though I already knew.She exhaled hard. “He’s talking. Again.”Of course he was.“What did he say this time?” I asked.“That you’re using Alex. That you always do this. That you climb men and burn them when you’re done.”My grip tightened around the phone.“That’s rich,” I said. “Coming from him.”“I know,” Maddie said. “But people are listening.”That hurt more than I wanted to admit.I ended the call and stared at my screen. Messages stacked up. S

Chapter 6: A Dangerous Game

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

Chapter 7: Heat and Deception

I stopped pretending I was fine.That was the truth pressing against my chest as I stood across from Alex, knowing too much had already happened for things to stay simple. The silence between us was loud. Heavy. Full of things we had not said.“You’re angry,” he said.“I’m tired,” I replied. “There’s a difference.”“There is,” he agreed. “But they look the same on you.”I crossed my arms. “You don’t get to read me like that.”“I already do,” he said softly.That scared me.I looked away first. I hated that I did.“You should’ve told me about the sponsor,” I said. “You should’ve told me how much this could cost you.”“I was trying to protect you,” he said.“No,” I snapped. “You were trying to control the damage.”He flinched. Just slightly.“That’s not fair,” he said.“I know,” I said. “But neither is finding out I could ruin your life from someone else.”He stepped closer. Not touching. Never forcing.“I made a choice,” he said. “Before you ever said yes.”“And what choice was that?”

Chapter 8: Secrets Surface

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

Chapter 9: Missteps and Tensions

The picture went live before I could stop it.I knew because my phone buzzed once. Then again. Then it would not stop. My name flashed across the screen like a warning I had ignored too many times.I opened the link with shaking fingers.There I was.Too close to someone who was not Alex. Too close in a way that told a lie without words. The angle was wrong. The moment was stolen. The truth twisted.My chest felt hollow.“That’s not what it looks like,” I whispered, though no one could hear me.The comments were already pouring in.She moves fast.Guess Alex was just a phase.Knew she couldn’t keep it clean.I closed my eyes. My hands went cold.It had been nothing. A brief conversation. A polite goodbye. A hand on my arm that lasted half a second too long. But the photo froze it into something ugly.I heard Alex before I saw him.“Where did this come from?” he asked.I looked up. His face was tight. Not angry. Controlled. That scared me more.“I don’t know,” I said. “I didn’t even no

Chapter 10: The First Betrayal

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

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