Page 127 of The Fake Out

“Thank you.” He turned so he directly faced the camera, fingering a notecard in his hand.

I held my breath, my leg bouncing.

“I’m not sure who’ll be interested in all this, but lately it seems like everyone is concerned with everything I do. Today, I need to make a confession. It starts with a party in Vegas for my birthday. The video that was released began a whole chain of events I’ll try to explain. The rumor mill has tried over and over to claim I am in a secret relationship with the woman in that video. That is false.

“While I do know this woman and have for a long time, I am not releasing her name out of respect for her, so please don’t ask. And if you have any kind of journalistic integrity, or a heart, you will not publish anything that someone might try to sell you.

“When the news came out, it looked like a lot of people were more than happy to make up rumors about our supposed relationship. Those rumors jeopardized my work with the Children’s Heart Fund. You saw from the video why it’s so important to me. To counteract the bad press, I came up with a plan. It was to give you all something good to focus on.”

He paused and took a deep breath, his smile tight.

“Do you need a minute?” Phoebe asked.

“No, just a little courage, I suppose. Doesn’t matter how old you are, it’s hard to admit when you’ve done something stupid.”

Phoebe smiled encouragingly.

Iris sat up and leaned toward the TV. Mama and Sue’s eyes were glued to the screen. When Mama reached over and took my hand, I held on for dear life.

“The plan was to get engaged, real fast. So, I found a woman I greatly admired and asked if she’d be willing to help me out and she agreed. What I’m saying is our engagement is fake.”

“No!” Sue said.

“Oh, honey,” Mama said, her voice so sad.

Chris continued. “I deeply respect the woman who agreed to help me. She is not to blame in any of this, so please don’t bother her. We had a business arrangement and a contract, all looked over by an attorney.

“I learned from my father that before anything, it’s important to be a man of your word. I lost sight of that the past couple of months, and I need to apologize, especially to my youngest fans. Sometimes adults make mistakes, too. What’s important is to realize your mistakes and bad choices then make it right.”

He looked down at the notecard in his hand and back up at the camera. My heart clenched to see how troubled his eyes were.

“So, this is me making things right. I need to ask for your forgiveness. I made some bad decisions. I hope you all can look past this, but I understand if you can’t.”

I swear he looked directly at me at that moment, a piercing gaze meant for me only.

“I’ve learned that all things come to light eventually. We can try to hide them, even from ourselves, but eventually we’ll have to deal with them.”

He paused and set the index card down on his knee. His gazed fixed on the camera with such intensity, I could feel it like a caress. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his face any more than I could gnaw my arm off.

“And since I want to be completely honest, I guess I should also admit something else. While all of this may have started as a fake engagement, my feelings are very, very real.”

A strangled groan erupted from my throat, but it was drowned out by the collective gasp from the other three people in the room.

He turned to Phoebe. “Thank you for letting me get all that out.”

Phoebe placed a hand on his arm, her eyes shiny. “Thank you for being so open. I know that had to take a lot of courage. If you’d like to see the full interview with Chris, come back tomorrow at five thirty p.m. Now, back to you, Tom.”

I clicked the television off. The room was doused in silence, the air heavy with the questions they were anxious to ask. But all I could think about was what Chris had just said.

“Holy shit,” Iris said.

For once, Mama didn’t correct her.

FIFTY-SIX

If you were a booger, I’d pick you first.

—MELANIE S.