Page 128 of The Match Faker

The truth was, I loved Liam so much it hurt.

Now the question was whether I was brave enough to tell him before he left for good.

44

Liam

Gutted.

I didn’t know shit about the matchmaking industry, but Trudy was right. Mia was robbed. It should’ve been her collecting that award. Not that scheming woman.

Her threatening Mia wasn’t right. And I wanted to tell her that to her face. Whatever the consequences were, I’d deal with them. But right now, the most important thing was taking care of Mia.

Once the awards ended, we left via the back exit, where Phil was waiting.

‘You’re gonna be okay.’ I faced Mia as she put on her seat belt. ‘You don’t need them to be successful. If you want, I can—’

‘I know you’re about to offer me money again, and I’m grateful, but I can’t take it. I need to make it on my own. That’s important to me.’

‘Okay. Come here.’ I opened my arms and wrapped them around her.

For the whole journey, Mia rested her head on my shoulder and sobbed. I rubbed her back, stroked her hair and tried to reassure her. I wished there was more that I could do. That I could wave a magic wand to make her happy so that we could enjoy the little time we had left together.

My chest tightened. I couldn’t believe that in just a few hours, I’d be heading back to LA.

I desperately wanted to stay with Mia, but I’d committed to this dumb role. I wished that things were different, but we’d agreed that I’d leave the morning after the awards. And we’d both said that things between us would only last as long as I was in London, so we had to stick to that.

Phil pulled over.

‘Mi, we’re here. You ready to go inside?’

She peeled herself from my shoulder and sat up.

Mascara tears stained her cheeks. Seeing her cry and knowing how upset she was made my heart break.

Once we were safely inside, I led her to the sofa. Her eyes were bloodshot and still watering. Shit.

‘Want some tea?’

I hadn’t had much practice at consoling girlfriends. I’d never stuck around long enough to deal with these kinds of emotions, but whenever people cheered someone up on British soaps, they always offered to make a cuppa. I hated the stuff, but if it’d help Mia, I was willing to try.

‘Please,’ she replied, avoiding my gaze.

After boiling the kettle and pouring the water over the teabag, I bought the mug along with some milk and sugar to the living room.

‘I don’t know how you take it, so…’

‘Have you ever made tea?’ The corner of her mouth turned up a little, like she wanted to smile. That was a good sign.

‘Don’t think so. My parents were coffee people. And this kind of tea isn’t that popular in LA.’

Mia’s face fell and a fat tear rolled down her cheek. So much for making her smile.

‘Hey.’ I sat beside her and wrapped my arm around her back. ‘I know you’re gutted about not winning, but you can still use the nomination to promote yourself. In Hollywood, they always mention when someone was an Academy Award nominee. Being shortlisted is still a big achievement.’

‘It’s not just the awards,’ Mia said quickly.

‘You’re worried about the rent increase?’

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