Chapter 11

Corey wondered how Ileana would take the news about Amelia. He figured it would go one of two ways. Either she’d take it as well as could be expected since she knew Amelia, liked her, and saw that there would be nothing to worry about. Or she’d be pissed that they’d lie to her, and she’d castrate him. As much as he hoped for situation number one, he felt like it’d be more like situation number two.

He’d just gotten home from the road trip and hadn’t seen Ileana yet. She was coming over in a couple hours and he’d break the news to her then. And right before Christmas. He wasn’t looking forward to it, but knew it had to be done. He wondered if this would be the end of their relationship. He also wondered if he’d care. When he saw Ileana’s car pull up he braced himself for the worst.

“Hey, hon,” he greeted her as he opened the door. She jumped into his arms and kissed him.

“I missed you!”

“You too.”

She followed him into the living room and sat down next to him on the couch. He figured he should just get it over with. When he turned to look at her he wondered again why he’d been stupid enough to lie about Amelia in the first place.

“How was the trip?” she asked.

“Pretty good. Look, Ileana, I have something I have to tell you,” he started. Her smile faded.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Well, there isn’t exactly a good way to go about this so I’m just going to say it.”

“Are you breaking up with me?!” she shouted. He shook his head.

“No, I’m not.”

“Then what is it?” He paused and took a deep breath before continuing.

“Remember how I told you about the ex that disappeared from my life?” Ileana nodded in confusion. “Remember how I told you I knew Amelia because we went to school together and she dated Scott?” Ileana nodded again. “Well, Amelia hated Scott.”

“She dated someone she hated?” He rolled his eyes at Ileana.

“No, she never dated Scott.” He paused to watch the expression on her face. It was almost comical how confused she looked. Then he realized he was stalling and took another deep breath. “Amelia is my ex.”

A vast array of emotions swirled through Ileana’s eyes when she heard that. He couldn’t tell what she was feeling and knew he’d just have to wait to see how she responded. It didn’t take long for him to find out.

“What the hell is going on? Amelia didn’t date Scott, she dated you? She’s the ex you can’t manage to get over?” Her voice got louder with each and every word.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t tell anyone. I guess I was just worried what people would say if they knew. It’s not a good excuse, but it’s the truth.” Ileana stood up and started pacing.

“Your ex is Amelia Larson? I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!” she yelled.

“Ileana, please.”

“No, I’m not done. You’ve made me look like a complete idiot. I’ve been talking to her, hanging out with her, asking her for advice about you! This whole time I thought she was just an old friend when she’s the girl you’ve been pining for since I met you!”

“I haven’t been pining for her,” Corey denied. Ileana turned on him with pure fury in her eyes.

“Yes you have! You talked about your ex all the time, and it was obvious you were still in love with her and that if given the chance you’d go running back to her. Now your ex is back in the picture and has been for a couple months! How can you be in a relationship with me when the love of your life is around?”

“Ileana, I don’t love Amelia anymore. Yes, I loved her. We were together for a long time, and feelings are always going to be there, but I’m with you. When I’m with somebody I’m with them and no one else. There is nothing, and there won’t be anything between Amelia and I again.” Ileana took a deep breath and sat down next to him on the couch.

“You’re going to have to choose, Corey. It’s me or Amelia. If you want her, then go. If you want me, you can’t be around her anymore. No hanging out with her, no calling her, nothing. She needs to be out of your life, for good. What’s it going to be?” Corey let his head fall back to the couch. He couldn’t believe this.










I laid in bed in the hotel suite staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep. Jordan was coming in tomorrow and I had to tell him about Corey. It was just after Christmas and my family had left. It had also been over a week since the guys had come to the set and Ticia had outed us. I hadn’t wanted to tell Jordan over the phone so I’d begged until he’d agreed to fly out and visit. Now he was going to be here soon.

I finally fell asleep only to be awoken by my alarm way too soon. I groaned as I rolled out of bed and hopped into the shower. I made my way to the studio for the day’s work. I couldn’t seem to get the scene we were working on right. I was frustrated with myself for letting my personal life get in the way of work.

I did what I could to push it out of my mind and get the job done. Thankfully I nailed it not long after and made my way to my trailer for a break. I could use a nap if I had time. I opened the door, stepped in, and nearly screamed when I saw someone standing in there.

“Flight was early,” Jordan explained laughing at me. My heart was racing and I couldn’t tell if it was because of the fright or the conversation I was about to have with him.

“God, Jordan, you scared me!” He continued to laugh and wrapped his arms around me in a hug. He placed a kiss on the top of my head before pulling away and planting one on my lips.

“Sorry. How’s the filming going?” he asked.

“It’s going well. Do you want to go for a walk?” I was suddenly feeling very claustrophobic.

“Yeah, sure. That sounds good.”

We exited the trailer and began the walk. He chatted about things back in LA, interviews and appearances he’d done, movie offers he had, and people we knew. I pretended to be listening, but I was really just trying to figure out what to say. I wasn’t sure how Jordan would take the news.

“You’re not even listening to me, are you?” Jordan asked.

“Yeah, that sounds nice,” I replied. I noticed that he stopped walking and turned to look back at him. He had an eyebrow arched and I sighed. “I’m sorry. I just have a lot on my mind.”

“Want to talk about it?” he asked. I looked down at the ground and nodded.

“There really is something I need to tell you.” He walked over to me and lifted my chin up so I was looking in his eyes.

“Just tell me. It can’t be that bad.” I took a deep breath before jumping in.

“I kind of lied to you about Corey,” I started.

“Corey? The hockey player?” I nodded.

“We didn’t just go to high school together. We dated.” Jordan smiled at me.

“You were worried about telling me that you two dated?”

“Well, we didn’t just date. We were together for four years. I lived with him.” Jordan laughed.

“Lia, I don’t know why you were so worried about telling me that. Obviously it’s over between you two and no offense but I didn’t exactly feel any sparks between you two at dinner that one time. I don’t know why you look like you’re going to be sick. It doesn’t matter.”

"You're not mad that I lied to you?"

"Everyone has a past. It'd be ridiculous of me to get mad at you for having one."

I smiled up at Jordan, but couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed. He wasn’t even the least bit upset that I’d lied to him? He grabbed my hand and placed a kiss on the back of it. I walked next to him as we headed back to my trailer.

Jordan stayed for a few days before flying back to LA. Corey never came up in conversation again. Even though I’d told Jordan the truth, I didn’t feel better like I thought I would. I guess I’d expected him to be angry about the lie, or at least a little hurt, but he just blew it off. How did a boyfriend not feel anything about being lied to about their girlfriend’s ex? I tried to be thankful that we were still okay, and pushed it out of my mind.