He pretended + THAT + he believed
He pretended + he believed
He pretended + TO + believe
He pretended + AS IF/THOUGH + he believed (not especially common)
He pretended + LIKE + he believed (informal English)
You could pretend to use the toilet and see if he's all right.
Just pretend it's a really dry martini
I used to pretend when I was young.
She could pretend she didn't know who he was for a while.
I wear it too, when I'm alone, and pretend that we are one forever.
So you could pretend it didn't bother you?