Page 20

I think over my options.

Lie and make the situation worse.

Or tell the truth and pray I can keep her quiet at least for the time being.

“You can’t tell Lyric,” I finally concede, blowing out a hard breath.

“You had him in your phone as Conner.”

“Yes.”

“Does that mean...” I can literally see the pieces fall into place. “You were never talking to Conner. It’s been River this whole time.”

“Yes.” I have trouble holding her gaze.

“You’ve been lying to us for months.” The accusation in her tone makes me cringe.

“Yes.”

“Stop giving me one-word answers and explain before I march across the hall and tell Lyric.” Her threat snaps the last thread of denial I was fighting so hard to keep in place.

“I can explain.”

“You better.” She crosses her arms in front of herself.

This is the last thing I want to do right now. But given the way Maisie is looking at me, I know the only way to get past this is by walking straight through.

“You remember the glow party?” I ask, taking a tentative seat at the edge of the bed, angling myself toward Maisie.

“Of course.”

“Kai took you and Lyric home, and I stayed back with River.”

“Please do not tell me you fucked him.”

“No.” I shake my head. “In fact, nothing happened. Not a single thing, no matter how much I wanted it to. But we did have a lot of fun together, and well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t insanely attracted to him.”

“Who isn’t?”

“Right, well, after that, I thought that’s all it would be. A night of fun. But then he texted me the next day. I don’t even remember giving him my number, but I must have at some point. I really had a lot to drink that night,” I quickly explain.

“So you started talking.” It’s not a question so much as it is a statement.

“We did. But that’s all it was. Just talking. Really just texting. I mean, we did talk on the phone some, but most of our conversations were had over text.”

“So when did you start hanging out?”

“We didn’t. We’ve never done anything but talk. Tonight was the first time I’ve seen him since the glow party last year.”

“So you expect me to believe you have been talking formonthsand you’ve never met up?”

“It’s the truth.” I knot my hands in my lap. “He started distancing himself toward the end of the year and by a couple weeks into summer, he stopped texting me completely. Everything I told you was true with the exception of who I was actually talking to.”

“So it’s been River this whole time.”

“Yes,” I confirm a second time.

“And Lyric clearly has no idea.”