“I have snacks in my room,” Mia whispers, drawing my attention as we start passing bowls around and scooping food onto our plates.

My eyebrows rise. “What?”

She gestures toward the ham. “You can’t eat that, right? Come by my room afterward. I’ll slip you some potato chips.”

I blink in surprise, a smile pulling at my lips. “That’s so sweet of you. Thank you.”

“So Miss Ahmed,” Ace’s father says, and my neck nearly snaps as I turn to face him. He looks like he wants nothing more than to dissect me under a microscope. “How do you and Alistair know each other? He’s never brought any of his friends to our home.”

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. Why is nothing coming out? I can’t think of a single thing to say.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.

I lick my lips uncertainly. “Um...”

And then, the same way a meteor strikes a dying planet, Ace says the worst thing of all time: “Karina is my girlfriend.”

16

T-MINUS 23 DAYS

Ten.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

What? Did he really just say I’m his girlfriend?

I look at Ace in disbelief, but he’s staring at his dad, a challenging expression on his face.

“Your girlfriend?” Ace’s father repeats, his tone incredulous. “Since when?”

Ace shrugs. “I haven’t been keeping track.”

Neither have I, apparently.

“And you didn’t think to inform any of us when this started?” his father asks, setting down his knife and fork.

“Mia knew,” Ace says, waving a nonchalant hand.

His stepsister blinks slowly, clearly at as much of a loss as I am, but after a moment, she nods. “Yeah, Ace told me a while ago.”

I try not to sigh. Of course Mia is going along with it.

Albert turns his gaze on me. “Is this true, Miss Ahmed?”

And now everyone is staring at me. Great.

Ace meets my eyes and offers me a hopeful smile. Is he being serious?

I have absolutely no clue why Ace is telling his dad I’m his girlfriend instead of his tutor, but I also can’t bring myself to deny it. I’m not eager to be at the center of Clyde family drama—I’ll yell at Ace in the privacy of his room and then he can figure out a way to explain to his family that he was lying.

But for now... I’ll play along.

I laugh nervously. “I also haven’t been keeping track. I’m sorry, Mr. Clyde.”

Albert hums, his lips pressed together as he looks between me and his son. “It’s a shame we haven’t been introduced before then.”

“Better late than never,” Ace says. His foot nudges mine underneath the table, and I nearly jump out of my seat. “Isn’t that right, sweetie?”

Sweetie. This boy wants to die by my hand.