“Yes, honey.”

Ace winks at me, and I resist the urge to throw my fork at him.

“We’d love to hear more about you, Karina,” Ace’s stepmother says, which is arguably the worst thing she’s said to me so far. I hate being the center of attention, and I hate talking about myself. “How did you and Ace meet?”

“We’re in the same English class,” I say, because that at least is true. “He sat next to me and we just...clicked?”

Ace’s smile widens into a blinding grin. I’m going to kill him. “I took her on a date to a local bakery. She ordered the cheesecake and said it wasn’t nearly as sweet as me.”

His foot is close enough that I step on it in retribution. He winces but quickly covers it up. It still brings me some satisfaction.

“Who can blame me?” I offer his stepmother a pretty smile. “He’s just such a sweetheart.”

“I’ve never seen you two together,” Xander says, watching me like a hawk. If I thought he was assessing my weaknesses before, it’s nothing compared to his sharp gaze now. “Have you even told Mom?”

“You didn’t know who Karina was before today,” Ace says, his grin obnoxious even as his gaze is dark. “Maybe that’s why you failed to notice. Mom has known for a while now, just like Mia.”

Xander’s eyes narrow, but he doesn’t make any further comment. I restrain the urge to step on Ace’s foot again. There’s no way his mother knows about this—he’s mentioned her to me only once in the passing. Another tangled thread in this web of lies.

“What do your parents do, Miss Ahmed?” Albert asks after he shares a look with Xander that is far from reassuring.

“My mom works as a receptionist for a dermatologist,” I say, ignoring the way the back of my neck is prickling. “And my dad is an accountant.”

“And what about you? Do you have plans for college?”

I can’t believe I’m being screened right now to see if I’m an acceptable girlfriend when I’m not even dating anyone. I can’t believe this is a real situation that Ace has wrangled me into.

My smile is flimsy. “My parents are hoping I get into Columbia for their premed track, under a biology major.” And I’m hoping I somehow whisk myself into an alternate universe before then.

“That’s incredible,” Ace’s father says, and he sounds like he actually means it. His gaze is appraising, but then he looks at Ace and it becomes far less so. “So what are you doing with someone like my son? Do you know he has no intention of even attending college?”

Wait, what?

“Dad,” Ace says, his voice cold.