"Because you're you. And you get weird about this stuff."
"I'm not weird."
"You once told my mom you had a boyfriend named Jonathan who lived in Canada."
"I was sixteen!"
"You were twenty-three."
Riley threw herself back against the pillows. "Oh my god."
"So? Real or fake?"
"He's real," Riley said, the lie smooth and practiced now. "And I'm bringing him to the reunion, and you're going to meet him, and everything will be fine. I’m tired of getting picked on for being independent."
"What's his name?"
Riley's mind went blank. She hadn't thought this far ahead. She'd been so focused on the panic of being alone that she hadn't actually considered the logistics of the lie.
"Riley. His name. What is it?"
"I'll tell you when you meet him."
"That's not how this works."
"It is now."
Hannah sighed dramatically. "Fine. But I have questions. So many questions. What does he do? Where did you meet him? Is he from the city? Does he know about Grant?"
Riley's chest tightened at Grant's name. "What about Grant?"
"You know. Your high school sweetheart. The one you definitely, totally, completely got over."
"I did get over him."
"Sure."
"Hannah."
"I'm just saying. It's going to be interesting."
"It'll be fine. Why would you even say that? Grant doesn’t care, so why should I?"
"Mmm hmm. If you say so." Hannah paused, and Riley could practically hear her grinning through the phone. "I'm excited to meet him."
"Great."
"He better be worth the hype."
"He will be," Riley said, even though she had no idea how she was going to pull this off.
They hung up, and Riley dropped her phone on the bed, staring at the ceiling again.
He better be worth the hype.
Grant. She was bringing Grant. Her ex-boyfriend. The guy she'd spent a decade pretending not to think about. The guy who still made her pulse kick up when he smiled.
This was fine. Totally fine.
