“So …”
“I heard the rumor.”
“Who hasn’t?”
He pressed his lips into a tight line.“Is it true?”
I blinked a couple of times.“I … it’s …”
While he didn’t react immediately, he narrowed his eyes.“Is it Calix’s?”
My mouth dried, heart hammering inside my chest.“Wh-what?”
“Calix.Is it his?”
When I opened my mouth, no words came out.I intertwined my sweaty fingers and looked anywhere but at him.Rush already knew that I wasn’t actually pregnant, and I couldn’t let Diya’s stepdad know either.It was his, for fuck’s sake!
“Maybe,” I said, voice wavering.
The silence stretched, and then his expression shifted.“Are you actually pregnant?”
“Yes,” I lied quickly so he wouldn’t think I was hiding something.“I am.”
I eyed him, unsure how or why he looked too controlled yet also concerned at the same time, as if he didn’t want to believe me—or maybe he didn’t.
He nodded slowly and pursed his lips.“And you’re saying itmightbe Calix’s?”
“Maybe.I’m not sure.”
“You’ve been getting around with The Crew.”
I swallowed hard.“How’d you know?”
“The same way I know that you’re not actually pregnant,” he said.“Diya.”
“Diya?”I repeated to buy myself some time.“Diya told you?About what?”
“About you seeing The Crew.”
“What about seeing Calix?”
“She doesn’t know about that.”
I blew out a breath.“Good.”
But that doesn’t erase the fact that he knows I’m not actually pregnant!
“Diya has been withdrawn lately, and now I hear this rumor about you,” he said.
My throat tightened, and I tried to keep my expression neutral.Was he really that observant, that calculated?!I wiped my palms onto my thighs and looked away from him, heart racing inside my chest.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He hummed in response.
“Really,” I said, grabbing my backpack.“I don’t.”
After a moment, he stood and moved his chair back to its original position, giving me space between him and the door.“You can go.”
