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I thought he’d liked me. But the whole thing had been a lie. “Don’t blame my friends for this. You acted like you cared about me. You kept warning me about not making that mistake. And saying you were trying to get to me.”

“I always did care about you. And I was trying to give you good advice because I thought you might end up being my step-daughter.”

“I’m going to kill him,” my dad said.

I ignored him. “Tell me you’re joking.”

“It was like...a brief thought. But then I was really worried because I made the same fucking mistake as you.” He pointed to my mom. “We were in the same position. We both had crushes on our tea...”

“It wasn’t the same!” And stop trying to spill all my secrets!

“I know. Because you slept with Hephaestus!”

“No, it’s not the same because the teacher you liked was my mom!” my voice cracked. How could he not see how wrong this was? Oh God. So many things came rushing back to me all at once. “When you slashed my tires we talked for so long. I thought you were trying to get to know me. But you were just trying to figure out if my parents were divorced.”

He smiled. “You still think I slashed your tires?”

I ignored him. I knew he’d slashed them. He was a psycho. “And, and...you told me not to dye my hair.”

“Because I just thought it might look good dark.” He shrugged.

“No, because you wanted me to look like my mom!” I shrieked.

“Is it a crime to like what I like?” Adonis asked. “And the blonde has really grown on me. I prefer it now, actually.”

I glared at him. “What about that thing you said when my mom came out with the appetizers?”

“What thing?”

“That you thought your wife was in this room tonight? Were you talking about her?!”

He laughed. “Of course not.”

“Adonis. Or Dimitri. Or whatever the fuck your name is. Don’t lie to me.”

“Aphrodite, you know me. I flirt with everyone. I...”

“The line is drawn at my mom!”

“Okay, I’ll stop flirting with Miss H.”

I shook my head. “You called her Miss Hunter a few times.”

“Yeah, I liked to mess with her about being married.”

“Did you usually call her Miss Hunter?”

Adonis shrugged. “Like, a third of the time. I call her Miss H and Daphne a lot too.”

“So when we did that thing.” I lowered my voice. “That roleplay when you asked me what Mr. Halifax called me? And I said Miss Hunter.”

Adonis pressed his lips together.

“You said it was so sexy. Was it sexy because you were thinking of her?” My bottom lip started to tremble. That moment had meant so much to me. Had it meant nothing to him? Just a fantasy with my mom?

“Maybe I was thinking about her for the first few minutes...”

I slapped him hard across the face. “I trusted you!”