"Fourteen," I said.
It came out so fast, so steady, that for a second I almost believed it myself. Fourteen wasn't even close. Fourteen was some other girl's number, some name I'd pulled out of nowhere and slapped onto myself like it belonged there.
Rhys nodded slowly, turning it over. "Fourteen. Huh."
"Why?"
"No reason." He looked back at his laptop. "Just curious."
I hated how easy it was. That was the part that actually scared me, not the lying itself, I got used to that weeks ago, but how smooth it had gotten, how little my pulse even spiked anymore. Three months ago I would've stumbled over a question like that. Now I just answered it and moved on, like handing someone the wrong directions and not even glancing back to see if they got lost.
"Okay," I said, tapping my pen against
