Page 59 of A Deal with the Bossy Devil

I placed my fork down and took a small sip of water. “Um, well, I’m sorry to say that the real thing is probably a lot less interesting than your theories,” I started, averting my gaze. They were going to be so incredibly underwhelmed. I wasn’t very well-versed in Adrien’s dating history (mostly because I’d never cared enough to keep up with the media coverage), but I was willing to bet he’d dated some interesting women. “I was born in Toronto—grew up there. My father was originally from Colombia, my mother from Sicily, and… uh, let’s see… I have an older sister...”

And what else? There was Olive and Ben, and… why couldn’t I think of anything else to say about myself other than listing off members of my family?

“Oh, come on,” Gampy complained when I paused for a beat too long. “That’s not it. That’s just a brief, incomplete overview of your family. Tell us aboutyou, kid. Where’d you go to school? What d’you do for work? Any sports or instruments you play? What’re your hobbies? And how many of them include dead bodies?”

Alice snorted. “That was part of his theory.”

The air around me had slowly started to thin. I knew this conversation was going to come up, and I thought I was somewhat mentally prepared for it. I wasn’t. The last time I’d met a significant other’s family was just over ten years ago. And I’d… had a lot more to talk about back then.

I looked down at my half-empty plate, my fingers fiddling with the cloth napkin on my lap. “I actually, uh, didn’t go to college,” I admitted quietly. “As for work… I’m currently in-between jobs. And as far as sports and instruments are concerned…” I dipped my head a little more in case my nostril was going to disagree with me on this next one. My words were chosen carefully. “I don’t currently play anything.”

A bout of silence fell over the table as they all started to undoubtedly wonder what Adrien even saw in me. What we had in common.

The answer was, of course, nothing. Adrien and I had absolutely nothing in common. We made no sense as a couple.

“She’s being modest.”

My fingers stilled in my lap, my blood turning cold. Adrien was going to start lying about my accomplishments to save face and make our relationship more believable. Because it was glaringly obvious that he’d never actually end up with someone like me, and his family knew it.

“She was elected as valedictorian of her class in high school and graduated with a near-perfect GPA.”

My head snapped in his direction, my eyebrows leaping.

“She was student council president and has more academic awards than everyone at this table combined. She plays the saxophone, was captain of her school debate and soccer teams, and we run together every morning.” He stopped, tapped the table with his index finger. “She also left out a whole lot of volunteer work.”

My lips had peeled apart. What the actual hell? How comprehensive was the background check he’d run on me, exactly? Did it include my blood type, too? What shampoo I used?

“Wow,” Alice said, crossing her arms as she leaned back. “You reallyunderplayed that.”

Had I? Or did I just not like to admit that my most recent and relevant successes dated all the way back to when I was a teenager.

High school was over. I wasn’t that person anymore. All those awards were sitting in an unmarked box in Alba’s basement, gathering cobwebs and dust. And the only reason they weren’t in a garbage dump somewhere was because she’d caught me trying to throw them out and had intervened.

I didn’t play soccer anymore, I wasn’t a runner, and I hadn’t touched a saxophone in ten years. Not to mention… I didn’t miss Adrien’s careful wording around the valedictorian thing. Just because I’d beenelectedas valedictorian didn’t mean I’d made it to the podium.

But how the fuck would he have known that?

I plastered on a smile, but it wavered and drooped too quickly to be convincing. “It was a long time ago. I don’t do most of that stuff anymore.”

Anthony wiped the corner of his mouth, shaking his head. “Don’t diminish your accomplishments like that, kid. It’s a bad habit.”

I don’thaveaccomplishments to diminish anymore, I wanted to say. But I bit it back and gave him a quick nod instead. “That’s good advice.”

“Is there a reason you didn’t go to college?” Gampy asked as he started to slice off a second piece of mango for Maxwell. The bird barked and chirped, bopping his head excitedly. “My wife was on the admission boards of a few universities over the course of her career. You’d have easily qualified for a bunch of scholarships if it was something you were interested in pursuing.”

“No kidding,” Alice chimed in, saving me from having to actually answer him. She was still leaning back with her arms crossed, watching me somewhat thoughtfully. Then she glanced over to Adrien. “Hey, you know who she sort of reminds me of? This conversation just unlocked a memory I forgot I had.”

Adrien shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. Should we get started on dessert?”

But Alice was still watching me, her eyes starting to narrow like she was trying to recall the details of her foggy memory. “No. Seriously. What high school did you go to, Ria?”

“I don’t think we would have overlapped,” I said with a small smile.

She cocked her head. “How old are you?”

“Alice,” Adrien said in warning.

“I don’t mind,” I said, shrugging. I’d never been shy about revealing my age. “I’m twenty-eight.”

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