Page 72 of King of Deception

“It’s okay. It was silly of me to ask.”

“Hey, when’s your birthday?”

“It’s actually funny. I was born on the first of January.”

“Really?” I drew it out.

“Yeah,” she giggled. “Haven’t had a proper birthday since I was sixteen.”

“And you say you’re not a party girl.”

“Well, that came out wrong. It wasn’t me who—”

“Hey, you don’t need to explain anything to me,” I chuckled. “You heard the stories.”

“King of Heartbreakers? Yeah, what was that about?”

Hanging my head, I ruffled the hair on the nape of my neck. “Eh—I went through this phase where I was a bit of a loose cannon.”

“Easy to imagine.”

“Hey!” Taking a turn, I saw Dylan curiously paw at a plant, and I gently pushed him away.

“I mean… you’re cute—”

“Cute?”

“You were young, weren’t you?”

“I was cute,” I laughed.

“You still are.”

“Cute doesn’t cut it anymore. Someone recently told me I was hot.”

She laughed. “Then what happened? Did someone take you to church one day?”

I sat down on a bench, placing one leg over the other and patting my thigh for Dylan to jump up. He sat next to me, resting his head over my hand while his big eyes stared up at me.

“I guess… I tasted my own poison. College, the night before graduation.”

“Ouch.”

“Right?”

“What was her name?”

“Jennifer.”

“Hmm. And what did Jennifer do?”

“Oh, no biggie. I only caught her on the floor in the middle of all the packed boxes in my room… naked… with Sam.”

“Ow.”

“Samantha,” I elaborated.

“What?” she drew it out and chuckled. “No way!”

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