LUCA

"I'm not doing anything," she told me. "I'm just trying to make conversation."

I almost believed her.

The problem was that Veda never just "tried to make conversation." She fought with me, or didn't speak to me at all, or she was sleeping. One of the three. As a matter of fact, she'd been way too pleasant this entire afternoon. It was making my ass itch. She was trying to get on my good side. But to what purpose? This relationship, fake or not, was going to end the same way, no matter what.

However, maybe it would be fun to play her game for a while.

"I grew...