Page 132 of The Ruse

“I wish you had,” I said.

If I’d known he was going to be here, or that getting the tux wasn’t going to be a problem for him, I could have asked him to be my escort when I realized I wanted to be with him.

I would have called him as soon as I ended things with Nash and begged him to come with me.

“Are you mad I didn’t tell you?” he asked, a worried look in his eyes.

“No, of course I’m not mad,” I hurried to say. “I’m just shocked. And I—” I shook my head, my brain still trying to catch up to everything. “I could have done things differently, if I had known.”

“You would have done things differently?” He looked hopeful for a moment. Like, he would have wanted me to ask him to be my escort. “I was going to tell you about it that night I came to your room. But I got all weirded out about being in Bailee’s room. And then, I saw that text that said you were already going with Nash so—”

“Hey, you guys probably should tell the lady in charge that Asher is your new escort,” Scarlett said from behind us, interrupting whatever Asher had been about to say.

“Oh right,” I said. “Of course.”

I saw Mrs. Carmichael walking toward the front of the line, like she was about to walk onstage to start introducing the debutantes and our escorts.

“Hey, Mrs. Carmichael,” I called, walking as fast as I could in my heels to catch up to her.

She turned and looked at me. “Yes?”

“I need to change the name of my escort.”

“You do?” she asked, a flash of anxiety crossing her face as if worried I was going to cause a hitch in her plans for the night.

“Yeah, it’s—”

“Hey, Elyse,” a familiar voice said from behind me, sounding out of breath. “I’m here. Is it time to go on?”

What?

I turned and found Nash standing right behind me, dressed in his tuxedo, his blond hair slicked back and his jacket lightly dusted with snow.

“Sorry, I’m late,” he said. “I was stuck in traffic. There was an accident. I tried to call you, but you didn’t answer.” He took a deep breath. “But I just ran the rest of the way here.”

“What was your name and the name of your escort?” Mrs. Carmichael interrupted Nash, clearly in a hurry to get started.

“Oh, there’s no need for a change anymore,” Nash told Asher’s aunt. “I made it.”

But wait.

No.

Asher was here.

Asher was going to be my escort now.

I could still make the change, right?

But Mrs. Carmichael un-clicked her pen and said, “Perfect.” She took a step toward the stage, and with the wave of her hand, she said, “If you’ll get to your places, we’re going to start.”

Instead of moving, I just stood there frozen in place. I could tell Nash that he’d been replaced, right? That because he was late, his position had been filled.

But then Mrs. Carmichael disappeared through the curtains, and a minute later, her voice sounded through the speakers as she welcomed everyone in the audience to the event.

“Come on, let’s get in line,” Nash said, tugging on my arm.

As Nash and I walked back to where I’d left Asher, he explained that he was late because he had to pick up something for tonight and he was sorry for cutting it so close.

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