Page 19 of The Ruse

“I-I’m not scared of you,” I said, even though I really wasn’t sure whether I was afraid of him or not.

“So the reason why you weren’t meeting my gaze at dinner tonight was because you were embarrassed to see someone from this rich school working for his college money?”

He thought that’s why I couldn’t meet his eyes?

“No,” I said. “I-I’m not like that.”

Did he think I was some entitled snob who thought everyone without a rich parent was beneath her?

When he didn’t seem convinced, I added, “I grew up in a two-bedroom home with a single mom who could barely afford to take us to the dentist more than three times before we were sixteen. My mom didn’t have her ‘big break,’” —I did air quotes when I said the last two words— “until last year. It was us against the world until very recently.”

“So your world-renowned neurosurgeon father wasn’t paying child support during that time?” Asher narrowed his eyes skeptically, like he didn’t believe Brendon would do something like that.

Which, now that I knew Brendon better, I knew he wouldn’t. He would have done everything he could have for Ava and me—my mom even.

He would have found a way to come to our school plays and basketball games. He would have taught me how to drive and been there to grill Logan Carmichael before he took me on my first date. He would have been there like the dad I’d always dreamed about having as a little girl…if he’d known Ava and I existed before this past October.

It still hurt to think about all we’d missed out on because of the choices my mom made based on her and Brendon’s circumstances at the time.

“I don’t know how much you’ve heard about my family situation,” I said, knowing Asher hadn’t been in Eden Falls when all the stuff came out about my mom and Brendon’s fling at their five-year high school reunion. “But my mom raised Ava and me on her own, and we’re only just now getting to know Brendon. My sister and I didn’t know about him, and he also didn’t know about us, until very recently.”

My mom had her reasons for telling Brendon that she’d had a miscarriage. Things had been crazy back then for Brendon when Mack’s mom was diagnosed with her first brain tumor. And while I still struggled to accept that my mom’s lie had kept me from such a good man for all these years, I was trying to make peace with the fact that I couldn’t go back in time and force her to do things differently.

“Oh.” Asher blinked a few times, as if stunned. “Sorry to assume.”

“It’s okay.” I hugged my blanket and tablet to my chest. “Most of the kids at our school have always had money, so it was the normal thing to assume. I mean, I probably would’ve assumed the same things about you if—”

“If I hadn’t been your waiter on your date tonight,” he finished for me.

“Yeah.”

“What would you say if I told you I’m also the son of a billionaire, but I just like to moonlight as the scholarship kid who buys all his clothes from the clearance rack at the department store?”

“I’d probably be intrigued.” I drew in a breath. “But even if you were just the regular Joe who got a scholarship to a private school, I’d probably still be intrigued.”

Which was true. I was curious about Asher Park. He seemed different from everyone else that I’d met at school. And it wasn’t simply because of his mysterious past. There was just something about him that drew me in. I was interested in his story.

Which was crazy, because I barely knew anything about the guy. Didn’t know enough to even know what I should be curious about.

“Well.” He stood from his seat and the delicious scent of his deodorant or body wash hit my nose. “I guess we’ll have an interesting time getting to know each other, Elyse.”

“I guess we will.” I angled my face back to look at him, my heart beating fast for some reason. And even in his pajamas with his hair smashed to the side of his head like he’d been lying on a pillow before coming down here, I found something strangely fascinating about him.

“Heather wants to lock up and go to bed,” Ava’s voice called from the top of the stairs, making me jump and drop my blanket.

“I guess you better go,” Asher said, glancing up at Ava who had poked her head through the door that would lock all the boys out for the night.

“Yeah.” I tucked some hair behind my ear and was just bending over to pick up my blanket when Asher grabbed it first.

“You might want this.” He offered the blanket to me.

“Yes, th-thank you.” When our fingers brushed gently in the exchange, a spark of electricity flashed up my arm. Our gazes locked for a second.

Clearing his throat first, Asher nodded toward the boys’ dormitory. “I better get back to my room, too.”

I nodded. “Good night, Asher.”

“Good night, Elyse,” he said, and I couldn’t help but think that I liked the way he said my name.

---