Page 45 of The Ruse

Oh, I really hope he wouldn’t say something to Nash.

They would be staying in the basement together. Was it too much to hope that Asher would keep this secret to himself?

He’d told me before that he was good at keeping secrets. Would he keep mine?

Probably not.

Which meant, I needed to do something quick.

A minute later, Cambrielle came back upstairs. After taking her coat off and slipping her boots off her feet, she said, “Okay, it’s time for you to spill it. I saw Asher coming in when I was on my way out. Did something happen between you two?”

14

ASHER

“Five minutes until lights out,”Miss Crawley called from the center of the house so everyone on the main floor and the loft could hear her announcement.

I only had a few sips of hot chocolate left in my cup, so I quickly gulped them down and tossed the disposable cup into a garbage can nearby.

Miss Simmons, who was a math teacher at our school and had come with her husband to help cook and chaperone, led the remaining girls upstairs to the loft where they’d be spending the night. And while Miss Simmons took care of the girls, Miss Crawley, accompanied by Mr. Simmons, led the rest of the guys downstairs.

I was about to follow Henry Jenkins down the wooden staircase when Elyse suddenly appeared before me.

Had she just slipped out of the laundry room?

“Hey, can I talk to you for a quick sec?” she whispered, looking around to make sure we were alone.

And though I was pretty sure I knew what she wanted to say—that she’d made a mistake and had most definitely not intended to kiss me outside fifteen minutes ago and that I better not get any ideas about it—I said, “Sure,” and followed her back into the laundry room.

The laundry room was dark, with only the light from the kitchen filtering in through the open doorway. When she seemed satisfied that we were alone, she turned to me and said, “So I don’t know what you think happened out on the porch, but I just want to make sure we’re on the same page.”

I could tell she was on edge, but the side of me that didn’t like awkward conversations and always had to turn everything into a joke so no one would know what my true feelings were prevailed. I said teasingly, “Are you talking about the page where you enjoyed kissing me so much that you pulled me in here for round two?”

“What?” she said, sounding truly shocked. “O-of course not.”

“Because it’s okay if you liked it.” I leaned closer. Close enough that I could smell the faint scent of her shampoo. And wow, she smelled good. “You can’t help it when the chemistry is there.”

“What are you even…?” She took a step back and shook her head, like she couldn’t understand what I was talking about.

And it was kind of fun seeing her get all flustered like this.

Because even if I knewnowthat she hadn’t meant that kiss for me, the way she was acting told me she’d still enjoyed it.

Even if she’d thought she was kissing Nash, she’d still enjoyed the kiss withme.

I stepped closer and twisted a lock of her hair around my finger. “Do you want to break the news to Nash?” I bent my head down to meet her gaze in the darkness. “Or should I?”

“Asher!” she scolded in a hushed voice before glancing at the doorway behind me. I couldn’t help but smile to myself because this was fun.

“Sorry,” I said, pretending like I’d misunderstood. “Were you hoping to keep everything a secret? Did you really just pull me in here for another kiss? Because I know we barely know each other, but I’d be okay with kissing you again if you really want.”

“Asher,” she said, a little louder this time. “You need to stop. This is serious.”

“I know,” I whispered back. “My feelings for you are really serious. I didn’t realize how strongly I could feel so early on, but…” I paused for dramatic effect.

Before I could finish my sentence and proclaim my unexpected love for her, she put her hand over my mouth and said, “Stop. Please. Someone is going to hear you and I need to talk.”

I was tempted to lick her hand, just to make her squeal, but I reined myself in at the last second.

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