Page 83 of The Ruse

“Kind of,” I said. And I was. But the cold wasn’t the only reason why I’d shivered.

“Here, let me help,” he said. He stepped behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist to share his body heat and protect me from the wind.

And dang, he felt so good right next to me.

I’d reveled in the feeling of him holding me like this during our rehearsals, but there was just something about him doing it when it wasn’t part of the script that was intoxicating.

His hot breath crept over my neck as he rested his face next to mine. “Is this any better?” he asked in a husky voice.

“Much better,” I whispered back. I was definitely not cold right now. Though, it had suddenly become a lot harder to breathe.

“Good.”

We just stood there quietly as we watched the other students around us. Not everyone had brought a coat or jacket with them in their rush to get to safety, and so some were running up and down the sidewalk as if hoping to work up a sweat.

A few other students had a similar idea as us and were huddled together for warmth. Girls and guys. Girls and girls. Two girls with one guy.

My gaze caught on Addison Michaels and Evan Rodgers standing in a position very similar to the way Asher and I were standing.

“Now that’s an interesting development,” I said to Asher, pointing in the direction of the couple standing on the outer edge of the group.

“Is that Addison and Evan?” Asher craned his neck over my shoulder, trying to get a better look. “Aren’t they brother and sister?”

“Step-siblings,” I said. “At least, that’s what I thought, anyway…” I watched as Evan rubbed Addison’s arms like he was trying to warm her up. He was probably six-foot-four with biceps even bigger than Asher’s. When I’d seen him and Addison bringing their suitcases into the dorms the first day, I’d assumed Evan was just Addison’s older brother who was dropping her off at school.

But despite looking a couple of years older than us, he was a senior.

A senior who was doing a very good job of keeping his stepsister from freezing right now.

“Maybe it’s nothing,” Asher said. “I mean, you have a date with another guy tomorrow, yet here you’re with me right now.”

Right…

It was probably a bad sign that I’d completely forgotten about my date with Nash until Asher brought it up.

A rush of guilt swept over me.

What was I doing?

“Um, I think I’m all warmed up.” I took a step forward, making Asher drop his arms. “Th-thanks for your help.”

He furrowed his brow in confusion as he inspected my face. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No,” I said too quickly. “Of course not. I, um…” I chewed on my lip, trying to think of an excuse for why I was suddenly acting weird. “I just forgot about my date tomorrow and well…”

“And you wouldn’t want anyone to tell Nash that we were hanging out tonight?” he asked, disappointment in his voice.

“Yes,” I started, but then I saw hurt flash in his eyes and realized that was the exact wrong thing to say to a guy who already had a hard enough time believing people wanted to be around him. “I mean, no.” I sighed, my cheeks burning. “I mean…”

What was I trying to say?

I didn’t know.

Because I couldn’t make sense of what was going on inside my brain right now.

It was like my heart was tied to a rope, and Nash and Asher were both tugging on opposite ends of it.

I’d been sure that I wanted something to happen with Nash just a week ago. He was amazing and I always had fun when we were together, and he was just a really great guy.

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