Page 87 of The Ruse

Elyse probably loved how he looked in it, too. Probably thought he was so cute with his blond hair and the blue eyes the Hastings’ siblings were practically famous for.

Was that her type then? Dirty-blond hair, blue eyes, and golden skin? She said she’d gone for bad boys before moving here, but there had to be a certain look she preferred.

And I was a complete opposite to Nash in that arena. He was the sun. I was the midnight sky.

My phone dinged with a text.

Aunt Vivian:Those photos look great. If you say it fits right, I’ll take your word for it. Just make sure you bring it with you when you come home for winter break.

My eyes snagged on the wordhome. Was she saying her house was my home? Or just calling it that because it washerhome?

Not that it mattered.

I typed back a response.I’ll put it on top of my suitcase right now, so I don’t forget.

Speaking of forgetting things, I still needed to book my bus ticket back to Ridgewater.

I was in the middle of doing that when my door beeped with the sound of Hunter unlocking it with his card. A second later, he walked into our room with Scarlett trailing right behind him.

“What are you all dressed up for?” Hunter asked, taking in my tuxedo.

“Oh this?” I looked down at my clothes. “I was just having one of my fancy-tux Saturdays where I sit in my room and sip tea while I look out on the veranda.”

Scarlett and Hunter looked at each other like they weren’t sure if I was serious or not.

“I’m kidding,” I said. “I’m not weird like that. This was just delivered today, and I was making sure it fit.”

“Is that your costume for the musical?” Scarlett asked.

“No.” I stood and took the jacket off since it was getting hot. “It’s for some fancy event my aunt is making me go to over winter break.”

“That’s so crazy,” Hunter said. “Because I just got my first coat with tails for a party over Christmas break, too.”

Scarlett narrowed her eyes at me. “What type of event are you going to?”

I ran a hand through my hair. “It’s this debutante ball my aunt is in charge of.”

“Wait, is it the debutante ball in Manhattan?” Scarlett’s brown eyes widened. “The one on the twenty-eighth?”

“Uh, yeah…” I frowned, surprised that she’d heard of it.

Scarlett was from Manhattan, so maybe she was somehow up on all the things going on in that city. She was an overachiever, after all.

But she and Hunter both exchanged a look and said, “We’re going to be there, too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Scarlett tucked some of her auburn hair behind her ear. “Cambrielle, Ava, Elyse, and I are all being presented as debutantes. Hunter is my escort.”

Wait, Elyse was going to be there?

I glanced at the mirror on my closet door to catch my reflection. I hadn’t cared too much about how I looked in my tuxedo before, since I figured I’d just be around a bunch of strangers all night.

But if Elyse was going to be there and possibly see me…

I pushed the thought away. Cambrielle was going to be there, and since it was a family event, it meant Nash would be there, too. And Carter was probably going to be Ava’s escort, so it would only make sense that Elyse would have asked Nash to be her escort for the night.

Even though I figured I already knew the answer, I found myself asking, “Do all of you already have escorts?”

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