Page 103 of The Ruse

I sighed and turned around. Crying in a corner was actually more humiliating than crying in front of her. But instead of stepping away, she just hugged me even tighter, resting her head against my chest and not letting me go anywhere.

And even though everything in me wanted to run away, I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, drew in a deep breath, and let my arms go around her.

I leaned back into the wall, pulling her with me, and a few more deep breaths later, I was able to calm back down.

“You gonna be okay?” she asked, inspecting my face.

“Yeah,” I said, not really sure but hoping it was true.

She let her arms drop and stepped away. “Sorry I didn’t tell you about Nash. I was just trying to keep you guys from hating each other even more.”

“I know,” I said. Then looking behind her, I added, “Sorry I kicked your chair. It was just really in my way right then.”

“It’s fine.” She chuckled. “Sometimes you just gotta kick something.”

She walked back to where it had fallen over and righted it before tucking it under her desk.

I drew in another deep breath, hoping to calm myself once and for all. “Anyway, that’s basically my story. Thanks for hearing me out.”

“Anytime,” she said, looking like she actually meant it. “Thanks for telling me all that. I’m sure it wasn’t easy.”

“Yeah, talking about my past isn’t something I’m very good at.”

“Well…” She swallowed like she was nervous. “If you ever want to tell me anything else, I’m here.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I might take you up on that sometime.”

“I hope you do.”

I studied her for a long moment, wondering what she was thinking about me now. Did all of the romantic feelings I’d felt from her last night in my room disappear once she found out I’d been lying to everyone for the past year?

I hoped not.

I hoped that we could get back to that place we’d been before tonight. Hoped that she hadn’t just written me off for good in her mind.

Falling in love with someone took a lot of trust, and with everything she now knew about me, it would probably take a lot for her to trust me again.

Especially since she already had golden-boy Nash wining and dining her.

I still had no idea how things stood between them after their date. For all I knew, they were boyfriend and girlfriend and planning their future after high school.

“Anyway,” she said, breaking into my thoughts. “It’s getting late. You should probably sneak back to your room now.”

“You’re right,” I said. “It’s probably close to one o’ clock now.”

“Should we check?” she asked, like it was a game.

She touched the screen of her phone that sat face up on her desk to look at the time, but my gaze landed on a text from Nash that said,Thanks again for tonight. Dinner, the musical…the car ride home. I’m already counting down the days until the debutante ball.

Ouch.I flinched when I wondered what might have happened on their car ride home.

Elyse must have realized I’d seen her text because she quickly turned her phone face down on her desk. “Looks like it’s five to one.”

“Yeah,” I said, unable to say anything else right then because I was sure if I did, it would just come out sounding like I’d been kicked in the stomach by Nash.

He was thanking her for the car ride home.

They’d had a driver, and the backseat of his fancy Escalade was probably pretty big…

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