Page 115 of The Ruse

“Anyway,” Ava said when Asher started putting his shoes back on his feet. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere. You weren’t answering my phone calls. Brendon and Mack will be here in a little while to take the first batch of boxes to their house.”

“Oh, sorry, I completely forgot about that,” I said.

“Yeah.” Ava glanced at Asher again briefly, and then said, “Anyway, I guess I’ll see you back up in our room?”

“Yes,” I said quickly. “I’ll grab my stuff and see you back there.”

And see if I could figure out what’s going on with Asher and me.

Ava left us, and Asher went to pick up his jacket that he’d thrown on the floor near my backpack. I put my shoes on and tried to figure out what to say.

But my mind was such a jumbled mess that I had no idea what I was supposed to say right now.

I obviously had strong feelings for Asher—probably way stronger than I’d realized before.

And he’d said before the kiss that he was going to show me how he felt about me. Which, from the explosiveness of that kiss, I was guessing—hoping—was pretty strongly.

Did that mean he wanted me then?

That he didn’t want to just be “best buddies” like he’d labeled us before?

That he wanted to be something more serious than that?

Did I want that?

I was starting to think that I did.

But how could I do that when I was supposed to go to the debutante ball with Nash?

Part of me still liked Nash, right?

I tried to sift through my feelings to see where they stood. To see which guy was winning the game of tug of war they’d had on my heart.

A week ago, I probably would have said that it was Nash. He liked me. He’d been doing things all along that made me sure that he did and that he would be a great boyfriend.

But now that I knew Asher wanted something more with me, too… That it wasn’t just me who had been feeling things the past few weeks…

I watched him as he pulled his jacket over his broad shoulders. Looked at his profile. His high cheekbones. His straight nose. His dark wavy hair that was more tousled than it usually was—thanks to me.

I’d thought the first time I saw him that he was one of the most beautiful humans I’d ever laid eyes on. And the more I got to know him, the more that became even more true because he was beautiful on the inside as well.

He was resilient and smart and funny and witty and made me laugh more than I’d ever laughed in my whole life.

He was a good person who felt things deeply and had become who he was despite having to do a lot of things on his own.

He was probably one of the strongest people I knew. Had been through things I couldn’t even comprehend and managed to come back to the place that had basically ran him out and still was able to smile through it all.

He glanced my way, and when his beautiful eyes met mine, my heart swelled so big in my chest, because I knew that if I was forced to choose right here and now, I would choose him.

Asher was the guy I couldn’t let go of.

Which meant, I needed to tell someone else that while he was amazing and had all the qualities I thought I wanted, I couldn’t be his leading lady.

Asher finished buttoning his jacket and picked up his backpack that was stowed on the chair beside him. He slung it over his shoulder, and when I stood, he walked over to me.

After searching my gaze quietly for a moment, like he was trying to figure out where my feelings had landed after everything, he bent close and pressed a gentle kiss to my cheek. “I hope this helped clear up where I stand.” He pulled back, and when our eyes locked, it felt like my heart might burst. “I guess I’m not ready to tap out quite yet.”

Then before I could say anything, he left.

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