Page 17 of The Ruse

He studied the drawer for another few seconds before turning to look at me and asking, “Do you know much about tea?”

“What?” I perked up, hoping he hadn’t noticed that I’d been watching him.

He stood a little straighter and put his hands on his hips as he looked over at me. “My aunt was big into drinking tea when she had a sore throat. I think I might be coming down with something and want to see if I can stop it before it gets bad.”

And he thought I would know how to help with that?

I frowned. I was super comfy on the couch and didn’t want to leave my spot, but I figured that he would leave me to watch my show sooner if I helped him. So I stood and walked over to see what he was looking at.

“Cambrielle knows a lot more about tea than I do,” I said when I reached him. “The only thing I really know about tea is that herbal tea doesn’t have caffeine.”

“Well, that’s a good thing to know if I want to get some sleep tonight, huh?” His lip quirked up at the corner, and when our gazes locked, my heart flipped.

Which was stupid because since when did my heart flip over a random guy’s half-smile?

It was probably because I’d been watching my new celebrity crush on my iPad a minute ago and Asher had dark, curly hair like Penn.

“So I know it’s probably bad to have to ask this, after knowing who you are for all of a day,” Asher said as he leafed through the various packets of tea. “But which Cohen twin are you?”

“What?” I asked, feigning offense. “You haven’t figured out how to tell us apart after one day?”

“Not quite.” He scrunched up his nose. “I’m basically the worst, aren’t I?”

“Basically,” I said. But then again, most of the people at our school still couldn’t tell Ava and me apart after a few months. “I’m Elyse.”

“Cool, I kind of thought so,” he said. “But I didn’t see any jewelry with the letter E on it, so I wasn’t sure.”

He’d noticed my necklace at the restaurant earlier?

I’d barely been able to make eye contact with him while he was serving us because I felt stupid for asking him just the day before if he had killed his girlfriend.

Like, of course he hadn’t done it. Just because I’d watched a few too many episodes ofYouright before meeting a guy who had been a suspect in his girlfriend’s disappearance, didn’t mean I’d suddenly entered the fictional world I’d been immersing myself in.

“I don’t usually wear my necklace to bed,” I said. “But yeah, Ava and I try to make things easier on our friends and family by using jewelry or other monogrammed things.”

“I bet they appreciate it,” he said.

“We think so.”

At least it helps ward off my insecurity of not being seen for who I was apart from Ava.

I looked at the tea drawer, noticing that he still seemed to be having a difficult time deciding what to choose. My eyes caught on a packet of a fizzy vitamin C drink powder. “This would probably be good for heading off a cold or sore throat.” I lifted it from the drawer and offered it to him.

“Oh, yeah, of course.” He took the packet of raspberry-flavored powder from my hand. “Thanks.”

While he was grabbing a cup from the cupboard to make his drink, I decided I wasn’t needed anymore and I went back to the couch. Hopefully, Asher would head upstairs again so I could get back to finishing my episode. It was a pretty intense part, and I wanted to know how Joe would get out of his latest pickle.

I got myself all cozy under my blanket again and was just reaching for my tablet when Asher took a seat on the chair a few feet away in front of the fire.

Was he planning to sit there for a while? Because this might get a little awkward.

Maybe I should just head to my room so I could finish my show. But then, that would probably make it look like I was trying to avoid him.

I checked the grandfather clock again. It was eleven thirty-five. Only twenty-five minutes until we had to be in our rooms. Which meant, there were like twenty-four minutes before Ava snuck through the door to beat curfew by the skin of her nose.

Should I pretend to be watching TikTok videos before sneaking away? I didn’t bring my AirPods down andYouwasn’t exactly a show I wanted to watch with someone I didn’t know very well.

Asher took a sip of his drink as he watched the flames from the fire, and I couldn’t help but wonder how he felt about being back in Eden Falls again.

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