Page 31 of The Ruse

“I would probably have a panic attack if I got an A minus, too,” I admitted.

“I knew it.” A half-smile lifted his lips, and it was good to see it after noticing how lonely he’d looked during dinner and hearing how heartbroken he was after losing his girlfriend.

“Just don’t tell Scarlett, okay?” I said, walking with him as he started carrying his tray to the back of the room. “As far as she knows, Carter is her only real competition for valedictorian. I don’t want her to know that I’m going for it, too.”

“She’d probably ban you from her study sessions if she knew.” Asher chuckled, and it was such a nice sound that I couldn’t keep a smile from my lips.

“That’s why it’s a secret,” I said, liking the lighthearted conversation way more than the awkward ones we’d had earlier today.

“Well, if there’s anything I’m good at, it’s keeping secrets. So your secret is safe with me.” He made a show of pulling an imaginary zipper across his lips, drawing my attention to them. And I couldn’t help but think that he had nice lips.

With lips like those, he was probably a good kisser.

I stumbled when I realized what had just passed through my mind.

Why in the world was I thinking about how good of a kisser Asher might be?

Weird.

I recovered my step, hoping he hadn’t noticed any awkward vibes coming from me. After he’d left his tray stacked with the others, I said, “Anyway, I just have to grab my books from my room, so you can either just head to the library now or we can go together.”

“I left my backpack in my room, too. I’ll just walk there with you, if you don’t mind,” he said.

“So,where did you move from, anyway?” Asher asked me as we headed down the main hall that led to the dorms.

“I’m from a small town in central New York called Ridgewater,” I said, glancing up at him.

“Wait…” He stopped walking for a second, surprise in his tone. “You’re from Ridgewater?” he asked, like he actually recognized the name. “You’re actually from Ridgewater?”

“You’ve heard of it?” I asked. I was surprised, too, since no one else at our school had ever heard of it before we came here.

“Heard of it?” he asked, like it was the most recognizable town in the entire world. “I just came from there.”

“What?”

He nodded. “That’s where my aunt and uncle live.”

“Really?” I stopped for a second. “You’re not just saying that?”

“I’m being serious,” he said. “In fact, they have twin boys our age. Maybe you know them.”

No.

This was too much of a coincidence.

He couldn’t be the Carmichael twins’ cousin, could he?

I was just about to ask him what his cousins’ names were when he said, “Jace and Logan Carmichael are my cousins.”

“Seriously?” My jaw dropped open. “You’re their cousin?”

“Yeah.” He started walking again so I hurried to catch up. “I know I’ve got the whole half-Korean look going for me, so you probably wouldn’t catch the family resemblance. But our moms are sisters. I moved in with them last June.”

“We were in the same town over the summer?”

Had we run into each other before? I would have remembered him, wouldn’t I?

“I guess?” he said. “I mean, we went to the Hamptons for a couple of weeks, but yeah, I was in Ridgewater for most of the summer.”

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