Page 49 of The Ruse

Well, aside from that kiss last night, I guess. I had certainly enjoyed that for the few moments that I’d thought it had been meant for me.

“So the guys who made it to boyfriend status, what were they like?” I asked, curious about what she’d been into before she’d moved here and met Nash.

Ava had said that I was Elyse’s type—that she was into “bad boys.” But I wasn’t quite sure what she’d meant by that since I’d never seen myself asbad. Just morally grey sometimes.

The only thing that I could think of that would make me bad was if I had actually done something to Bailee to make her disappear.

Had all of Elyse’s previous boyfriends been suspected of murdering their girlfriends?

Because that was a pretty specific trait to be attracted to.

“You want me to talk about my exes?” she asked, a skeptical look on her face.

“Sure.” I shrugged. “This isn’t a first date, so it’s okay to talk about previous relationships.”

“I know it’s not a date,” she said quickly.

“So what’s the low-down on your exes?” I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms, ready for a long explanation.

She studied me for a moment, her brown eyes seeming to weigh whether she wanted to tell me or not. Then with a shrug, she said, “You actually already know one of them.”

“I do?” I frowned.

She nodded. “My first boyfriend was your cousin Logan.”

“Seriously?” I sat up straight. “When?” Because his family had moved away from Ridgewater for a couple of years, and I was pretty sure Logan started dating his current girlfriend, Raven, almost immediately after moving back.

“It was only for a few weeks during freshman year.” She waved her hand like it had been nothing. “I was really into his bad-boy vibe and messy hair at the time.”

There was that “bad boy” phrase again.

“What do you mean bybad boyvibe?” I asked, putting the phrase in air quotes. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that term until Ava mentioned it on Monday.”

“Oh, it’s something I’ve read in books. Romance novels mostly,” she said, her cheeks turning rosy pink. “I guess it’s weird that I assumed it was a universal phrase.”

“Maybe it is.” I held up my hands. “Shame on me for not reading romance novels, I guess.”

“They’re definitely not for everyone.” She shrugged. “Though, I have heard that they’re great research material for guys since they really demonstrate what girls want.”

“I’m sure they are,” I said, filing that little tip into my memory for if I ever got to the point where I wanted to get serious about dating again. “So, what made my cousin a bad boy?”

“Well, you know, he was kind of broody and troubled at the time.” She looked at me. “Always doing reckless things and not seeming to care about what anyone thought.”

“And you were attracted to that?” I raised my eyebrows, surprised that this sweet girl next to me was interested in the qualities that my cousin had worked hard to change about himself over the past three years.

“I don’t know. I guess I thought I could help him. Plus, he was, well—” She bit her lip as if uncertain whether to say the next part.

“He was what?” I prodded, super curious now.

“Um, never mind.” She picked up her fork like she was suddenly hungry again. “I, uh, I didn’t have anything else to add.”

“Yes, you did,” I said. “It’s okay if you liked him because he’s hot. I mean, we’re cousins, so it makes sense that you’d think he was at least half as hot as you think I am.”

“That’s not it.” She rolled her eyes. “Though, yes, Logan and Jace are very good-looking, and Ava and I did joke about how it would be fun to each marry one of the twins one day and have beautiful children that looked the same.”

“Too bad they’re both taken,” I said.

“And Ava has Carter, of course.”

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