Page 61 of The Ruse

I picked up my burrito and dipped it in my salsa. Maybe getting some food in my system would help my brain function a little better.

We ate in silence for a little while. Him sitting on the stool. Me standing at the end of the counter. Usually, long silences made me feel uncomfortable, making me feel like I needed to think of something to say. But with Asher, it was fine. Nice, even. We could talk. We could be quiet. There was no pressure to reallydoanything with Asher.

Which was different from how things were with Nash. We got along well enough, but I was never this relaxed with him…

“Do you want something to drink?” Asher asked. He stood and started walking toward the cupboard where the plastic cups had been stored.

I swallowed the bite I’d just taken. “Sure.” I cleared my throat. “I could use some water.”

He filled two red cups with water from the fridge and set one in front of me before taking his seat again. As he started on his second burrito, I realized that I still didn’t really know a whole lot about him.

“So, you said you grew up down the street from the Hastings?” I asked.

“Yeah.” He grabbed a red napkin from a stack nearby and wiped his mouth.

“But since you board at the school, I’m guessing your mom moved away?”

“Um, kind of…”

“Kind of?” What did that mean?

“It’s just, well…” An uncomfortable look crossed his face, like he didn’t really want to talk about it. Then meeting my eyes, he said, “My family doesn’t exactly have the kind of story that you can brag about.”

“Yeah?” I asked, having no idea what he meant.

I’d already told him about the skeletons in my family’s closet. I knew everyone had a few.

“We’re not like the Hastings, or the Aardens.” He shrugged and looked down at his plate. Then he rubbed his neck and said, “There’s a reason why I had to go live with my aunt and uncle instead of living with my mom.”

“There is?” I held my breath as I waited for him to continue.

“Yeah.” He crumpled his napkin in his hand, taking his time, as if trying to decide if he was going to continue. He released a heavy sigh. “Did you know that my brother Owen actually has custody over me?”

“I had heard that…” Cambrielle had said something about his dad passing away and that something happened with his mom.

“Yeah. He, uh—” He tossed the napkin back on the counter. “—he got custody over me my freshman year after some stuff went down with my mom.”

“Yeah?” I asked, not sure what else I should say.

“Yeah, so my dad and—”

My phone started ringing upstairs.

“Is that your phone?” Asher asked, looking somewhat relieved he’d been interrupted as his gaze went to the loft above us.

“It sounds like it,” I said. “I left it up there to charge. It might be my mom calling from London.”

It wasn’t her specific ringtone—just the general one I had for my regular contacts and unfamiliar numbers—but she could have called me from the hotel phone.

“You should probably get it then.” He gestured for me to go.

“You think so?” I asked, not really wanting to leave.

“Of course. I’m sure she’s worried about you.”

“Yeah, probably…” Though I really wanted to hear what he’d been about to tell me about his family, I hurried up the stairs to answer the call.

But when I picked up my phone, it was Nash’s face on the screen. He’d probably heard from Ava that I was stuck at the cabin.

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