Page 32 of One Twisted Lie

“I’m picking a side. I pick Daniel,” I say stubbornly. “Don’t lie and say you don’t pick him too.”

He shakes his head to avoid stating that, yes, he does in fact pick Daniel. Anybody would pick Daniel. He’s the poster boy of perfection wrapped up in a weird green headband.

“I’m working on something,” he says instead, with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

If this had been before…us, I would have assumed that this was just his annoyance showing, but I know Carter better now. I know that when his jaw twitches like it is right now that he’s frustrated and stressed. I know that when he keeps pushing his glasses up his nose, it’s out of desperation to get control over something.

I frown as I slink down on the floor beside him, resting my head on his shoulder as I try to make heads or tails about what’s on his screen. “Is this what you’re working on for your parents?”

“Yup,” he says curtly, momentarily adjusting himself so his leg presses against mine in a casual sort of intimacy I don’t think he intended. “I think it would bore you.”

I scrunch my nose at the challenge. “Try me.”

With a sigh, he finally lifts his head. He sets his computer beside him and faces me, an arrogant fucking smirk on his face I could kiss off. “I’m currently working on a platform for security corporations for the universal encryption and storage of sensitive user data.”

He’s…what?

“Exactly,” he says with a snort, sensing my confusion without me having to say anything. He kisses the tip of my nose with a cheeky smile. “You know, you’re cute when you’re dumb.”

“Oh, fuck you,” I say, giving him a hard shove. “You can’t figure it out either, jackass.”

“I’m closer to it than you’ll ever be. It’s just complicated. I can’t seem to get it right,” he says, ruffling my hair like I’m some sort of puppy. After a moment, his face drops and the stress in his eyes shines through the dimness of my room. “I’m…this is the first time I’m starting to think I’m not capable of doing something.”

That’s a big thing for Carter to admit. Carter Everett is definitely not the king of kings, but he’s undeniably the smartest student at our school which, by default, makes him the smartest person in the world.

Okay, that’s a gross exaggeration, and I know it, but Carter is like crazy uber-smart. For him to feel this kind of frustration, it must be killing him to think there’s something he can’t do.

“You just need a break,” I say, trying to ease the tension as I dance my fingers up his thigh. “Want to fuck?”

He snickers as he traps my hand in his, lifting it up to press a kiss to my fingers. “Your hole needs a break, princess. I wrecked it pretty hard earlier.”

My face burns as my ass clenches because, yeah, he’s right. He fucking pounded me until I couldn’t breathe and taunted me as he watched his cum drip out of me. It was intense. “Ugh, you’re no fun.” I try to think of something else, anything else that’ll get his mind out of this bubble of self-loathing. “Swim?”

He cocks his head to the side and looks at the clock on my nightstand. “It’s midnight. The door to the pool has to be locked.”

“What a plebeian problem,” I tease, reaching over him into my nightstand to show him my key ring. “What must it feel like to be a mere peasant?”

“Don’t be an ass,” he laughs, nudging my stomach with his elbow as he snatches my keys. “I forgot your daddy bought you access to every room in this place.”

I shrug. “A benefit of being the king of kings.”

“You know you’re ridiculous when you call yourself that,” he says, pushing my face away from his.

“Don’t be mean,” I say, pecking his scowl. “Let’s go.”

Carter doesn’t argue with me as I drag him up and out of my dorm. We walk through the halls in silence, winding down the grand staircase, making our way past the courtyard, and walking until we reach the pool house. Neither of us is worried about getting caught, so I take my time looking through my keys until I find the one that opens this particular building.

When we step inside, it’s pitch black. I flip the switch that illuminates just the lights in the pool, and it casts a sort of blueish haze in the darkness. Our pool is nice—long and deep—in the center of the building with glass walls surrounding it. There are chairs to lounge on around the edge of the pool, and a hot tub at the far end.

“Skinny dip?” I turn to Carter, raising my eyebrows suggestively, already knowing there aren’t any cameras in here.

He gives me a heated smirk as he fists the back of his shirt and tugs it off in a move that’s all too hot. “You’re on.”

We strip out of our clothes quickly, and I’m the first one in the water. It’s a nice temperature, almost lukewarm, and I thank our school’s extraordinarily large budget for always keeping it heated. He joins me after a moment, easing in slowly until everything up to his neck is submerged.

“This wasn’t the worst idea,” he says after a moment, rolling over so he’s floating on his back, eyes closed in relaxation.

I snort. “All my ideas are the best.”

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