Page 27 of His Temptation

“Cason?” a girl said from behind me.

Turning, I instantly recognized her. Strawberry blond hair and glasses with jewels in the frames. And those same paint-splotched Converse.

“Hey, Faith.”

Her brows shot up, as if surprised I’d remembered her name. It said a lot about her self-esteem. “How are you?”

“Good. You?”

“Doing okay.” She smiled and adjusted her glasses. “You here for the Memorial Day weekend deals?”

“Nah,” I responded. However, thatdidexplain why the mall was even more crowded than I remembered. “Are you?”

“Kind of. My mom brought me for a girls’ shopping day.” Faith checked her phone. “I lost her in Bath & Body Works.”

“The lotion place?”

“Lotion, candles, all of it,” she said, shaking her head. Her phone started ringing. “It’s my mom. It was nice seeing you again, Cason!” She answered it and walked in the other direction. “I’m on my way. How much did you buy? Oh my lordy. We’ll be set for life on candles.”

A nudge to my arm got my attention, and I looked to see Ryan smirking. “Who was the cutie with glasses?”

“Her name’s Faith. I met her at Trev’s party graduation night.”

“Didn’t know you went for the quirky type,” he said, draping an arm around Lexi’s shoulders. “Guess that explains why you’re always turning down Lindsey.”

Ishouldhave corrected him then and said neither of them were my type. But it was an easy out. A good cover for the real truth. So, I played along, like a damn actor on a stage.

“You should ask her out sometime,” Ryan said, as we left the food court with Lexi.

“Oh, it could be a double date,” Lexi added, her hand finding Ryan’s.

“Maybe.”

The weight from the lies would only get heavier, yet I did nothing to stop them. I didn’t know how. Because with that first lie, I’d caused a chain reaction of other lies to follow.

If I wasn’t careful, they’d keep building on top of each other until I was buried beneath them.

We hung out at the mall for a little over an hour before Lexi’s mom called and told her to come home because some out-of-state relative of hers had come to visit. We walked her down to the parking garage, and Ryan pushed her against her car and they made out for a while. When they finally pulled apart, Lexi dove back in for one last kiss and then got into her car.

“What do you think of her?” Ryan asked, smiling as he watched her drive away. “Hot, right?”

Her degree of “hotness” seemed to be the most important thing to Ryan.

“Yep,” I said. “Definitely cute.”

“Not sure where things are goin’ with her, but she’s a good way to enjoy the summer at least.”

“Is she going to college?” I asked as we walked to Ryan’s car.

“She’s going to beauty school or something like that,” he answered, shrugging, as if he couldn’t care less. He unlocked the car and we got in. “I don’t plan on tying myself down for long. College is the time to really let loose, ya know? All the hot chicks and parties.”

“Sure, but you need to actually do the work too,” I pointed out, having to bring him back down from the clouds. “Otherwise you’ll lose your baseball scholarship.”

“You sound like my dad,” Ryan groaned, pulling out of the garage. “Speaking of which, is it cool if we stop by his house real quick? Can’t find my cleats, and I think I left them over there.”

His dad.My stomach fluttered.

“Yeah, that’s cool.” I hoped my voice didn’t give way to my nerves. It would be the first time I saw Emery since the almost-hookup a few days ago.