Page 116 of River of Deceit

I frown when I remember River. I pull up my private texts with Cry Me A.

Pandora

I’ll take you on a date too. Find a club or something for us to go to.

Cry Me A

I’m busy that night

Pandora

I didn’t tell you when

Cry Me A

I know

I scowl at the text, but now it’s getting late enough that I really do have class. I’m flippant about shit, but I need to keep my grades up so I can get into the medical program.

I grab my backpack, stuff my phone into my shorts pocket, then head out of the room.

I stop short when I see Sam sitting at the kitchen table, smiling at something on her phone.

I think this is the first time I’ve seen her smile, ever. Curiosity gets the better of me, and I lean in to try to see what’s on her screen. If I catch the right angle, I’ll be able to snoop despite the privacy screen.

She instantly pulls her phone away from me, her smile turning into a scowl. “Don’t you know it’s rude to try to look at someone’s private messages?”

“Yes,” I say glibly. “But considering you’re always in a bad mood, I have to know the secret to getting you to lighten up a smidge.”

“I’m always in a good mood when you’re not around,” she replies, her voice snide.

“In a good enough mood tosmile?” I say doubtfully. “Like, in a better mood, sure. But your default state seems to be sour. What’s got you actually enjoying life? Good grades? Family coming to visit?”

“None of your business, Pandora,” she replies, turning her phone over on the table. “Don’t you have someone else to torment? I heard you put some guy in the hospital.”

That gives me pause. I don’t care if she knows, but that means somebody from Kappa Ass Omega was gossiping with her.

Not Blaze, Asch, or River, of course.

I give her a sly grin. “Ooh. Do you have a date? A new boyfriend? A cute frat guy who knows how to go slow?”

I don’t really think any of the frat guys are willing to go slow, but for all I know, there are a few decent outliers among them. River had mentioned there’s almost seventy guys in the frat currently enrolled at Dyschord. Surely one of them has to be a gentleman.

Her cheeks flush red, and she snatches up her phone. “I have class,” she huffs, grabbing her bag. “You should go, too, unless you’re going to sleep your way to good grades.”

I follow her out the door, much to her very obvious dismay.

“Do you think I could?” I say with fake excitement. “Sleep my way to good grades, I mean? Professor Richter is the strictest, but I bet she’d go easier after I eat her out, right?”

Sam’s expression turns sour. “You’re disgusting, you know that?”

She doesn’t know the half of it. I’m going so easy on her.

“What’s wrong with a bit of cunnilingus?” I say in between giggles. “Tell your new guy he has to go down on you, okay? Don’t settle for mediocre sex. You’re worth more than that.”

She shoves her way past me, marching down the hall without another word to me.

“If he doesn’t eat pussy, he’s not a decent guy!” I shout after her, and I burst into laughter when she flips me off before rounding the corner.