Page 12 of River of Deceit

Pandora giggles and pops a few edamame beans into her mouth. “You’d have better luck if you’d actually dressed it. Need me to bandage your boo-boo and kiss it better?”

It’s all I can do not to glare at her. Instead, I laugh, for all that it’s forced. “There’s a first aid kit at the frat house,” I tell her. My room isn’t in any shape to invite anyone into. It’s not as bad as my mom’s entire house, but it’s embarrassing enough to where I don’t allow anyone but Blaze inside. I’m reluctant enough to let him inside, but he insists it’s fine.

It’s not.

He spends the time trying to motivate me into cleaning it, to varying degrees of success depending on my levels of self-loathing on that particular day.

“You’re welcome to patch me up there,” I add.

There’s a slight change in her expression, a brief narrowing of her eyes, before Pandora nods. “Sure. If you’ll have me. But there’d better not be any more naked girls.”

Blaze gives Pandora his most charming smile, the one that never fails to make my own chest feel strange. “Oh, don’t worry. You’ll bethe sole focus of our attention tonight. The only naked people will be us.”

Pandora’s grin widens. “Getting ahead of yourself, aren’t you? How about we start slow? I’m thinking of reforming my slutty ways, maybe doing a bit of vetting first. Gotta make sure the cock I jump onto doesn’t belong to some kind of dick.”

I’m shocked when Blaze starts laughing. The comment wasn’tthatfunny.

Maybe he’s playing it up for her.

That has to be it. He’s lulling her into a false sense of security.

I finish eating, then stack all the trash on one of the trays so I can take them over to the trash can. I set the trays on top of it, before returning to Pandora and Blaze.

Blaze brushes some of Pandora’s loose strands behind her ear, and she smiles as he does.

“I really am sorry about last night,” Blaze says. “First party of the semester, I’d already had a few drinks… You didn’t see me at my best.”

“You haven’t seen me at my best either,” Pandora answers, equally as flirty. Her eyes flick over to me. “But Asch might have gotten a glimpse.”

Yeah. A glimpse of how psychotic she is. “Is that so?” I ask, starting to walk toward the door. “Always rescuing damsels in distress?” I have a feeling that’s not what she’s talking about, though.

No, I’m pretty sure she means the cut on my arm.

She’s playing, just as much as Blaze is.

“Or something.” Pandora hooks her arm around Blaze’s. “Let’s see this first aid kit. I’m sure it’s…” She trails off, frowning lightly, and looks around.

I glance around the restaurant too, but I don’t spot anything out of the ordinary. There’s some guy in the back corner who looks away when our eyes meet, but that’s it.

“Pandora?” Blaze prompts.

She shakes her head. “No, never mind. Let’s go.”

I lead them outside, but the idea of taking her back to the frat house rankles even more. I glance at Blaze, catching his gaze with my own.

“Do you know all the shortcuts yet?” Blaze asks Pandora. “There are tunnels that connect some of the buildings.”

“Oh, I heard about those! For when it snows in winter, right?” Pandora says.

Blaze directs us toward the nearby student hall. “Exactly. Why trudge through several feet of snow when you can be warm and dry in the tunnels?”

The tunnels are used a lot in the winter, but right now, in late summer? Nobody bothers. They aren’t always the shortest distance either, but Pandora doesn’t have to know that.

I’ll have to make sure she doesn’t have a chance to pull that knife on me or Blaze again. I don’t make the same mistakes twice.

The two of them chat, and I occasionally chime in with a response. We arrive at the entrance to the tunnels, and between the late hour and the time of year, no one else is around. I open the door, gesturing for the two of them to go in first.

This is the perfect place to teach her a lesson