Page 124 of River of Deceit

I won’t leave myself open to being embarrassed like this again.

I’ll get through dinner and remind myself that whatever is going on between Blaze and Pandora, I’m not really part of it.

24

PANDORA

I feel languid after the good meal and the good wine. I was worried that a fancy restaurant dinner could get boring, but I’d had a good time tasting all the foods and teasing Blaze and Asch both.

The wind runs through my hair as we drive back. I have my phone out, but I scowl when I see River hasn’t responded to the pictures of dinner I’d sent him.

If he was going to be pissy about being left out, he should have come along.

“Are you tired, Pandora?” Blaze asks.

I put my phone away and smile at him. “Nope. I could go all night.” I twist in my seat to look at Asch. “So could you, right?”

Asch has been acting standoffish, too. As much as I try to include him in my flirtations, he hasn’t been very responsive. He looks up at me from his phone, and I realize he’s been scrolling it instead of paying attention to Blaze and me.

“What?” he asks.

“Blaze asked if he should drop me off at home,” I say.

Blaze scoffs. “I did not. I asked ifyou were tired.”

Because he’s not driving us back to campus. I noticed he missed the turn a few blocks ago.

That’s so presumptuous of him, to take me somewhere else. Or maybe I’m supposed to be worried about what he plans on doing with me now, but I have a good idea.

I don’t have to spell it out, do I?

…It’s sex. Blaze wants us to fuck.

“Where would we go if I’d said yes?” I ask him. “What if Asch is the tired one?”

“Asch is not going to say he has a headache,” Blaze responds immediately.

“Maybe Asch does have a headache,” Asch retorts.

Blaze’s hands tighten on the steering wheel.

Oh dear. Trouble in paradise? All because of me?

That shouldn’t amuse me as much as it does, but I guess I do enjoy knowing that I’m important enough to cause trouble for them.

“If Asch isn’t feeling well, we should find a place for him to lie down,” I suggest. “Is there a hotel nearby?”

“You can drop me back at the frat house,” Asch says. He seems about to add something else, but he closes his mouth instead and drops his attention back to his phone.

“No, that’s way too far away,” Blaze says, like campus isn’t just a ten-minute drive even with the small detour he’s taken. “Look, there’s a hotel right here!” He pulls into the small entryway of a nearby hotel and stops the car.

We both turn around to look at Asch.

“It looks serious,” I say to Blaze. “If we don’t hurry, Asch’s face might be stuck like that.”

Blaze nods. “Yeah. He needs a good dose of something to help him loosen up.”

Asch makes an irritated sound. “Anyone who told you that you’re funny lied to you, Pandora,” he retorts. “And you’re not helping, Blaze.”