Page 170 of River of Deceit

Sure! Where are you?

Cry Me A

Gym. Asch and Blaze are here too

We’re having late dinner

I’d heard the entire fraternity got moved to the gym after the house fire. It’s a shame the entire house is unusable right now.

There might have been a miscalculation on the amount of fuel and accelerant used. In my defense, Ares had been unclear in his instructions.

Or maybe extremely clear, and I’d gone for the biggest fire anyway.

My plan worked though, because River is texting me again! I knew he’d appreciate the flashy show.

There’s no problem a bit of blood—or fire—won’tsolve.

I hope Tate understands that this is his fault. If he hadn’t hurt River’s friend, River wouldn’t have gotten mad at me.

I spot River waiting for me by the entrance to the gym. Blaze’s fancy convertible is parked nearby, as are some other nice cars. If one of those belongs to Tate, I should slash the tires, too.

Nobody else is out here though. I guess it makes sense, since it’s almost 11 p.m. and the gym is usually closed by now.

“Hey,” I say, going up to River. “You feeling better?”

River smiles, but there’s something off about it. “Yeah. I figured we could talk about it. Come on.” He turns, leading me into the gym.

“Sorry I missed your call earlier, by the way.” I knock my shoulder against his arm. “I was in the middle of something.”

In the middle of disposing of evidence. I’m all for flashy shows, but there’s no sense in making it easy for the “proper authorities” to trace everything back to me.

“I was worried,” he says, though he doesn’t look at me when he speaks. “Blaze said you were in his room, and no one knew where you were.”

That lights a small fire in the void inside my chest.

“Oh. I didn’t mean to worry him,” I say earnestly. “Blaze looked so cute, all fucked out like that. I didn’t have the heart to wake him.”

I wasn’t worried that he’d get injured in the fire. Blaze’s bedroom was on the opposite end of the house as Tate’s, and he’s resourceful. I’d even locked the door so he would try the window first—and so nobody else would open it and let smoke into his room.

“I wish you had woken him,” River says, leading me into the gym. “He and Asch both inhaled a lot of smoke.” He turns and looks at me. “But you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

I want to tell him. I want to confess right here, and have him thank me, and we’ll kiss and fuck against the gym walls.

But I havejustenough sense to know that I shouldn’t openly confess to a crime, not in public. The other frat members are inside, too.

“I heard about the fire,” Isay. “It’s just… awful.”

“Yes,” River says, and he reaches out to grab my wrist. He tugs me in the direction of the gym. “Blaze and Asch are waiting.”

I follow along, imagining the three of them fucking me in the bleachers or the gym floor.

The doors open to more darkness. I squint, trying to see beyond the large structures of the bleachers.

“River?” I ask. “Are we playing a game? Because you know I’m always down for some fun. Just tell me what you want.”

“What I want,” River repeats. “I don’t know, Pandora. I’m not sure you know how to do what someone else wants. I think you only know how to do whatyouwant, everyone else be damned.”

There’s a long shadow in the middle of the shiny gym floorboards, one that’s reaching for me. It looks like a hand, except it doesn’t have enough fingers.