Page 34 of The Charade

"I promise I'll try not to make all of our study sessions so heavy," he said.

"I'm the one who started us off by saying the whole thing about not having a dad," I said with a shrug, hoping to lighten the mood.

"True." Then shooting me a half-smile, he said, "But then I had to one up you with my whole sob story of living in an orphanage, since I'm competitive like that."

"I guess I'll try to be less of an underachiever in the future," I said in a joking tone.

When he smiled at my comment, I was relieved to see that it actually reached his eyes this time.

And it was kind of the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen in the world.

Dang. For all the range of emotions this guy had put me through in the past twenty-four hours, from lust to hate and everything in between, he really was different from anyone I'd ever met before.

And I had the feeling that if I wasn't careful and constantly reminding myself that any flirtations we shared over the next few weeks were purely fake, I might just be in danger of getting the hugest crush on my math tutor.

A crush so big my heart might not survive it.

12

Ava

The restof the school week went by quickly and as the days passed, I felt more and more settled in at my new school.

I hadn't thought that I would likelivingat my school very much, but it was turning out to be pretty fun sharing my mealtimes and daily routines with my new friends and just getting to know everyone better. Elyse and I were getting more and more settled in with Scarlett and the friends she'd introduced us to on that first day.

"How long do you think you and Carter will keep up this fake flirtation thing you have going on?" Elyse asked me Saturday afternoon as we waited in the common room for Nash to come pick us up for their back-to-school barbecue.

We'd invited Scarlett to join us for the pre-party with Nash and Cambrielle, but since she'd been so busy with volleyball throughout the week, she'd chosen to stay behind to catch up on her homework, saying that she'd just hitch a ride later with Hunter.

"I'm not sure how long we'll keep it up." I glanced around to make sure we were still alone in the large common room. "I guess it just depends on however long it takes for either of us to get more interested in actually dating someone else."

Which was still an up-in-the-air thing for me. A few guys had piqued my interest this week. Mack, for one, was probably one of the hottest guys at our school—right alongside Carter—and had been super fun to joke around with. But even though we flirted here and there, I got the vibe that he was more interested in Elyse. It could be because she was more shy and he preferred someone who was a contrast to his vivacious personality. Or it was possible Carter hadn't told his friends that our flirting was purely for show, and so Mack was trying to respect the bro code or something. But either way, he'd focused more of his attention on Elyse the past few days, so I knew better than to try and be anything more than friends.

Nash was also fun to hang out with, and he’d gone out of his way to make sure I was included anytime he and the group had plans to study together or go to one of Scarlett's volleyball games, or something like that. But even though we had a lot of fun together, and he was super cute and sweet, I also saw him as more of a friend.

And then Hunter was just off-limits because he and Scarlett had whatever they had going on. So, until I branched out and tried to get to know other guys outside of my current circle, I was fine keeping up this charade Carter and I had going for the foreseeable future.

Unless he decided to go with one of the offers he had from the throngs of girls who apparently bowed down at his Italian-loafer-wearing feet.

"It’s a pretty clever idea you came up with," Elyse said. "Taking the guy who made you sign a contract about not dating him, and then turning things around on him so that instead of trying to date him you just get to flirt with him instead."

"It’s been fun," I admitted. "I can be as over the top as I want, and he can just throw it all right back because we know there's no chance either of us will get confused by it and try to make something else happen."

"You're basically a genius." Elyse chuckled. "All the perks of having a boyfriend, without any of the responsibility."

"I don't know if I'd say I'm gettingallthe perks." I arched an eyebrow. "I haven't exactly figured out how to convince Carter that we need fake make-out sessions or anything." Though, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I had wondered a time or two what it might be like to kiss my math tutor. He did have those amazing lips.

And the fact that he was gorgeous didn't hurt, either.

"Fake make-out sessions?" Elyse laughed. "Yeah, now if you figure out how to dothat,let me know. I haven't kissed a guy in way too long."

"Same." I sighed. "Maybe we can convince everyone to play Truth or Dare or Spin the Bottle at the party tonight. You can always count on a good make-out session with those kinds of games."

Did kids at private schools play games like that at parties? I mean, those kinds of games provided great entertainment in Ridgewater, but we were about to go to a party at anestate. They probably had much more refined activities, like watching a firework show from a balcony or promenading around their extensive gardens.

Why was I suddenly picturing a regency ball with girls in fancy dresses and guys in suits with elegantly tied cravats?

Oh that’s right, because I've only ever heard of people having estates in my mom's regency-era movies.

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