Page 38 of A Lesson in Deceit
“Hence why he and Mateo get along so well. Well, he tolerates them. My dad isn’t thrilled they work in a bar.” Corrin placed Jax down, rubbing her hands together as cat fur floated off them. “Mom’s witch bloodline is super strong, so it pushed Dad’s shifter lineage right out the way.”
Ike let me go ahead of him so we could wash our hands and head into the dining room. “What kind of witch is your mom?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Corrin laughed, waving her hand around the room. “She’s a crystal witch.”
19
Grayson
Iunlocked the front door with the spare key River had given me and headed straight for the living room. I dropped my bag on the ground, hearing a noise and turning around. Footsteps sounded upstairs followed by a door closing.
“River, that you?” Asher asked from the top of the stairs.
“Nope, just me.”
I heard him sigh, descending the stairs. He had a simple t-shirt on and a pair of dark straight legged jeans. I took a step back, creating an L with both my hands, turning one of them sideways so each point could touch and I was looking through my makeshift square. “Damn, don’t you clean up nice, professor.”
He grabbed his keys from the entryway table. “You never get less annoying, do you?”
I shrugged. “All part of my charm.”
“Charm is not the word I’d use.” He waved his hand at me. “What are you doing here?’
“I’m waiting on River to get here.”
“Just River?” He lifted an eyebrow at me.
“Riley is coming too, if you must know.” I was hoping she’d be coming in more ways than one if tonight went well.
He clucked his tongue, preparing to head out the door.
“You know, you didn’t like me at first and then well, you learned to tolerate me. Maybe you’ll eventually do the same with her,” I offered, falling back onto the couch and placing my hands behind my head.
He ran a hand through his hair, the overhead light reflecting off his glasses. “I don’t dislike you, Grayson. I never have. Just because you are annoying doesn’t mean you aren’t a good ally to my brother. Did I think you two would start fucking? Of course not, but I can’t stop my brother from being who he is and liking who he likes. It’s not my place to label the little asshole something that he’s not.”
A laugh bubbled out of my throat. “You knew we were fucking?”
He let out a heavy sigh and narrowed his eyes at me. “How many times do I have to keep telling you guys, my brother never learns to close a fucking door. Also, you make noises just the same as she does, so at least River seems to know what he’s doing.”
He closed the door behind him and all I could do was laugh. He wasn’t wrong. River did know what he was doing, but so did I. My best friend wasn’t selfish when it came to letting others take the lead, at least when it came to me. I opened my bag and double checked that I had stuff for my weekend with my parents. They had gotten the email about my scholarship as well and that was the longest conversation of my life. It was all settled now and I was back on track. My parents didn’t need to worry about me.
20
Riley
The air was nice and warm this time of night, although the wind whipped a little too much for my liking on the back of River’s bike. I placed everything I needed in a backpack instead of my normal bag to make the ride easier, but no matter how many times I rode on the back of his motorcycle, it never became a natural sensation.
He parked as close to Grayson’s car as possible, needing to keep Asher’s space empty. I hoped off, steadying myself now that I was back on the ground. I unclasped my helmet, holding it against me. River flipped up the visor of his own helmet, giving me a look that saidare you okay?I gave him a thumbs up and he proceeded to take off his helmet, grabbing mine as well.
The ride over here numbed my thoughts, which I was grateful for. Neither River nor Grayson would let tonight, or any night, turn out badly, but this was territory I didn’t think I’d ever be in. I took a deep breath and grabbed River’s hand when he offered it.
Grayson was already waiting inside when we entered, giving us a big smile.
“Finally. What took you so long?”
River tossed his keys on the entryway table. “I still abide by the speed limits.” Grayson raised one of his eyebrows causing River to give him a middle finger. “I abide by the speed limits sometimes, is that better? They are suggestions at minimum.”
I jumped onto the couch, throwing my backpack next to Grayson’s duffle. “Did you miss us or something?”
