Tryst Six Venom by Penelope Douglas

“I need advice.”
I smile to myself, but I keep Clay quiet. She’s what changed. I’m not
bored, that’s for sure. I wish I could talk about her to someone.
“I’m getting out of here,” I tell her instead. “That’s what changed.”
“Dartmouth.” Chloe feigns a shiver. “It’s going to be cold.”
“Really?” I gasp. “Damn.”
People keep saying that as if I’m unaware I’ll see snow in New
Hampshire.
“If you got into Dartmouth, you can get into Tulane,” Becks points out.
“Come on.”
“Hmm…” I think, weighing the pros and cons in each hand. “Within
driving distance to New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia, or more bugs
the size of my fist and a hundred-degree humidity. Tough decision.”
Becks smiles, continuing to eat her carrot. I can always visit New
Orleans. I’ve made my choice.
“I booked a limo for prom.” Chloe elbows my arm. “My treat.”
I glance at her, remembering. Prom. “Right.” I hesitate, searching for
words. “I mean, in case we don’t have dates?”
In case I’m not going with Clay, and I know I’m not, because Macon is
right, but it would be perfect to go with her. We still have a month. A lot can
happen in a month.
“Absolutely,” she says. “You should wear purple.”
“I don’t…wear purple.”
“Red, then? With your black hair, it would look niiiiiiice.”
“Black,” I state.
But then she eyes me, her pink lips wet from licking the hummus off her
cracker. “With red underneath?”
Her tone is soft and tantalizing, and awareness makes the hair on my arms
rise. She’s flirting.
“Maybe.”
Chloe is pretty and she wouldn’t hide me. She would be easier.
I look over my shoulder, seeing Clay surrounded by her friends at a table,
hovering over an assignment she’s trying to finish before class. Her eyes lift
to mine, as if she already knew exactly where to find me, and all I can see
anymore is her wet and on top of me in the shower. The perfect girl with her
perfect hair, and her little secret.
Chloe would be much easier. But even if I’d met her before I started with