Pure Sin (Privilege 5)

Ariana swallowed hard. She had forgotten for a moment who she was. Who she needed to be to survive. Who she was now and must always be from now on. A girl who had never even met Reed Brennan—never even heard of her. A girl who had no idea of the destruction Reed Brennan had wrought.

She took a breath and smiled. It was a near miss, but that’s all it had been. A miss. She couldn’t start obsessing about Reed Brennan again. That course of action only ever led to bad things, horrible things. She had to stop this here and now before she completely lost control.

“I’m Briana Leigh Covington,” she said firmly. “Of the Texas Covingtons.”

The girl’s brow knit. “Oh. Okay. Guess not, then.”

As she turned around and headed into the library, Ariana did a 180 and walked back across campus, keeping her head down.

A near miss. That was all it was. But if Reed Brennan had seen her—if she had looked into the face of her enemy—it would all be over. Ariana could not allow herself to go down that path.

She had many, many other things to focus on. More important things, more positive things. Things like her new fortune, her perfect boyfriend, and the rest of her perfectly charmed life.

The following morning dawned as bright and crisp as the day before, and Ariana was feeling much more herself as she walked across campus toward the dining hall. The white spire of the APH chapel seemed to smile down at her approvingly from above, and she realized for the first time how very at home she felt among the red brick buildings, the winding walkways, the stone arches of APH. She was up and out before everyone else on her floor, but that was the way she wanted it today. She wanted some time alone to breathe. Some time to focus on herself. Some time to just be here, to relish how far she’d come.

Some time to repeat to herself over and over again the grand total of what she was now worth, a number so very long she stumbled over it every time she tried to conjure it up. Just thinking of it now, Ariana giggled to herself and shivered inside her wool coat.

“Well, someone’s happy this morning.”

Ariana jumped as Jasper fell into step with her, his breath making a large cloud of steam in the morning air.

“What are you doing up so early?” Ariana asked.

“I’m a morning person,” he said, tilting his head. “Actually, I’ll admit it. I was waiting for you.”

Ariana’s heart skipped a beat. “So you’re stalking me now?” she joked.

“Do you want me to stalk you?” Jasper joked back. But there was something hopeful behind the playful gleam in his eye—which Ariana chose to ignore. “Seriously, though. I just wanted to see how you were doing. About your grandmother.”

Fantastically, thanks, Ariana thought. “I’m okay,” she said in a melancholy tone.

“Well, if you need anything, I’m at your service,” he told her, with a slight bow of his head, his blond bangs falling across one eye. “I know that between Palmer and Lexa you probably have all your bases covered, but the offer stands.”

“Thank you,” Ariana replied, touched.

Arriving at the dining hall, Jasper leaned back against the outer wall and looked up at the sun, letting out a contented sigh. His gold and blue tie was knotted tightly, unlike most of the boys who went for the more casual, open-necked, loosened-knot look.

“Don’t you just wish we could stay out here all day?” he mused.

“On a day like this, yes,” Ariana said with a smile.

Jasper tugged an orange pill bottle out of his pocket and popped it open.

“What are you taking?” Ariana knit her brow as she tilted her head to see the label. The prescription was issued by a Dr. Lance Montgomery. “Do you have a doctor in the family?” she asked, intrigued.

“Nosy much?” Jasper teased. He tossed the pill in his mouth and swallowed it dry, then nodded casually in greeting to a pair of teachers who walked by them and into the building. “Yes, my cousin is a general practitioner, and he writes my allergy prescriptions for me.”

“That’s convenient,” Ariana said.

“Beats having to find a local doctor who isn’t a complete buffoon,” Jasper said. As he tucked the bottle away, his cell phone beeped. He yanked it out of the side pocket on his messenger bag and rolled his eyes at the screen.

“My mother again,” he groused. “No, Mom, I do not know whether the sheets at the Ritz frickin’ Carlton are Egyptian cotton or not!” He yelled into the phone, which was, of course, not connected to anything. He sighed and shoved it away again. Ariana laughed.

“Your mother definitely sounds like a woman who knows what she wants,” she said as she hugged her chemistry book to her chest.

“Yes, she is,” Jasper said. He shook his head in an exasperated but fond way. “Do you want to meet my parents this weekend, Miss Covington?” He asked, pushing himself away from the wall. “Because I’d love to introduce them to you.”

“Depends,” she said, lifting a shoulder. She looked up at him through her thick lashes. “Will I like them?”