Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
LIAM
I should have invited her for coffee or something. A whole dinner is too long to wait to get her back to my place. Coffee or drinks would have been better. Even if the truffle fries are out of this goddamn world.
The conversation flows, but all I can think about is having her naked and beneath me, in front of me, or on top of me. Although I plan on having her every way possible, and soon. So damn soon.
“Did you go to college?” she asks.
I’m taken aback by the question. Although I shouldn’t be. We’ve been talking about a lot of different things tonight. Family, she has none, and I only have my dad. That was a somber part of the conversation I wasn’t ready for, and neither is this.
“No,” I state simply. “Hockey is the only thing I’m good at, and luckily I’ve been able to make it a career.”
She nods once, then she clears her throat as she stabs a piece of meat on her plate. I watch as she brings it to her lips, but she doesn’t take a bite. Instead, her eyes stay connected to mine, and she leans forward.
“I wasn’t able to go to college either,” she whispers.
“But you wanted to?”
Ruby shrugs a shoulder, then she slips the meat into her mouth and begins to chew. I watch her, wishing those lips of hers were wrapped around my meat and not the steak on her fork. She chews slowly, but I’m pretty sure she’s just thinking.
“I think I did,” she whispers. “But it wasn’t ever going to be an option, so I didn’t think about it too hard.
My grandmother was sick, and I spent most of my high school years caring for her.
When she died, I felt lost. I didn’t have anyone to take care of anymore, and I didn’t know how to take care of myself. ”
“So you poured yourself into your career.”
“I poured myself into the bakery,” she says.
This conversation feels really fucking heavy. It’s not how I thought this night would go. Reaching across the table, I wrap my fingers around her wrist and gently squeeze her there. When her gaze meets mine, I give her a small smile.
“And you’ve succeeded,” I say.
She nods, but I don’t know if she believes what I’ve said. She’s succeeded, though. She’s got a bakery that is catering for the Houston Lonestars, even if it wasn’t for a huge event. She still catered to a professional sports team. To me, that’s a big damn deal.
“Maybe. Some days it doesn’t feel that way.”
Once we’ve finished dinner, I’m not ready to take her home yet. I’m still very much feeling a bit off from the conversation. Stepping out of the restaurant, I look down at Ruby standing next to me. Slipping my hand in hers, I lace my fingers with her own and gently tug her beside me.
“What’s happening?” she asks softly.
“I just thought since the sun is finally down, we’d go for a little walk.”
We move together, one step and then another, hand in hand as we walk down the sidewalk. I’m not sure what we even talk about, but when her head tilts to the side, I feel her weight against my bicep. Turning my head, I touch my lips to the top of her head.
“I don’t think I should like this as much as I do,” she whispers into the night air.
“Yeah,” I exhale. “I get that.”