5. Cian
Chapter 5
Cian
A ccording to Henry, Big Dick’s is not named for the obvious body parts nor is it named after a guy named Richard. Evidently the guy who owns the bar is actually just an asshole.
The story reminds me that Henry has been here a number of times and has information about Scarlett, her hometown, and her family that I don’t. That he didn’t share with me.
I feel the anger tighten my muscles again.
I’ve spent the last five hours stewing over everything and had decided to just go with the flow, let go of past beliefs and feelings and just start over.
Going with the flow lasted about five minutes.
Shocker.
I don’t want to be pissed at Henry. I’ve never been angry at him for more than a couple of hours at a time in the past. Yes, that’s definitely happened and it’s almost always because he told me something I didn’t want to hear, but that happens so rarely that Henry is possibly the person in my life I get along with the best.
Besides, my niece, Saoirse, and I are great friends. I was the third person to hold her after she was born, following my sister, of course, and Colin, their bodyguard, the man who would become Saoirse’s surrogate father in pretty much every way.
Saoirse was surrounded by adults from day one—Fiona, Colin, me, Henry, Torin, and Jonah—but we had a special bond. I was the one who was always up to play. When the other adults had work or more adult things to worry about, I was always free for tea parties, playing pirates, pretending we were hunting monsters, and yes, even playing prince and princess. Saoirse has always gotten a kick out of her royal bloodline.
She’s the only one in the family.
All of that makes me think about the fact that Scarlett is not the fun aunt who took her niece Mariah on spontaneous road trips, bought Mariah her first puppy—against her mother’s wishes—did movie marathons with ice cream sodas, and who was the one to give Mariah the ‘real’ sex talk. Not the one about the physical technicalities, but the one about how a man should treat you, the bullshit red flags, the words to never believe, and what an orgasm is.
Scarlett is Mariah’s mom. And apparently not fun.
I scowl. That can’t be right. We watched movies and had orange soda ice cream sodas. We talked about the road trips we’d taken. And she definitely knows about orgasms and what she needs to get them.
And I know about her orgasms, how to get her there every time, how she feels and looks and sounds when she comes…
“You ready?” Henry asks as we stand inside the door and let our eyes adjust from the bright sunlight outside.
My first impression as I take in the interior is that…it’s a bar. There is nothing unique or remarkable about it at all.
“You sure it was a good idea not to text her ahead of time?” I ask Henry.
“Trust me, it’s better if she doesn’t know I’m coming.”
My usual upbeat friend sounds discouraged. “That bad?”
“I hurt her. She doesn’t want to see me.”
“What about when she does see you?”
“I have no fucking idea.” Henry heads for the bar.
Damn. This is definitely a new side of Henry. This is going to be a very interesting trip.
There’s a woman behind the bar with her back to us. She’s slender, about five-six, with a nice curvy ass, long dark hair, and when she turns, I actually suck in a breath.
Fuck. She’s gorgeous.
Because she looks just like Scarlett.
The sense of déjà vu is short-lived though.
Yes, this woman’s shape, her eyes, and hair look like Scarlett. But it only takes me three seconds to realize that it’s not her. I can’t put my finger on a single specific thing but there’s just something about this woman that makes her feel like a stranger even though she looks exactly like the woman I fucked for three nights straight.
Ruby freezes when she sees Henry.
Her mouth drops open, the towel she’s holding hits the floor, and her eyes widen.
“Ruby.” Henry’s voice is gruff.
I cast him a quick glance. His face is etched with what I can only describe as longing.
Ruby blinks three times, then she rounds the bar. She comes to stand directly in front of us. She looks back and forth between us. Then she pulls her arm back and slaps Henry. Hard.
His head snaps to the side. He sucks in a quick breath, then faces her again. Suddenly she bursts into tears and launches herself into his arms. He catches her with both hands under her ass as her legs circle his waist, and she buries her face against his neck.
He shoots me a look. “Give us a minute.” Then he strides behind the bar and through a door.
Thirty minutes later, Ruby and Henry emerge from the back room.
It’s clear Ruby has been crying, but it’s also clear that she no longer has lipstick on and her hair is much more mussed than it was before. There’s also definite whisker burn on her neck.
Ruby has her purse and says she got a replacement for the rest of her shift.
So, we follow her Jeep with our rental car into the town of Emerald, Ohio.
To my disappointment, it doesn’t seem that the town has at all embraced the Wizard of Oz theme I was expecting. We pass the turn off to the main downtown area that completely missed the chance to pave Main Street with yellow bricks. Not a single building, least of all City Hall, is painted emerald green either. It’s like they’re actively trying not to bring up tornados and wizards and people coming here to figure out that there’s no place like home.
Which would be a fantastic motto for a sweet little town.
We keep driving past a park, the high school, and then into a very typical residential neighborhood. The houses are older but well kept. Most are two stories with wide yards and well-established trees.
We pull up along the curb opposite the pale blue two story with white trim and shutters. It has a huge porch with a white porch swing and an immaculate front flower bed on either side of the porch steps. Ruby pulls into the driveway and then waits at the bottom of the steps for us.
She does not offer me a tour and it’s clear Henry has been here before because he makes himself comfortable in the kitchen, pulling a soda for each of us from the fridge before settling on one of the tall stools at the breakfast bar.
Ruby starts making herself a sandwich. Henry watches every single move she makes. She seems to be trying very hard to ignore him.
Finally, she sighs, sets the knife she’s using down. “Do you guys want something to eat?”
“We’re okay.”
“I could eat.”
Henry and I both answer at once. I frown at him. We haven’t eaten in hours. He rolls his eyes, but gets to his feet and rounds the counter going to where Ruby is standing. He nudges her out of the way and takes over making the sandwiches. She just stands watching him for a long moment, her lips pressed together. Then she turns and looks at me, crossing her arms.
“Scarlett doesn’t want to see you.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“But here you are.”
I nod. “Here I am.”
“This might not go very well for you,” Ruby tells me.
“I understand that. But I can’t go the rest of my life without seeing her again.”
Ruby doesn’t respond to that. But fuck, she looks sad.
I don’t know what’s going on with her and Henry but, damn.
Just then the front door opens and my heart slams against my rib cage.
Scarlett is here .
My heart is clearly refusing to hear everyone telling me that she’s not who I think she is and that she doesn’t want to see me. I want to see her. I need to see her.
But the next moment we hear a voice call from the front of the house, “Mom?”
Ruby’s eyes widen. “That’s Mariah! She’s not supposed to be home until later.” She looks around quickly. “Hide.” She points to a doorway.
Henry frowns. “The pantry?”
She nods quickly. “Hurry!”
“You’re not going to tell her we’re here?”
“Mom? Are you home?” Mariah calls again, the voice closer now.
Ruby calls back, “She’s not home yet. I’m in here!” Softer, she says to Henry, “I’m going to tell her, but I need to prepare her.”
“For?
“ Not falling in love with you again,” Ruby says with a frown, shoving him toward the pantry door.
“Ruby—” Henry starts.
She shoves him again. “And she’s going to be shocked to see Cian. I don’t know what to tell her about that. ”
“Just tell her—” Henry starts.
But Ruby plants her hands on her hips. “Get. In. The. Pantry. Henry.”
He sighs but opens the narrow door next to the fridge and steps inside. I follow him with a grin.
Seriously, everyone falls for Henry’s charm and confident I-know-best-don’t-worry-about-it-just-let-me-take-care-of-everything attitude.
Except Iris, his boss, Scarlett apparently, and now Ruby.
Looks like he has his hands full.
Just what he needs.
“I like her,” I whisper.
“Shut up.”
“Sucks to not always get your way, huh?”
“How the hell would you know?”
I just chuckle.
We both zip it when we hear Ruby say, “I thought you were studying at Greta’s.”
A younger female voice that I assume belongs to Mariah says, “We were. But Mom is going to be getting an email from my principal. I thought I should come home and tell her about it before she reads it.”
“Oh no,” Ruby says with a little groan. “What happened?”
“It was completely Leah’s fault,” a new young woman’s voice says.
I look at Henry. He mouths Greta.
“Mariah didn’t do anything wrong. Leah needs to mind her own business,” Greta says.
We hear scraping noises that sound like the wooden legs of the stools that sit at the breakfast bar sliding over the kitchen floor.
Ruby laughs softly. “Well, you’re not exactly an unbiased witness.”
“No,” Greta agrees. “But seriously, we were just talking in study hall between the two of us.”
“What were you talking about?”
“The podcast and how Henry and Cian are missing.”
Henry and I exchange glances. Our departure from Cara has gotten more attention than we expected. How did the podcast find out? And who knew that two teenage girls in Ohio would be listening to the podcast from Cara anyway?
Well, I guess Henry knew.
Henry knows a lot. I’m still very annoyed by that.
“Mariah and Greta are huge fans of the podcast,” Henry says softly. “Ruby too. I know Scarlett keeps up as well.”
This makes my heart clench. They all pay attention? Because of us? That’s…I don’t know what that is.
It’s…hopeful.
That’s how my heart and head take it.
Scarlett is interested. She hasn’t totally forgotten me.
She says she doesn’t want to see me, but she still thinks about me.That has to mean something. Doesn’t it?
But if she’s nothing like the woman I’ve been thinking about, what does it mean?
Fuck. I need to see her.
“So what happened that caused the principal to get involved?” Ruby asks.
“Leah being Leah,” Mariah says with disgust in her tone. “She said, loudly , that we’re so ridiculous and do we not realize that no one believes us about all of this.”
“All of what?” Ruby asks.
“That Mom knows and dated Cian O’Grady who is a prince . And that we all know his bodyguard.”
There’s a long pause.
I look at Henry, eyebrows up.
He winces, then looks at me.
“They talk about me?” I whisper.
“Um…yeah,” Henry says. He rubs a hand over the back of his neck. “It’s been a bit of a problem.”
“No kidding,” I say dryly.
Henry’s been helping to keep my identity a secret for over a decade. But now these two teen girls are bragging about their connection to me and arguing with classmates about it?
“Her mom said there is no way Mom dated a prince and now doesn’t want to see him. She said Mom is all about money and power, so this all has to be a lie,” Mariah says.
I frown. I don’t like this. I don’t like that Scarlett is telling people she doesn’t want to see me. Dammit. But I also hate the idea that I’m some kind of problem for her. And I really hate that someone is doubting her.
Okay, so supposedly I don’t know the woman I spent the weekend with. These people do. She’s from here. These people should know her and trust her.
But if she was into power and money, she would have wanted to see me once Henry told her who I am and that I want to see her.
And she’s not fucking lying.
What is going on here with Scarlett and her hometown?
“So what did you do?” Ruby asks with what sounds to me, through a thin wooden door, like a touch of trepidation.
“Told her that she needed to mind her own business and stop eavesdropping.”
“Okay, that’s fair.”
“Then she started preaching to me, the way she always does. About how lying is a sin and how I’m just trying to build myself up to seem more important and how I need to look within myself for my self-worth instead of making up stories about knowing important people.”
I feel anger ignite in my gut. That sounds like bullshit. Who is this girl? She knows nothing about Mariah’s mom’s situation with me. She’s lecturing Mariah about her self-worth? I don’t know Mariah, but she’s not lying. Scarlett definitely knows me. In the Biblical sense. I wonder if Leah would find that ironic.
There’s a pause in the kitchen. “Can you believe that?” Mariah asks. “She thinks this private conversation I’m having with not her is my attempt to try to feel important? We were talking quietly. If I wanted everyone to hear it, I could have made that happen. But no, only Leah heard us and the only reason everyone else heard about it is because she opened her big mouth! And that I feel the need to make up stories because I don’t feel good about myself? I’m so offended by that! I’m insulted that she thinks I care what she thinks about me!”
There you go, Mariah. I’ve never met this girl, but I want to fist-bump her right now.
“So then you just ignored her because you don’t care and you just went on about your day, right?” Ruby asks, her tone full of hope.
“For the rest of study hall, yes.”
“Good.”
“But I do not appreciate being slandered like that,” Mariah says.
Damn right, I think.
“Damn right,” Greta says.
I smile. I like her too.
“I ignored her in English class too.”
“Okay. Good.”
“But then we had lunch.”
“Oh.” Ruby now sounds resigned. “What happened at lunch?”
“I thought about quoting Matthew seven to her about being a hypocrite,” Mariah says.
I laugh softly and I look up to find Henry grinning.
“But then I decided to quote Mean Girls instead.”
“You asked her why she’s so obsessed with you, right?” Ruby asks.
Mariah laughs. “God, I love that movie.”
Ruby sighs. Both Henry and I snort.
“Oh, I also spilled tomato juice on her virginal white blouse.”
“Mariah!”
There is a door between us and I can’t see her, but I swear I can hear that Ruby is trying to suppress a laugh though.
“She should really wear darker colors. I know she considers it a statement, but all of that white is a liability,” Mariah adds.
“As if you wearing red all the time isn’t some kind of statement?” Ruby asks.
“Of course it is. And I own it,” Mariah says.
“Red all the time?” I ask Henry.
He nods with an affectionate smile. “Always at least a part of her outfit.”
Mariah goes on. “Do you have any idea how many jokes I heard about Mom and the Scarlet Letter when we got here, Ruby ?” Mariah asks. “And how many times I’ve heard about how their moms thought Grandma named you Ruby because of the Biblical meaning but then found out it was really the Wizard of freaking Oz? And how it’s so interesting that the devil is always depicted wearing red? I’m just giving them what they want.”
I knew about the Wizard of Oz, but the Scarlet Letter? Wow. This town is intense.
But I love the color red, and I already love Scarlett’s daughter embracing all of this the way she is.
And I haven’t even set eyes on her yet.
“Believe me, I’ve heard all the Scarlet Letter shit myself. I see their mothers still don’t understand the full meaning of that novel,” Ruby says. She sighs. “So what’s the email say?”
I can almost picture Ruby rubbing her forehead.
“That the principal wants Mom to talk to me about my temper and my lying.”
“Your lying?”
“She doesn’t think it’s true either, of course. She thinks I’m doing it to start fights.”
“I mean…it is a crazy story,” Ruby says. She raises her voice a bit. “Your mom didn’t even believe it when Henry first told us.”
I cast a look at my friend. He shrugs.
“But I’m not a liar!” Mariah exclaims. “And it’s unfair that everyone is assuming I am! They can’t prove that Mom doesn’t know Cian. Plus, Mrs. Carter, the study hall teacher, is directing the school musical and has said that now she doesn’t want me to be a part of it. She says I cause too much drama! Which is pretty ironic, right? She’s the drama teacher .”
“Wait, she’s keeping you off the musical because of this?” Ruby asks.
I frown.
“Bitch,” Henry mutters.
“Well, because Leah is one of the leads and she thinks I’ll cause trouble with her. And because Leah’s mom is Mrs. Carter’s friend. It all goes together.”
“I see.” Ruby sounds contemplative now.
“It all sucks. Mom just needs to tell them it’s true. That she knows Cian and that they did date for a little bit.”
“Well, they didn’t really date for a little bit ,” Ruby hedges.
“They don’t need to know how long. She just needs to tell them she knows him. Or you need to let Henry go down and talk to them.”
“He could get Cian on the phone!” Greta pipes up. “They could video call Cian and he could say that yes, he knows Scarlett.”
Okay so…this could be interesting.
I look at Henry. He sighs. “Maybe Scarlett will be glad to see you after all?” he whispers.
Well, that would be nice.
Henry reaches for a bag of pretzels. I lift an eyebrow. He shrugs. So I reach for the Oreos on the shelf just over Henry’s shoulder.
“I like your cologne,” I tell him.
“It’s yours,” he says.
I nod. “Thought it smelled familiar.”
He starts to unroll the top of the bag—the crinkle of the bag is really loud.
“I don’t know,” Ruby says, loudly , clearly trying to cover the noise.
I snicker and carefully peel open the Oreo package, removing three cookies and offering Henry one.
He sighs and replaces the pretzels on the shelf and takes the cookie.
Ruby keeps talking. “I mean, part of Leah’s problem with you is that Hannah has problems with your mom.”
“But Hannah shouldn’t keep saying Mom is all about fame and fortune!”
I frown as I chew. What is this about? Why does this woman think Scarlett is all about that?
I’m even more interested in the woman I spent a weekend with all those months ago.
She’ll probably hate to hear that.
“Uggggh!” Mariah groans. “Mom doesn’t have any photos with Cian? Really? Who doesn’t take selfies when they’re out?”
Because we weren’t out much, I think. And taking photos of what we were doing wouldn’t have been appropriate.
“I don’t think so,” Ruby says. “But…I think maybe we can fix this. Maybe. Though your mom is going to hate it.”
“What? Why?”
“Um…Henry?” Ruby’s voice calls out.
“Henry? He’s?—”
Henry grins at me and grabs the bag of pretzels again.
Then he steps out into the kitchen. “Hey, kid.”
“Oh my God!”
Mariah’s exclamation is followed by squealing and Henry chuckling.
I don’t know what I’m supposed to do here. Clearly, they’re excited to see Henry. But they’re having a reunion. They don’t know me. And I don’t know how Ruby wants to go about introducing me. But I feel like a jackass standing in the pantry.
“Why were you hiding? “Mariah asks Henry.
“Surprise.”
“I’m so happy you’re back! Have you guys made up? Are you back together?”
“No. He just showed up and surprised me too,” Ruby jumps in.
“But you’re in love!” Mariah protests. “You should be together. She’s been miserable without you,” she says, I assume addressing Henry.
I smile. Mariah could be a great ally…or a frustrating opponent. I wonder which Ruby considers her at the moment.
“ Mariah ,” Ruby says warningly. “Henry and I…have a lot of things to talk about.”
“Well, can Henry come to school and tell everyone that Cian is real and that he really did date Mom? Because next time I might do something worse than spill tomato juice on Leah. I actually wanted to hit her.”
“You’re not going to hit her,” Ruby says.
“Just don’t hit her with witnesses,” Henry says at the same time.
“Henry!” Ruby protests.
“You have to stand up to bullies,” he says unapologetically.
“Exactly,” Greta says.
“Can you teach me to throw a punch?” Mariah asks.
“Absolutely,” Henry says.
“No,” Ruby says over him.
“Why don’t you just come to school and tell Leah and Mrs. Carter and our principal who you are and that Mariah is telling the truth,” Greta says.
“Would she believe me? I’m just some guy,” Henry says.
“You have your ID and your badge,” Greta insists. “Plus everyone knows what you look like and your name.”
“They do?”
“Sure. They all know about the podcast. Leah follows it too. And she’s looked all of you up. Everyone has.”
I wince. For some reason, this doesn’t seem like a good thing. I can’t say exactly why. Maybe it’s just because I’ve spent the past decade trying to fly under the radar and I’m not used to people knowing who I am outside of Cara, and a tiny town in Louisiana. But I’ve always liked it that way. I can honestly say that everyone in my life likes me for who I am as a person, because they don’t know about my title, my money, or my connections.
And dammit, that includes Scarlett. We had a great time. We had a real connection. She might’ve told me a few things that aren’t entirely true, but she had a good time. That was true. She didn’t fake the laughter, the contentment, or the orgasms.
And none of that had anything to do with me being a prince. It wasn’t about my wealth or potential power.
And she doesn’t know about the things that I’ve done with that money and those connections since we were together. But I was very much looking forward to telling her about that. I’m proud of it. And because it was her idea, I was looking forward to sharing it with her.
I tamp down all of those swirling thoughts and emotions and reach for the box of fruit flavored cereal at eye level.
One thing at a time. I need to see Scarlett again. I need to figure out what was real and what wasn’t.
“The kids at school have checked out the podcast? Looked stuff up about us?” Henry asks Mariah and Greta.
“Of course,” Mariah says. “It’s not like I can get away with claiming to know someone like you without them looking into it. But the more they found out, the less they believed me.”
“So what does the principal want?” Ruby asks.
“I’m not sure. We could get into Mom’s account and read the email. But I’m guessing it has something to do with an apology to Leah. Probably publicly. And admitting I lied. And I would rather die . One, she butted into our conversation. Two, I’m telling the truth. I don’t think I should have to apologize for a lie that isn’t a lie.”
“Are you sure that you don’t have to apologize for pouring tomato juice on her?” Ruby asks.
“Yeah, Mom will make me do that,” Mariah says, sounding dejected.
“Yeah, she will,” Ruby agrees.
I frown. Leah sounds like a bully. I don’t agree with an apology for standing up to her. But I haven’t done a lot of apologizing in my life so I’m no expert.
“But,” Ruby says. “I agree that you shouldn’t have to take back what you’ve said about Cian and Henry and it’s bullshit that they’re trying to leave you out of the school musical because of this.”
“Great,” Mariah says. “Then I’ll just have Henry come to school and back me up.”
“Your mom will hate that. That is just more attention on her, on all of us, that she won’t want. Especially from Hannah,” Ruby says. “We need to figure out a way to placate Leah, without you having to apologize for something you didn’t do.”
“Just telling her that Mariah is right and she’s wrong will make her back off, right?” Henry asks. “Maybe I can just talk to Leah and her mom? Not make it public at school.”
“That would be almost as bad,” Ruby says. “No one hates Scarlett more than Hannah. She’ll hate being wrong and will make Scarlett miserable. By making Mariah miserable.” Ruby sighs. “That’s what this is really all about. Hannah found Scarlett’s biggest vulnerability—Mariah. Now she’s making sure Mariah is unhappy as a way of keeping Scarlett unhappy and in her place.”
I scowl. What the hell is going on here? Why does someone think Scarlett needs to be kept “in her place”? What does that mean? The woman I spent that weekend with was amazing. Everyone should think so.
She’s not who you think she is, remember?
Yeah, I fucking remember. I shake more cereal out into my hand, toss it into my mouth, and crunch aggressively.
I’m going to figure out what that means too. Tonight.
But Scarlett would rather have people think her daughter is a liar than to claim having spent time with me? No.
I close the cereal box, returning it to the shelf, then step out from the pantry. “Well, we could just leave Scarlett out of it. I could show up and prove to everyone at school that Mariah knows me.”
Mariah and Greta spin so fast on their stools they nearly topple to the floor. Then their gasps are so loud that I’m afraid they actually swallowed their tongues.
Henry looks vastly amused. Ruby looks torn between laughing and crying.
“This all seems really dramatic and easily fixed,” I say.
“Oh my God, “Mariah finally says. “You’re Cian O’Grady. You’re actually here.”
It’s so obvious this is Scarlett’s daughter. She has the same silky dark hair, the same round face, the same nose. Even her eyes are the same shape as Scarlett’s—and Ruby’s, I guess—but her eyes are brown instead of her mom’s green. Otherwise, she’s a beautiful younger version of her mother and aunt.
“Yup.” I decide to dive right in. “I’m here to see your mom.” And now, I’m suddenly thinking that I’m here to save Mariah.
I’ve maybe been avoiding being a prince, but I think I could get into Knight in Shining Armor.
Mariah takes a step back and plunks down onto her stool, staring at me. “You really have been trying to find her. You came all this way just to see her?”
I smile. “Have you met your mom?”
Mariah’s smile is bright in return. “She’s awesome, right?”
“Very,” I agree.
Mariah shakes her head. “But she made it sound like she was never going to see you again. I never expected to actually meet you.” She looks at Greta. “Oh my God!”
“Well…” I hate hearing that Scarlett expected to never see me. To the point that she convinced her daughter it was never going to happen. “Your mom doesn’t know I’m here. It’s going to be a surprise.”
“That makes sense,” Mariah says. “That’s probably the only way you’ll get to see her. But she’s going to hate that. She’s not really into surprises.”
Great. One more check mark in the bad idea column.
“This is amazing ,” Greta gushes.
I turn to the cute, skinny blonde. She is staring at me with less awe and wonder and more of a sly look. As if she’s hatching a plan.
She grabs Mariah’s hand, squeezing. “Leah is going to have to apologize to you for all the times she called you a liar. For all the terrible things she said about you and your mom. I can’t wait !”
I don’t know who Leah is, or who Hannah is, or who Mrs. Carter is…but I don’t like any of them. If they’re giving Scarlett and Mariah a hard time, they’re on my shit list. I don’t care if one of them is only fifteen or sixteen. I was definitely a pain in the ass when I was that age.
I’m further annoyed and even more restless to see Scarlett after we order burgers and fries via takeout from the diner downtown and settle in to eat around the kitchen island.
Ruby grabs the bacon barbecue burger with cheddar cheese and Sriracha pickles along with an order of seasoned curly fries. She leaves the teriyaki chicken sandwich with grilled pineapple wrapped up.
I frown as I take a huge bite of my basic double cheeseburger. I watch her eat for a moment, then swallow and ask, “Is that your favorite burger?”
She looks up at me, and nods. “I love barbecue sauce. On anything. I always get barbecue burgers. Why?”
“It’s not Scarlett’s favorite?”
Understanding dawns on Ruby’s face. “She likes the teriyaki chicken.”
“If she was going to order a burger with all of you, what kind would she get?”
“She doesn’t usually get burgers,” Mariah pipes up. “If she didn’t have a good option, probably just a plain cheeseburger, though.”
I take another bite of my burger and chew angrily.
Ruby watches me for a moment. “Did you eat burgers together?”
I nod.
“And she got my favorite?”
“Apparently.”
Ruby and Henry exchange a look.
I set my burger down. “I know. I’ve heard you both. She was pretending to be Ruby. I don’t really know her. I’ve got it.”
Mariah wipes her mouth with a paper napkin. “I know she was pretending to be Ruby in a lot of ways, but she even ate the same stuff Ruby would eat? That’s weird.”
Ruby shrugs. “Maybe she thought it was her chance to try some new things. You know her. She kind of sticks with her usual routine. It’s comfortable and she knows what she likes. Maybe she thought that weekend was a good time to spread her wings and take some risks.”
She meets my eyes as she says that last sentence.
My stomach is a knot of frustration and confusion. Why couldn’t Scarlett just let me know her ? How much do I really not know? And if she was just trying new things, taking some chances, but liking it , then do I perhaps actually know her pretty fucking well?
There’s no way I can avoid thinking about all of the things we did. We didn’t just eat burgers. Though yes, Scarlett seemed to enjoy the barbecue bacon cheeseburger. She did pick off the onions and pickles, but she ate the whole damn thing and licked the sauce off her fingers.
But that wasn’t all she enjoyed. She told me exactly what she wanted. She was enthusiastic, eager, and vocal in bed and I fucking loved it. I didn’t have to wonder what she wanted or how she was feeling.
There’s no fucking way she faked any of her pleasure that weekend.
I watch her sister’s face. Is that what Ruby is trying to tell me? That Scarlett was different with me, but that it wasn’t all fake? That I had given her a chance to try new things in lots of ways?
I let it go for the moment, because the person I need to ask those questions of, the person who needs to give me the answers, is Scarlett.
And she’s going to, by God.
The hiding from me is over.