Chapter Sixty-Five
Ruby
Friday Night
Callahan’s is loud enough to blur the edges of a bad week. That’s why we’re here. The door swings shut behind us, heat and noise wrapping around me: music, laughter, the clink of glasses, the smell of fried food and beer and damp coats drying by the door.
Bella slides into the booth beside me, Emily across from us, both of them settling in like this is just another night. I try to match it. Try to let the noise fill in the cracks.
For a minute, it almost works, then something shifts. Not big. Just enough. I feel it before I see it. Brent is at the far end of the bar, shoulder angled toward a group of guys I don’t recognize. He’s mid-conversation, laughing at something someone said.
Then his eyes lift. Find mine. Not surprised. Not curious. Like he expected me to be here. Like he’d already been staring at me. He gives a small nod. Casual. Familiar. Then turns back to his drink as if he’s satisfied after ensuring I know he’s there.
My fingertips dig into my glass. Bella nudges my arm. “You good?”
“Yeah,” I say, a beat too quick. “Just… tired.”
Emily watches me longer than Bella does. Of course she does. But she lets it go for now.
We order drinks. Talk about nothing. Work, mostly. Small things. Safe things. I laugh in the right places. Nod when I’m supposed to. Don’t look back at the bar. Pretend everything is normal.
Ignore that I have a stalker. Gloss over that Xavier is sleeping on my couch and pretending that having an escort is normal. But it’s not normal that the girls picked me up from work and will drive me home at the end of the night.
Not leaving until they’re sure that Xavier has me locked inside my own home. Where inch between us feels loaded.
Emily pulls a napkin toward her, flattening it against the table.
“Okay,” she says. “Walk me through it again.” Emily pulls the napkin closer and uncaps a pen. “We're doing this one piece at a time. Start with the first thing that happened, then don't skip anything.”
Bella groans. “Jake has turned you into a do-it-yourself crime sleuth.”
“I’m making sure we stop guessing.” She clicks the pen and draws six quadrants.
Bella arches her eyebrows. “You’re making this a crime board.”
“It is a crime board,” Emily replies, already reaching for a pen. “Break-in. Notes. Flowers. Package. Tire. Gate.”
Hearing it laid out like that makes my stomach tighten. Pattern. Not bad luck. Pattern. Not something I can ignore and pretend it’s coincidence. Even if it’s been over a week and a half since anything happened.
“Who has access?” Bella asks. “Who knows your schedule?”
I lift a shoulder because thinking is too difficult at this point. I’m not drinking, but that doesn’t stop my brain from being fuzzy. “Half the town.”
Emily taps the pen against the napkin once. "Okay. Cross off everyone who could. Keep everyone who would."
Bella frowns. "That's not exactly a short list."
"It's shorter than half the town."
I trace the rim of my glass with my finger, watching the condensation bead and slide. “Brent drove down my street for no reason.”
“And Greg?” Bella asks.
“He’s mad I quit.” I suck on the straw, taking in some of the soda and swallowing.
Emily taps her fingertips on the tabletop. “Mad enough to follow you?”
“I don’t know.” That’s the worst part. I don’t know.
None of this is new ground, but I understand why they want me to go through everything again.
They’re my best friends, and my safety is valuable to them.
If we can come up with something that stops this, they’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.
Even listening to me go through the same events for the twentieth time.
An hour later, the door opens. Cold air cuts through the bar, sharp enough to make a few people glance over. I don’t. Not right away. Then I do.
Lindsey steps inside, shaking out her hair, scanning the room like she owns the space. Her gaze moves across the tables. Slows. Finds me. Recognition flickers. Sharp, assessing. Then it’s gone.
She turns away, heading toward the bar like I was never worth stopping for. My chest squeezes anyway.
Bella frowns. “I don’t like her.”
“You don’t know her.” Emily crosses her arms over her chest and sinks into the black cushion behind her.
“I know enough to know I don’t like her.” Bella’s lip curls at the corner. “She’s the kind of woman who thinks people the world over should fall at their feet.”
“She is beautiful.” I swipe my damp palms on my jeans.
“No more beautiful than you are.” Bella takes a sip from her straw and gives me a pointed look. “Dominic said Xavier told them you’re just friends.”
My fingers tighten around the glass. Condensation slicks against my skin. I don’t look up.
“Has anything changed?” Emily’s concern grates on my nerves.
“No, nothing has changed.” I let out a breath that almost passes for a laugh. “That’s all anyone can be with him.”
Bella watches me. “Ruby…”
“He doesn’t do relationships,” I continue, keeping my voice even. “He’s helping because someone’s messing with my life. That’s it.”
Because that’s easier. Easier than admitting I listen for his truck at night. Easier than admitting I check the stare at the lump on my sofa when I double-check the locks at night. Easier than admitting I’m forgetting to eat more times than not.
Or that I don’t remember the last time I got a full night’s sleep without waking up, imagining that he was in the bed with me.
Emily leans forward. “And you’re okay with that?”
I nod. Lie.
The conversation moves on after that. Bella starts talking about something Dominic did at the shop. Emily laughs. Someone delivers another round of drinks.
I try to pay attention. I really do. But every time the door opens, my eyes lift. Every time a truck passes outside, my stomach tightens before common sense catches up.
It’s ridiculous. Embarrassing. And entirely my own fault. Because Xavier made himself clear.
The band starts another song. People crowd closer to the dance floor. A couple brushes past our table. Then a shadow falls across us.
“Hey, Ruby.” I look up. Derek Hudson stands beside the table, hands shoved into his pockets, an easy smile on his face. “You wanna dance?”
The question hangs there. I’ve talked to him before. Even went out with him a time or two. But there weren’t any sparks. At least, on my end.
Bella’s eyes flick to mine. Emily doesn’t move. Doesn’t intervene. Just watches. I hesitate. Not long. Just enough to feel it.
If I say no, it means something. If I say yes… it means something too. I set my glass down. “Okay.”
Derek’s smile widens. He offers his hand. I take it. Let him pull me up, lead me toward the dance floor. His grip is light. Respectful. He doesn’t crowd me, doesn’t assume anything. It should feel comfortable. It does. Mostly.
I focus on the music, on the rhythm, on putting one foot in front of the other and pretending this is just a normal night. A normal choice. His hand settles at my waist. Not possessive. Not familiar. Just there.
I let myself move with it. Let myself exist in something that doesn’t feel complicated.
The door opens again, and cold air spills into the bar. Something shifts. Subtle. But immediate. I feel it—that same awareness, like the room tilted half a degree.
My head lifts. Xavier. He’s just inside the doorway. Still. Scanning. His gaze moves across the room and finds me. On the dance floor. In someone else’s arms.
Derek says something I don’t hear. The music keeps playing. But everything inside me goes very, very still.