Chapter One Hundred Fifty-One
Xavier
One Week Later
The winter sun offers more light than warmth as I stand beside the framed addition with Travis and Mark, the smell of fresh-cut lumber lingering in the air.
Nail guns crack somewhere behind us. Lewis is swearing at a ladder. Again. Just another day on the construction site.
I glance down at the blueprint in my hand while Travis talks through delivery timing for next week’s materials.
“We’re gonna need another drywall crew if weather pushes us back again.”
“Hmm.”
Travis narrows his eyes. “You’re not listening to me.”
“I am.”
“You absolutely are not.”
Mark snorts. “His brain left like twenty minutes ago.”
“My brain’s right here.”
Travis checks his watch. “It’s three-thirty. He’s already mentally clocked out.”
“I’m standing right fucking here.”
“For now.” Mark grins. “Four-thirty hits, and this guy disappears like we’re charging him by the minute to stay.”
“I have somewhere better to be.” Both of them go quiet. Fuck.
Travis’s grin spreads slowly. “Did you hear that?”
“I heard it.” Mark nods solemnly. “Our boy has somewhere better to be.”
I flip them both off and look back at the blueprint.
Travis laughs. “You’ve gone soft.”
“Shut up.”
“Nah. You used to be the asshole keeping us here late.”
I glare at them. “And now I’ve realized I don’t like you people enough for overtime.”
“Bullshit.”
“Fine.” The irritation at their teasing dissolves. It’s not like I care that they know I’m gone over Ruby. “It turns out I like going home to her.” The words settle out into the open air. Simple. True. And I don’t feel one ounce of regret for saying them. I should’ve said them months ago.
Mark stares at me.
Travis looks physically offended. “Jesus Christ,” he mutters dramatically. “He’s gone full husband.”
I roll my eyes. “Relax.”
“No, seriously,” Mark says, pointing at me now. “Who are you and what did you do with Xavier?”
A soft sound comes from behind us. A throat clearing. Every single one of us freezes. Slowly, painfully slowly, I turn around. Ruby stands beside the stack of lumber holding a folder against her chest while trying hard not to laugh.
My dad stands beside her with zero help whatsoever on his face. Traitor.
Mark goes silent.
Travis mutters, “Oh hell.”
Ruby’s smile breaks loose. “You boys done gossiping?”
Mark looks at the roof like it’s going to save him from getting caught teasing me about Ruby when we should’ve been working.
Travis points at my father. “This feels like entrapment.”
Mark raises both hands. “For the record, I was supporting the relationship.”
Xavier shoots him a look. “By making fun of me?”
Mark shrugs. “That’s how we support people.”
“She asked where Xavier was.” Dad shrugs calmly. “So, I brought her here.”
Ruby walks toward us, amusement dancing across her face. “I didn’t realize construction sites turned into the retired men’s table at the café.”
“Thank you.” Travis points at her. “That’s what I’ve been saying.”
“You started the conversation,” Mark shoots back.
Ruby laughs while handing me the folder. “I need this signed.”
I take it, but my attention’s already on her. Not that she’s ever out of my thoughts, and clearly, I’m not doing a very good job of disguising it. “You, okay?”
Her brows lift. “You asked me that this morning.”
“And?”
“And yes, I’m okay.”
I slide my hand lightly against the small of her back. She shifts her weight toward me. It’s a tiny movement. Most people wouldn’t notice. I do, and it warms every inch of my body.
Travis watches the interaction with open fascination. “Oh, he’s got it bad.”
“Travis,” I warn.
“No, seriously.” He turns his attention to Ruby. “He argued with the electrician yesterday because the temporary heat wasn't working.”
“It wasn’t that cold.” Mark braces his hands on his hips.
“It was twenty-nine degrees.” I tuck the blueprint and folder under my arm, and when she comes out to the site, she needs to be warm. “Ruby gets cold.”
Silence. Travis grins. Mark shakes his head as Ruby presses her lips together. Dad nods once like this confirms something for him.
“Wow,” Travis says. “You’re cooked.”
Ruby loses the battle and laughs outright. Warm. Easy.
God, I love that sound. I rub my hand up and down her back once without thinking about it. It feels good to touch her whenever I want without worrying about what other people think. What their expectations are. Or that I’ll screw everything up and lose her.
“You eat lunch?”
Travis groans loudly. “There it is. Full husband mode.”
Ruby rolls her eyes. “I ate.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“You’re terrible at lying lately.”
She bumps her shoulder lightly against my chest. “You’re annoying lately.”
“That’s fair.”
I love seeing the light in her eyes. How she no longer worries that I’m going to push her away and pretend that we aren’t together. I hate that I did that to her. That I did that to us.
But while I’ll never be able to make up for the pain I caused us both by refusing to commit the second I had her in my arms, I’ll spend the rest of my life proving to her that she’s everything to me.
Dad clears his throat. “The Jenkins contract needs signed before noon.”
I glance down at the folder in my hand. Right. Work.
Ruby moves again beside me, one hand resting unconsciously against her stomach. She rests her hand on my upper arm. “My appointment got moved to Thursday.”
“What time?”
“Three-thirty.”
“Okay.”
I’m already mentally rearranging the schedule. Move Lewis to inspections. Push the cabinet install back. Get Travis to handle the walkthrough.
Ruby starts to shake her head. “You don’t have to–” Then she stops. Right in the middle of the sentence. Because we both know I do. Not because I have to. Because I’m going to.
Her eyes meet mine. Soft. Knowing. And something warm settles low in my chest at the fact she understands that difference now.
“I’ll make it work,” I tell her simply.
Ruby studies me for half a second longer. Then smiles. “I know you will.”
And Christ. That might be the best thing anyone’s ever said to me.