Chapter 4
Anywhere But Here
? Peter Pan - Kelsea Ballerini
Ruby
Istep out of the gym, fisting the skirt of my teal satin gown as I scan the area for any sign of Connor. I’d been lost in conversation with the rest of our table when he slipped away to the bathroom, but it’s been a while, and he hasn’t returned.
Hushed voices reach me from somewhere down the dimly lit hallway, one is distinctly feminine while the other is unmistakable—Connor.
“Oh, come on. She’s never going to make it in Nashville,” she says.
“I mean, yeah, but nobody’s told her that. She’s chasing the dream anyway, and I’ll be a free man by summer.”
The words pierce through me like an expertly wielded dagger, and my stomach sinks.
Her voice turns almost sultry. “Poor Connor. I bet she doesn’t even know how to take care of you.”
I round the corner, and Ashley Anderson’s back is pinned to a locker with Connor leaning over her. One of her long fingernails trails down his pristine white shirt. She tugs on the teal tie we picked out to match my gown.
Their lips are almost touching. The sight has me frozen on the spot.
My knees buckle as I struggle to stand in my heels. “C-Connor?”
He jerks back at the sound of my voice, raking his hand through his disheveled hair. “It’s not what it looks like.” He holds up his hands defensively. “We were just talking.”
I look between the two guilty parties, unable to form words. Where Connor appears stricken, Ashley’s expression is downright malicious.
She slowly turns to me with a self-satisfied smirk on her lips. “You didn’t think he really cared about you, did you?”
“Ashley!” Connor snaps. “Leave her alone.”
His eyes are pleading as he returns his attention to me—his girlfriend or ex fucking girlfriend if I can get my mouth to move.
“What? She deserves to know the truth. She’s never going to be anything more than a small-town farm girl, and you know it.”
I don’t even bother trying to argue the difference between a farm and a ranch—it would only prove her point.
Connor blows out an exasperated breath, but he doesn’t defend me, and that tells me everything I need to know. He never loved me. Not really.
Finally finding my courage, I step into the hallway and straighten my spine. “You two belong together.” I gesture wildly between them. “I’m done. I deserve so much fucking better than this shit.” I toss my bouquet at Ashley’s feet, turning to stalk away from the nightmare.
“Ruby! Wait!” Connor chases after me and blocks my path to the gym.
“What do you want from me?” It takes every ounce of strength I have to choke back the well of emotion threatening to overwhelm me. “We’ve been growing apart for months, and we both know it. It’s best if we just end it now. You can be a free man.” I sneer, throwing his words back in his face.
He reaches for my hands, brows drawn together. “Let’s talk about this, babe.”
I rip my hands out of his grip and step back. “No.” I choke out the word around the lump in my throat.
Three years.
I gave this asshole three fucking years of my life, and he threw it all away in one night without a second thought. He doesn’t get to witness me breaking. I can only hope I look like I’m holding it together, but the truth is, I’m dying on the inside. “Goodbye, Connor.”
“Let me drive you home.”
For a fleeting moment, I consider the offer, then Ashley strides up beside him and places her hand on his arm.
“Let her go,” she says.
If Connor responds, I don’t hear it. A single tear escapes as I turn away from them. I retreat to the table, avoiding looking around at our friends as I grab my clutch and pull out my cell. Dialing the familiar number, I stalk through the exit clutching the phone like a lifeline.
I don’t know why I didn’t call my parents, but I didn’t even think twice as I tapped on Liam’s contact instead.
Liam’s voice comes over the line after the first ring, and that’s when I finally break. Crumpling to the steps outside of the school.
“Ruby? Are you ok?”
“No. Can you pick me up?”
“I’ll be right there. Stay on the line, alright? I’m getting in my truck.”
“Ok.” The single word comes out as a sob.
“I’ve got you, Goldie. Sit tight.”
Liam
The fifteen-minute drive takes me less than ten.
I pull through the parking lot and stop in front of the gym’s double doors, scanning the area for Ruby.
My eyes land on a mass of shiny fabric and golden hair at the bottom of the steps.
Once I register what I’m seeing, I’m up and out of the truck in seconds, crouching in front of her.
“Ruby?”
She glances up through a curtain of curls, with mascara tracks down her cheeks, and a phone clutched to her chest.
“What happened?”
“Connor. We broke up.”
Shit. It shouldn’t make me happy, but it does. The relief doesn’t last long when another tear cascades down Ruby’s cheek.
“What the fuck did he do?” I growl, my nostrils flaring.
It’s no secret they’d been having problems, but I didn’t expect him to break her heart. If anything, I thought they’d realize they weren’t right for each other and part ways as friends.
“You called my brother?” Connor’s voice draws my attention to the doorway, and it takes every ounce of restraint I have to hold myself back from barreling into him.
“I-I’m sorry,” Ruby’s voice is barely audible as she caves in on herself.
“Come on, man. I think you’ve done enough damage, don’t you? Go inside. I’m gonna take her home.”
“That’s my fucking girlfriend.”
“I’m not your girlfriend anymore,” she says. “You made that very clear when you left me to be with Ashley.”
What the fuck?
“You cheated on her?” I spit.
My sorry excuse for a brother has the most amazing girl in his arms every goddamn day, and he fucking cheats on her? If I had a shot with Ruby, I wouldn’t so much as look at another girl.
He shakes his head. “Nothing happened. We were just talking.”
Ruby swipes at her tears and stands on shaky legs. I reach out to steady her as she spins to face my brother.
“You were ‘just talking’ about how I’d never amount to anything while you had her pinned against a locker. Her hands were all over you. You know what? Fuck this. I’m done. I never did like dumpster diving, and you and Ashley are both trash.”
She storms off to my truck and rips open the passenger door, gathering her skirt as she steps inside, and slams the door behind her.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“I messed up.” His voice is low. He can’t even look at me.
“Yeah. No shit. You don’t deserve her, Connor. Leave her the fuck alone.”
His jaw clenches, and he puffs out his chest like he’s trying to intimidate me, but the only reason he’s taller than me right now is because I’m two steps below him. “You just want her for yourself.”
I don’t bother to deny the accusation. Ruby means something to me, but it doesn’t matter. She’s meant for great things, and I’m just a lost soul looking for a purpose.
“I don’t deserve her either.”
Connor will be graduating soon. For the last decade, my identity has been tied up in raising him. Being the father figure he needed. Without that, I don’t know who I am anymore.
Not sparing Connor another glance, I walk back to my truck and put it in drive. “Where do you wanna go, Goldie?”
“Anywhere but here.”