Chapter 12
Kiss The Girl
? We Could Be in Love Right Now - MaRynn Taylor
Liam
Ruby: Need us to bring anything tonight?
Ruby: Snacks? Drinks? A firefighter?
Mags: Are we talking real firefighter or stripper firefighter? I could be down for either one.
Miles: Careful, Wildcat.
Cade: No strippers. This is a kid friendly event.
Paige: BYOB. And I guess Liam can come, too.
Liam: Thanks for the enthusiasm.
Cara: Welcome to the group chat, Ruby!
With a small picnic basket, some juice pouches, and boxed wine in tow, we load into my truck and head down to The Cabin for the Brooks bonfire night. Cade and Paige are known for their over-the-top parties, so I have no doubt this will be no exception.
“What’s a bonfire?” Aiden asks from the backseat of my truck.
“It’s usually a huge fire where lots of people can hang out with friends. But we’re not allowed to have big ones here, so we just have a smaller fire in a fire pit,” I explain.
“Like the one in our hideaway?”
“Exactly. It’ll be a little bit bigger than we usually make ours.”
“That’s so cool! Can we make s’mores?”
Ruby twists in her seat and nods. “Yep! I made sure to get the extra fluffy marshmallows.”
Aiden pumps his fist. “Yes!”
When we pull up outside The Cabin, several cars are already parked in the circular drive, and I can just make out the fire in the distance. Their house isn’t actually a cabin. From what I’ve been told, the nickname is a generational thing, passed down from Cade’s grandparents.
We walk around the outside of the dusty blue three-story house toward the embankment that leads down to the dock.
Aiden leads the way with our picnic basket, Ruby follows close behind with her acoustic guitar, and I bring up the rear with our drinks in hand.
Before we reach the sand, Rylin sprints toward us and nearly knocks Aiden off his feet.
I switch the box of wine to the other arm and take the basket from him in time for him to catch her and wrap her in a hug.
“They have no business being so cute,” Ruby says.
A dog yips, and I glance down to find Miles’s spaniel nipping at my heels.
His wife Maggie hollers, “Max, come!”
The dog immediately obeys her command.
I set the supplies down on the rocky shore and slip my hands into my pockets. “Does that work on Miles, too?”
“Fuck off.” Miles smiles and claps me on the shoulder. “How’s the new job?”
“It’s been great. I’m really liking the new schedule.”
He leans in conspiratorially, “And how’s the new nanny?”
“I’m great, Barlow. Thanks for asking,” she quips.
“Ruby! Didn’t see you there.”
“Clearly.” She strides over to Maggie and pulls her in for a side hug. “Welcome back. How was the book tour?”
“Amazing but long. I’m ready for some downtime.”
“When’s the next one coming out?” Ruby asks.
Maggie groans. “Not sure yet. Hopefully sometime next year, but I’m not rushing it. This whole thing has been a whirlwind, and I just want to relax for a while. You know how it is.”
Ruby chuckles humorlessly. “Yeah. It’s been nice to slow down and take things at my own pace for a change.”
“We really should have a girls’ night,” Maggie says, darting her eyes to me. “If your boss is cool with that.”
“Ooh. Boss. I like the sound of that,” Ivy says. “A little bit taboo.”
“Kind of like the best friend’s brother trope?” Maggie teases her.
Ivy snorts. “Worked out great for me.”
I elbow Miles and point at the girls. “What the hell are they talking about?”
Miles reaches into a cooler. “Tropes. Like in romance novels.”
My brow furrows. “I have no idea what that means.”
“It’s better that you don’t. Beer?” He holds out a bottle between us.
I take it and pop the top, keeping my eyes on Ruby and the women who’ve stolen my best friends’ hearts. She fits in seamlessly, like she belongs here. If I think about it too long, I might actually believe it, and I can’t afford to get caught up in wild fantasies.
“Got an orange cat in the house in case you feel like showing off your rescue skills, Liam. I’m sure we could coax him into a tree,” Cade says from halfway down the deck. He has one arm slung around Paige’s shoulder, and the other holds up a beer in greeting.
“Fucking Cheese Wiz,” I grumble.
Everyone laughs as I shake my head at the absurdity. I didn’t expect going full-time to include a weekly cat rescue, but here we are.
“Drinks are in the coolers, snacks are on the table, just make sure you put the mosquito covers on them when you’re done grabbing what you want.
” Paige points to the folding table set up near the dock.
It’s filled with platters of fruit, cheeses, meats, and an array of sweets.
It’s so like Paige to go all out for something like this.
“Ruby said we could make s’mores!” Aiden chirps.
Paige bends to his level and offers him a high five. “That sounds like an awesome idea, my dude!”
“Where’s Sofia?” he asks, referring to Paige and Cade’s two-year-old daughter.
“She’s up at the cottage with Nana. We didn’t want to have to worry about her being around the fire, but you can go up there and visit later if you get tired, ok?”
He shrugs and turns his attention to the juice pouch in his hand.
“No pie?” Paige asks Ruby, smiling like they’re in on some secret together.
“Nope.”
“Does that mean what I think it means?” Ruby mimes zipping her lips and Paige squeals. “I want details later!”
I nudge Ruby with my elbow. “What was that all about?”
“Oh, nothing. Girl stuff.”
Fuck my life. I didn’t realize she’d been here long enough to have inside jokes with my friends.
Dean and Cara are the last to join us, and we all settle around the fire, some on blankets and lawn chairs. Others, like me and Ruby, are on logs.
Cara fidgets with the long ginger braid cascading over her shoulder. “Sorry, we’re late. I had to stop by the house to change out of my scrubs.”
“And I had to help,” Dean says with a smirk as he wraps her in his arms.
Cara backhands his chest and rolls her eyes.
My buddy, Dean, is a Clark Kent look-alike who spends his days in suits, working for some high-powered real estate developer. They’ve been together for almost three years, and we’re all waiting for the proposal.
He shows up to the gym a few times a week when Cara’s working nights in the labor and delivery ward.
I think he gets lonely in his apartment when she’s not there.
They split time between her house in Midtown and his apartment on Main Street.
Honestly, I don’t understand why they haven’t moved in together, but it’s none of my business.
I don’t know the first thing about healthy relationships; who am I to judge?
“So, what are we celebrating?” Ivy asks, leaning against her husband as they watch Aiden and Rylin play with rocks along the shore.
My eyes automatically travel to Ruby’s face, like they always seem to do, and she has a suspicious grin on her face. “What do you know, Goldie?”
She shrugs and hides her smile behind her glass of wine.
Paige glances up at her husband, seated next to her on a quilt, and he gives her a quiet nod.
“I’m pregnant.” Paige presses her hands against her lower belly. “And it’s a boy.”
“Ha! I knew it!” Maggie squeals, rushing over to pull her best friend into a hug.
“How did you know?” Paige asks.
“You aren’t drinking, and you haven’t even touched the cold cuts.”
“She’s also been uncharacteristically bitchy lately. No offense,” Ivy adds.
Paige laughs. “None taken. The first trimester was a nightmare.”
I lock eyes with Cade and raise my glass in a silent toast. He nods once and turns his attention back to Paige.
“Miles is a great name,” Miles says as he pops a handful of something into his mouth at the buffet table. “And you don’t run the risk of stealing our baby name because there won’t be any Miles Juniors running around.”
“Unless the vasectomy fails,” Cara replies offhandedly.
Miles’s eyes widen. “Wait, what? That’s a thing?”
She downs the rest of her wine and says, “Yep. Wrap it up, Barlow.”
Miles sulks like he’s just heard the worst news of his life. Maggie wraps her arms around his waist, and he looks at her like she’s the beginning and end of everything.
He strokes a hand through her long, dark hair and kisses her forehead. It’s nice to see him settling down. He chased Maggie for two years before she finally gave in, but the challenge was good for him. She’s good for him.
It must be nice to be able to love someone so freely. Two years of mutual pining has nothing on ten years of unrequited affection, but I’m happy for them and not at all jealous. I down the rest of my beer and grab another.
Aiden stumbles over some rocks as he approaches Ruby, and she catches him in her arms.
“Whoa, buddy,” she says. “First day with the new feet?”
He giggles and rights himself. “Can we make s’mores now?”
Ruby pulls out the ingredients and skewers.
She helps Aiden until he gets the hang of it, then she does the same with Rylin.
I watch the whole scene play out, entranced by her kindness and patience.
A lesser person would get tired of the barrage of questions and the dropped marshmallows, but not Ruby.
She laughs it off and answers every query with a smile on her face.
The kids end up devouring two s'mores each before they get bored and ditch us to play hide-and-seek with Uncle Miles. Ruby scoots in closer to me and lays her head on my shoulder, and a quiet peace settles over us.
I never expected to have such a close-knit group of friends.
I was reluctant to be brought into the fold at first, but I’m thankful I have them to lean on.
Things have changed a lot in recent years.
While they’re all breaking off into couples and starting their own families, I’m still figuring shit out.
I’m happy for them, but even I can admit it’s sometimes lonely on the outside looking in.