Chapter 18
WWDD
? Have The Heart - Post Malone, Dolly Parton
Liam
The fever broke about an hour ago, and Aiden’s been sleeping peacefully ever since. I have my back propped against the small headboard in his room with the local gazette spread across my lap. I’ve read the same passage no less than eight times, but I keep getting distracted by thoughts of Ruby.
I haven’t seen her since I left her in bed, and my mind continues to replay the moment right before I left when she forced a smile and shifted away from me. I can’t help but feel like I missed something crucial in the exchange, though I don’t know what it could be.
I don’t have too long to dwell on it, though, as Aiden’s eyes slowly blink open. He groans and stretches his arms above his head, then snuggles into my side.
I glide my hand over his curls and kiss his forehead—still no fever. “Feeling better?”
“A little.”
“Yeah? Think you might want to eat something?”
Aiden nods. I start to extricate myself from the bed, but Ruby’s voice stops me.
“I’ll make him some toast.” I didn’t even hear her approach. She’s standing in the doorway in my fire department tee with her arms crossed over her chest. “I ran down to the store and got a few things. I’ll be right back.”
“Thanks, Ruby.”
She offers me another forced smile and disappears from view. When she returns, she has a lap tray loaded down with items. She places it on the dresser and holds out two bottles. “Do you like strawberry or grape?”
“Grape,” Aiden replies timidly.
She pours a generous amount of purple Pedialyte into the small plastic cup and sets the tray over his lap. “We have toast, white rice, applesauce, and my personal favorite, oatmeal.”
Aiden scrunches up his nose as he looks over his options. “I want Froot Loops.”
She takes a seat near his legs on the opposite side of the bed from me and offers him a genuine smile.
“Sorry, little man. No sugar until you’re feeling better.
I know this stuff doesn't look great, but I promise it’s not as bad as it seems. You just have to fill your belly for now.
Once you can keep your food down, we can try other things, ok? ”
If it were anybody else telling Aiden the same thing, he’d put up more of a fight, but it’s Ruby.
He picks up the spoon and takes a bite of the oatmeal.
Aiden finishes most of the bowl along with half a slice of toast and the entire glass of Pedialyte, then he shifts back onto his side and snuggles closer to me.
“All done?” I ask.
A quiet hum is all I get for an answer, and his eyes drift shut again.
Ruby leans over him and kisses his forehead. She’s so close, I can just make out the scent of her shampoo. My fingers itch to touch her, but she’s gone before I can give in to the impulse.
She takes the tray from his lap and heads toward the door.
“Thank you. I don’t know if I could’ve gotten him to eat if you hadn’t been here.”
“Anything for Aiden,” she says.
Ruby has been uncharacteristically subdued throughout the entire interaction, and I’m a little on edge. The feeling sticks with me the rest of the afternoon and into the evening.
Hours later, Ruby bounds downstairs wearing a pair of painted-on bell-bottom jeans and boots with some kind of ruffled crop top, her signature white cowboy hat in hand.
She’s all done up with a shimmery lip gloss accentuating her perfect fucking mouth, and her eyes are smokey and lined in black, making her blue irises pop.
She looks like every guy’s wet dream, and fuck if it doesn’t make me want to throw her over my shoulder and carry her back up those stairs. I swear I can still taste her on my tongue—still feel her body trembling beneath my touch.
“I’m going out. Don’t wait up.” She snags the keys off the hook by the door and rushes outside.
Untamed possessiveness comes over me, and the screen door slams against the frame as I follow close behind her.
“Where are you going?”
“The Ridge.” Her footsteps crunch on the gravel drive as she strides around the hood of her old pickup.
“Alone? Is that a good idea?”
“It’s a small town. I’m bound to see someone I know. Besides, your best friend literally owns the place.” She slides into the driver’s seat and reaches for the door handle, but I slap a hand against the frame to stop her before she can close it. She raises one brow.
“I’m going with you.”
“No. You should stay with Aiden.”
“It’s late. Aiden’s asleep and Connor’s spending the night.”
“Great! You can have some guy time, then. Watch sports ball, compare body counts, or do… whatever it is men do when women aren’t around.”
Her clipped tone stuns me. I’ve never had her anger directed at me. “What’s this about? Did I do something?”
She barks out an insincere laugh. “Why do you assume this has anything to do with you? Maybe I just need a break.”
“From this”—I gesture to the house—“or from us?” I press her hand to my chest and hold it there.
She pulls back rapidly. The blatant brushoff stings more than I care to admit. “From life, Liam. I just want to go out and not think for a while. Is that a crime? ‘Cause if it is, you can handcuff me right now.” She mockingly holds out her arms, wrists pressed together.
“Keep it up, and I’ll give you something better to do with that smart mouth.”
She rolls her lips together and glances away from me with a slight tremble in her chin. Staring straight ahead, her voice low and pained, she says, “I wish you would.”
In a stunning moment of perfect clarity, I step away from her truck and slip my hands into my pockets. She stays there for a brief moment and closes the door without sparing me a second glance. I watch her leave with my heart in my throat, knowing I deserve every bit of her scorn.
As her headlights disappear from view, my mind replays every almost kiss, every shared breath, every deliberate deflection.
My lips have traveled all over Ruby’s body, from the hollow of her throat to the base of her spine.
I’ve savored every single kiss but one, denying myself—and her—that final, monumental step.
Connor eyes me as I slump down in the armchair and absently rub at my aching temples. “Those were Ruby's revenge jeans. You fuck it up already?”
“Fuck off.”
He grabs the remote and mutes the TV. “What’d you do?”
“I think she’s mad that I haven’t kissed her.”
Eyes wide, he says, “You haven’t kissed her?”
“I’ve kissed her, but I haven’t kissed her. I’ve been avoiding it.”
“I’m not understanding. Explain it to me like I’m five.”
“We’ve done… other stuff. I just haven’t kissed her on the mouth.”
“So, you skipped first base and what? Struck out?”
“No, I hit a homerun, but it’s contested.”
“I have no idea what that means, and I’m running out of baseball references. But I do know Ruby is way out of your league.”
I toss a pillow clear across the room.
He draws his arms up to block it, chuckling. “Ok ok. Look. I’m the last person who should be giving you Ruby advice, but I’m gonna do it anyway. Ready?”
I toss up my hands, palms facing the ceiling, and stare at him expectantly.
“Kiss her.”
“That’s your advice?”
“Seems the only logical conclusion. If she’s mad that you haven’t kissed her, you should kiss her.”
I let out a frustrated groan. “It’s not that simple, man.”
“Or maybe it is that simple and you’re overthinking it like you always do because you’re afraid of the consequences.”
“What consequences?”
“If you kiss her, you have to admit that this thing between you two isn’t casual. Be honest with yourself, Liam. Could you walk away right now if you had to? If she asked you to?”
I drape my forearms over my knees and hang my head, staring at the hardwood like it holds all the answers. It doesn’t, but it doesn’t have to, because I knew it the moment Connor asked the question. There’s no walking away for me. Not now, not ever.
I glance across the room at my brother with his shit-eating grin. “Go. I’ll look after Aiden.”
I pull into the employee lot about an hour after Ruby left, parking beside Cade’s SUV. Knowing he was likely already here when Ruby arrived makes me feel better about letting her leave.
Years of memories come rushing back when I step inside the all-too-familiar bar. I worked countless shifts behind that bar and met some of my closest friends here. I love working full-time at the station, but being back almost makes me miss slinging drinks.
I search the room for luscious curves and golden hair, but I come up empty.
Cade spots me from his position behind the bar and waves me over. “Come crawling back?”
“Nope. Just here as a patron.”
“That’s new.”
“Yeah. Feels weird to be on the other side.”
“Beer?” he asks.
I nod, and he grabs a Guinness from the cooler. Cade places my drink on the coaster and leans his elbow on the bar.
“You seen Ruby?” I ask.
He points toward the far corner of the dimly lit room.
Beneath a pink neon sign, I catch a glimpse of a white cowboy hat.
At first glance, it looks like Ruby’s at a table surrounded by a small crowd of adoring fans.
Upon closer inspection, I recognize each one of them—Paige, Ivy, Maggie, and Olivia.
“She sent out a distress signal, and the cavalry responded,” Cade says. “What’d you do?”
“Why does everyone just assume I did something?”
“The jukebox played Ivy’s feminine rage playlist for an hour before you showed up. If that’s not a sign that someone fucked up, I don’t know what is.”
“You sure it wasn’t you?”
“Nah, I had my head between Paige’s thighs when she got the text.”
“Ok. Could be Miles. His track record wouldn't hold up in court.”
“Wow. Fuck me, I guess,” Miles says sarcastically as he slides into the empty seat beside me. “You the reason I’m not in bed with my wife right now?”
I throw up my hands and release a groan. “Yeah, I guess I am.”
Miles chuckles and spins on his stool, taking a long pull of his beer. “The first step is admitting it. Oh shit…”