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Okay, Ruby is not going anywhere tonight until she sobers up, not unless she’s got me as a bodyguard. She’s cute when she’s drunk, though. “You said it just fine, Royal Pain in the Ass.” I pull out my wallet and take out a quarter. “Heads!” I flip it, and win.
“Uno,” I declare. “I will destroy you.”
I let her shuffle, and then I deal.
The Uno gods are mostly in my favor. I win our first round. Then she demands a rematch and wins.
So I demand a rematch, and now it’s best two out of three.
“Now we’re playing Candyland,” I inform her.
Ruby promptly starts singing “The Good Ship Lollipop.” She stands up and starts dancing to it. I watch, fascinated.
“So much blackmail material,” I tell her.
“Psssh. If you tell anyone, I will end you. No, worse, I’ll tell my sister that you were mean to me.”
I shudder at the thought. “That is worse. Rowan’s scary.” Honestly, the thing that’s most scary about Rowan, and Mason, is the thought of losing their friendship. I have to keep reminding myself to tread carefully with Ruby.
Then again, if I were smart, I wouldn’t have blackmailed her into this fake girlfriend thing. Spending time with Ruby James is turning out to be addictive.
I take out the Candyland game, lay it out, and we play.
This time she wins first, so I demand a rematch. Then I win.
“I’m bored with Candyland,” she announces. “Let’s play chess. I’m killer at chess. Well, when I’m sober I’m killer at chess.”
“Checkers?” I suggest.
“You’re on! And you’re going down, sucker!” Then she grins at me.
“You’re allowed to say, ‘That’s what she said.’ You wanted to say it, didn’t you?”
“So badly,” I admit. “Also, stop reading my mind. You’re freaking me out.” We can’t have couple telepathy. We’re not a couple.
Also, if she could read my mind, she’d probably slap me, seeing how much I have very dirty thoughts about things I’d like to do to her.
Three games later, we’ve completely lost track of who’s ahead.
“Pretty sure it’s me,” she says.
“Pretty sure it’s not. I’m the sober one, so I get to decide. I definitely win.” I pick up the games and return them to Clair’s desk. Then I return to the bed and sit down next to her. “Tell me what has you so upset.”
For a minute I think she’s going to refuse. I’m probably cheating, after all. Then her shoulders sag and she lets out a huge sigh.
“Fine,” she mumbles. “You are not allowed to call me stupid.”
“I would never! I’m much better at insults than that.”
“I had an affair with my professor.” She stares at me defiantly. I just nod in understanding.
“Is that what had you so upset the first night I met you?”
“Yeah. He dumped me. Said I was getting too attached. And he was a total asshole about it. He didn’t just dump me, he threatened me and said if I told anyone, he’d ruin me. He’d get me kicked out of school and I’d lose my scholarship and my reputation and blah blah blah. He’d make me look like a crazy stalker.”
My fists are clenching. Anger boils through me, thick and hot.
It’s not cool for a professor to have an affair with a student, ever, even if she’s a legal adult. The balance of power makes it wrong and creepy. Even worse is him dumping her, being a real shit about it, and threatening her in any way.
