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“Well, you’ve already done that. But I’m sure there are plenty of women out there who would like to take their shot and leave with me right now.” I turned and walked out of the kitchen, and people were staring as if they’d heard the fight going on.
Evie was right there, waiting for me.
She reached for my hand and walked beside me toward the exit. I flipped the preppy professor the bird as I passed him, and he just sat there with his wineglass, gaping at me.
When I got to the door, I turned around and found those hazel eyes on me. They were sapphire blue tonight with gold rings around them.
Angry. Hurt. Confused.
Good. I hope she felt a little bit of the pain that I felt.
I needed her to feel something, or it meant that none of this was real.
“You okay?” Evie asked as I pushed through the door, and we made our way outside.
“I will be.” I dropped her hand. “But I need to be alone right now. I appreciate you being there, though.”
She nodded. “I know you do. I just didn’t want you to walk out of there alone.”
“Thanks.” I held up a hand as I stepped back. “Take care, Evie.”
I watched as her friends came walking out of the bar and told her they were heading to the Golden Goose to grab some food, and she fell in line beside them.
I pulled out my phone and opened the group chat and texted my boys.
I need you.
I knew that was all I had to say. When I got to my house, they were already there.
Ride or die.
thirty-two
. . .
Ruby
“Well, this was an interesting night,”Dereck said, as I finished closing the bar. We were the last two people here, and I couldn’t wait to get home, because I’d barely been holding it together the last few hours.
“I guess you could say that.”
I reached for my keys and walked him through the kitchen to the back door. Thankfully, he had a rental car of his own, and I would finally be alone in my car as soon as I said my goodbyes.
He’d come all the way here to talk to me, and falling apart in front of him wouldn’t be fair.
“Listen, Ruby, I know that scene earlier was upsetting.” He cleared his throat and reached out to touch my shoulder when we stopped in front of our cars. He was a good guy, and I knew he felt bad for me after he’d witnessed River losing his shit on both me and him.
And unfortunately, River’s words were embedded in my head.
And now you’re jumping right back into his bed, huh?
Rule number one. No catching feelings. I guess the evil queen was the only one still playing the game.
I couldn’t wrap my head around the way that he’d reacted. I was planning to go talk to him about my decision after work tonight, now that I had spoken to both Dean Langston and Terrence. I saw this day going a whole lot differently than it had.
I also did not expect Dereck to show up in Magnolia Falls. I hadn’t returned his calls over the last two days because I didn’t know what I was going to do. I’d made the call to Dean Langston this morning and apologized for changing my mind, and Dereck had already been on his way here.
“I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me. It was sweet of you to come here,” I said, but all I wanted at the moment was to get into my car and be alone.
