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She was the epitome of a queen.
Nothing evil about it.
six
. . .
Ruby
I glanceddown at my phone and noticed the time. I couldn’t believe the way the morning had gone.
I’d cried in front of River Pierce.
And talked to him like we were friends.
I guess I’d hit my breaking point today. We all had one, and apparently, I wasn’t immune to it either.
“Well, this has been enough show-and-tell for one day, don’t you think? We should probably get back upstairs.”
“One more question.”
“I wouldn’t have guessed you to be a guy who likes this much small talk,” I groaned.
“How would you have guessed me to be?”
I didn’t hesitate because I’d assessed who he was the moment I’d met him. “A wild river.”
He laughed. “Touché. Tell me why you were upset in the elevator.”
I let out a long breath. I’d already shared too much. But for whatever reason, I didn’t feel panicked about opening up to this man. My father clearly loved him, and he didn’t strike me as someone who would tell your secrets. His dark eyes burned intomine, letting me know he wasn’t leaving this table without an answer.
“Being home exhausts me sometimes. I had to pay off Zane’s debt to Sam, which took my tip money for the week. My mother just told me she couldn’t make rent. Again. So next week’s tips will be gone, as well. It’s such a vicious cycle with them, and I can’t seem to get away from it. And then I think you hit a nerve this morning because a lot of what you said was true.” I held my hands up to stop him from gloating. “Not everything. I’m definitely not in denial about who I am. But I was surprised that you read me so well. I did run away from here because I was drowning. But distance didn’t make it stop. It’s a lot sometimes. And the one really good thing in my life is my father. Seeing him embarrassed about not making it to the bathroom put me over the edge. I’m paying off bookies for my brother and cleaning up my mom’s shitty trailer, and I couldn’t even make it to the hospital in time to help my dad. He should have been my first priority.”
“Jesus. You can’t save the world, Ruby. No wonder you’re so fucking exhausted.”
“Have you met my family? Lionel’s the easy one.” I forced a smile.
“It’s not your job to take care of everyone. And Lionel is fine. Shit happens. Well, hopefully not literally for him.”
A loud laugh escaped my lips. I didn’t laugh often, but it felt good. This day was full of surprises.
“Let’s hope not.”
“My point is… he had a stroke. He wet himself. They’ll clean him up, and he’ll get better with time. It’s okay. You can’t be everything to everyone.”
“Wow. That was deep. Sounds like you speak from experience.”
“Nah. I’m all about boundaries. I choose who I’m willing to go out on a limb for. Not everyone deserves that, you know? But Lionel does. Let’s go check on him.”
I nodded and pushed to my feet. “Thanks for the chat. And I meant what I said earlier: If you tell anyone I cried, I’ll kill you slowly and painfully.”
“Maybe I’ll surprise you by keeping my mouth shut. Not everyone is going to let you down.”
His words hit, and a lump formed in my throat.
I was used to being let down, wasn’t I?
We stepped onto the elevator, and I glanced over at him, my eyes scanning the colorful ink on his forearms. “Well, thanks for that. Do we go back to hating each other now?”
