AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I knew a girl like Corinne when I was younger. A little bit bitchy, a lot self-centered, and ridiculously beautiful, she made life difficult for many girls, including me.
I might be older now and have a better understanding of what drives women like her—insecurity, fear, loneliness—but knowing those things doesn’t fix the way her targeted animosity makes me feel.
Lacking.
When I notice silence around the table again, I look up at Boyd, finding him watching me with a furrowed brow.
“I’m going to show Ruby around,” he says, giving the table a tight smile. “We’ll be back in a few. Bam, order me a beer and grab a cranberry juice for Ruby, yeah?”
Without waiting for his brother’s reply, he slips his hand into mine and leads me outside.
chapter eight
Boyd
I only have one thing on my mind when I lead Ruby to the outdoor deck at the back of The Mitch, and that’s getting her away from Corinne Paulson as quickly as possible.
My sister likes to play matchmaker, and I’m assuming if she’s inviting me out to drinks when she’s with Corinne, she has it in her mind that the two of us should get back together. It’s an idea that has absolutely no merit, seeing as how anything that involves me and an ex-girlfriend from a lifetime ago rekindling things makes my entire body want to hightail it back to Boston.
But that’s Bellamy: a little bit of meddlesome and a whole lot of love. She means well, though in the case of myself and Corinne, her efforts are severely misguided.
Ruby and I were only inside for a few minutes, but stepping back into the light of the cooling August evening still has me squinting and holding my hand up for a moment to ease the glare.
Not letting go of Ruby’s hand, I continue to lead her through the groups of people outside and over to an open space at the railing that has a decent view of the lake. Once we settle in, both of us leaning against the barrier and looking out at the water, I realize I’m not quite sure what to say.
Saying Ruby has nothing to worry about where Corinne is concerned makes a pretty big assumption regarding the state of things between the two of us, and I’m not sure how she’ll take it.
And really, I guess that’s the question of the night, huh? How deliberate do I want to be when it comes to Ruby?
Do I want things to be relaxed? Maybe friends, maybe more?
Do I want her to get a really good sense of the way her smile seems to wrap itself around my ribs and squeeze tight until I can barely breathe?
Maybe I should find a healthy medium between those two.
Putting parameters on things isn’t something I’m too familiar with, so I don’t know exactly how to move forward, especially considering my intentions with Ruby are still up in the air.
The only thing I do know for sure is that the girl I met on the plane, the one standing before me, is someone I want to get to know better.
So maybe I start there and see where it goes.
“Just to be clear,” I say, looking at Ruby’s profile as she watches a truck back an empty trailer into a nearby launch, “my plan tonight was to introduce you to Cedar Point, and for you to meet Bishop and Bellamy. I don’t know why Corinne is here, but if I had known she’d be here, I would have chosen to do something different.”
Ruby gives me a small, unsure smile, but her nose wrinkles and she looks down at a blue ring she wears on her thumb, twisting it around and around.
“The last thing I want to do is put pressure on you to hang out with me when you have family and…friends to catch up with,” she says. “I’m happy to go back to my night of snacks and sunset on the porch if you want to spend time with them.”
I’m already shaking my head.
“I don’t, though. I mean, yeah I want to hang out with my brother and sister, but I’ll see them tonight at the house. Corinne is just…” I wave a hand around, trying to find the right words. “A part of the past. Trust me when I say I am not interested in spending time with her when I’m in town.”
“I just don’t want to get in the way.” Ruby glances up at me then looks back at the water. “We’ve only been here a few minutes, and it seems like you don’t really know what to do with me.”
She says the last part with a little bit of a laugh, though it doesn’t sound like she thinks her words are funny.
I’m confused, not understanding where this discomfort is coming from, whether it’s about Corinne or the bar or my siblings or something else.
“I feel like I’m missing something here, and I need you to fill me in.”
