Page 169 of Show Me

“He’s hungry.”

“He’s always hungry.”

“Same,” I shoot back, trying to push back the unease of spending time with my friends while pretending nothing's going on between Xavier and me.

They didn’t ask. But I know they wanted to. Every time the conversation drifted anywhere close to Xavier, I steered it somewhere else, to anything else.

I didn’t want to see the sympathy in their eyes when I insisted we were ‘just friends.’ Or hear myself say I was fine. None of us would believe it.

And Lindsey.... Of course she’d shown up. Maybe she was there for Sam. Maybe. But I couldn’t ignore the way her attention kept drifting back to Xavier. The way she’d found reasons to be near him. The way she’d watched him even when someone else was talking.

I knew that look. Not because I’d seen it on someone else. Because I’d spent weeks trying to hide it on myself.

And hearing him say we’re just friends to Lindsey shouldn’t hurt, because that’s the story we’re selling, but it did. Way more than I wanted it to.

He huffs a laugh as we near the pig pen. The second they spot the bucket, the entire pen comes alive. Grunts. Snorts. Piglets darting over one another like the world might end if breakfast is thirty seconds late.

“They act like you haven't fed them in a week.”

“They're dramatic.”

“You sure they didn’t learn that from you?”

I glance sideways. “I’ve never been dramatic.”

He laughs. The sound catches me off guard, sending a zing of adrenaline through me. “Ruby….”

“What?”

“You’ve argued with me over insulation.”

I cock my head sideways. “You were interfering when I had everything under control.”

“You gave me a ten-minute lecture because I called Samson ‘the pig.’”

This time, I cross my arms over my chest and tap my shoe on the ground, but my heart thuds harder. One of the things that’s always drawn me to Xavier is his sense of humor. “Because he has a name.”

His grin widens. “See?”

Laughter spills from my lips. “You forgot the part where you deserved every one of those lectures.”

“I probably did.” The seriousness of his tone takes me by surprise.

I stop at the gate, reaching for the latch. He notices. Doesn't say anything. His hand settles lightly against the middle of my back. Just enough. The hesitation disappears. I pull the gate open.

Samson lumbers over, giving Xavier an appraising look. Xavier looks right back. “I don’t think he likes me.”

“He doesn’t.”

“I appreciate the honesty.”

I dump feed into the trough. Samson shoulders another pig out of the way.

Xavier watches him. “He's kind of a jerk.”

I glance at Samson. Then at Xavier. “I can see why you two don’t get along.”

His head turns. “Did you compare me to a pig?”