Page 185 of Show Me

“Yes.” Because I’d been clear. Hadn’t I? No relationships. No expectations No pressure. That had always been the deal.

Lindsey’s eyebrows arch. “You think you made that clear?”

“I know I did.”

She laughs once under her breath. “Wow.”

“What?”

“Nothing,” she says lightly. “It’s interesting hearing you repeat the same speech.”

Something about the way she says it grates instantly. My patience thins another notch. “I never promised you anything,” I say. “I told you what this was from the beginning.”

“And what was it?”

The question should be easy to answer. It’s always the same answer. I don’t believe in relationships. They don’t last. Not where I’m concerned anyway. My last serious girlfriend, Claire, dumped me when my mom left. Said I wasn’t fun anymore. Too depressing to be around.

Apparently, no one wants the happy-go-lucky guy when life gets real. She should’ve been there for me, but she wasn’t. My life had turned on its head. My mom disappeared. Left me and my dad and never came back.

But instead of giving my standard response, my brain flashes somewhere it shouldn’t. Ruby asleep against my chest. Ruby in my kitchen. Ruby laughing beside the pig pen. Ruby’s overnight bag sitting in my room. Life has been real recently, and no one has left.

Wrong conversation. Wrong woman. I shove the thought aside. “You knew I wasn’t looking for anything serious.” The words come out flat. Dismissive. And I can’t find the energy to care.

Lindsey studies me too long. Then her mouth curves. “And Ruby knows that too?”

The question lands like a warning shot. I cross my arms. “Ruby is not your business.”

“Interesting answer. But not what I asked. Does she know that you prefer hookups with no emotional entanglements?”

“She’s a friend, and she knows where I stand.” Even saying it now feels off. Incomplete. Like the words stopped fitting somewhere along the way.

“You should probably clarify that with her. You wouldn’t want any other misunderstandings.”

“Let. It. Go.” The woman pisses me the fuck off. If it wasn’t unprofessional, I’d tell my crew to go and not finish the project. But Brookhaven is a small town, and reputation is everything in a place like this.

“Absolutely.” Lindsey’s gaze flicks briefly over my shoulder. Then back to me. Slow. Measured. “I don’t think there’s anything else to say.”

Something cold settles low in my stomach. Lindsey has been too calm during this entire conversation. The hair on the back of my neck stands.

I turn to find Ruby standing at the edge of the driveway beside the side gate. A folder hanging loosely from her fingers. Not dropped. Not trembling dramatically. Just… forgotten.

Her face is pale. Expression unreadable in a way that instantly feels worse than anger. And all at once I understand exactly what Lindsey just did.

She didn’t come out here to argue. She came out here to make sure Ruby heard every word.

Chapter Ninety-Seven

Ruby

I shouldn’t have come. That’s the first thought that hit me as I stopped at the corner of the house, the folder heavy in my hands.

“You knew I wasn’t looking for anything serious.” Xavier’s voice was cold and dismissive as he responded to something Lindsey asked him.

He wasn’t supposed to be here. Why is he here?

“And Ruby knows that too?”

Xavier answered moments later, steady and familiar. “She’s a friend, and she knows where I stand.”