Page 249 of Show Me

“A little.”

“And?”

I stare at my untouched beer. “She needs time.”

He nods once, like he’d expected that answer.

I wouldn’t have come tonight except Jake said she was going out with the girls, and I needed to see her. To make sure she’s okay.

A woman slides into the space beside me that Connor vacated a few minutes before. Blonde. Pretty. Confident.

“You look bored,” she says.

“I’m not.”

She smiles anyway. “You here alone?”

“No.”

Her eyes sweep the room. “Girlfriend?”

My eyes find Ruby before I even think about it. “Yes.”

The answer comes without hesitation.

The woman pauses. Then smiles. “Well... she’s lucky.”

A humorless laugh slips out. “No, she’s not.”

Not after everything I put her through. But that’s not something I’m sharing with some stranger. My friends, sure. Some random woman who wants to hook up, not happening.

I step away from the bar. “Have a good night.”

Polite. Final. I move a couple of stools down by where Connor joined one of his fellow firefighters.

The bartender tips his head toward my beer. “You gonna drink that?”

I glance down at it. “Probably not.”

Connor watches the woman disappear into the crowd. “Old Xavier would’ve bought her another drink.”

I look back toward Ruby. She’s laughing at something Bella says. Small. Real. God, I missed that sound.

Connor bumps my shoulder. “You got it bad.”

I don’t bother denying it. “Yeah.”

I do.

Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Eight

Ruby

The door closes behind him. I hear it anyway. Even over Bella arguing with Jake about ranch on fries. Bella is vehemently opposed. Jake believes ranch goes on everything.

You’d think they were debating something with actual consequences instead of whether dipping a French fry in ranch is a crime against humanity.

“You weren’t listening.” Emily taps her fingertips on the table.