AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I knew you sounded weird.” There was a muffled noise as if Sidney moved her phone. “What happened? What did Travis do?”
The anger inside Ruby boiled fast and hard. She so didn’t want to get into it, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. “Travis didn’t do anything. For once. This is all on Chance. He put us with Travis and Zach because he…” She still couldn’t believe it. “Because he was testing me.” She made a strangled sound. “Testing me. He said he wanted to make sure there were no feelings between me and Trav. Who the hell does something like that?” She rolled her head back and spied a hawk flying low over the trees. The large bird arced high and then floated on the breeze. Its solitary flight pulled at her, making her heart heavy.
“Son-of-a……” Ruby could hear the surprise in her friend’s voice. “He’s obviously insecure.”
“Ya think? God. I don’t even know what to say. I just feel so…”
“Upset?”
“Yep.”
“Pissed off?”
“Yes.”
“Betrayed?”
She nodded. “Exactly.”
There was a pause and her head filled with the sound of her own labored breathing. If anyone was in the immediate area they’d think she’d just run the Boston marathon.
“Do you think that maybe, even though he was totally wrong, I mean seriously wrong…But do you think that he kind of has a point?”
“What the hell does that mean?” Was everyone in her life lining up to kick her when she was feeling so damn vulnerable?
“Maybe there is unfinished business between you two.”
“I can’t believe you just said that.” She tried to keep the hurt from her voice. Sidney was her person. She should know better.
“Do you want me to be honest?”
“Of course I do but—“
“There’s something there between you guys. I don’t know what it is. Vibes maybe?”
“Vibes?” The word exploded like a shot and echoed over the course. “Are we talking singular or were there more than one?” Her sarcasm was scathing. “I barely talked to Travis.”
“It wasn’t the talking, Ruby. It was the way you looked at him. And the way he looked at you while you were busy ignoring him.”
Okay. Sidney was her best friend. And while Sidney wasn’t a huge fan of Chance (he wore too many pastels and carried a toothpick everywhere) she hated Travis.
Ruby swore under her breath. Maybe hate was a strong word, but Sid disliked him just as much as she disliked canned peas, and that was a lot. She was on Ruby’s side. But her last comment sure as hell sounded as if she was standing on the other side of the fence.
“Ruby?”
“I can’t do this right now.”
“I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Well you did.”
There was a pause.
“I’m sorry.”
“Look, don’t worry about me, Sid. I’ll be there in a bit.” Ruby pocketed her cell and headed for the bar. She needed to calm her nerves before she opened her mouth and said something she was going to regret. Right now, the only person she wouldn’t piss off was Mister Jack Daniels.
Thankfully, there were several bars in the large banquet room, and she made her way to the smallest one in the corner, not far from where she’d walked in off the terrace. Large green tropical plants gave some kind of cover, and she felt free of prying eyes. A young woman with dark hair and eyes was busy cutting lemons and limes as she approached. She wore a crisp conservative white blouse, which only managed to emphasize the colorful tattoos adorning her right arm. Creamy skin, large luminous eyes, and bright red lips gave the woman an exotic look.
