Chapter 23

Wyatt

Ruby chuckles as our gazes meet again, the first time she’s taken her eyes off of her phone since her parents went to bed. Shit, I hate those things at times. People sometimes don’t talk as much as they should.

“You do know that damn lake is full of fish, don’t you?” Ruby puts her phone down in her lap.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean he’ll catch anything. Being around me is fucking bad luck. Don’t you know that?” I bellow. I stare at the beautiful woman sitting here not more than five feet from me.

“You are not,” she assures me, giving me a big smile.

“Yeah, I am. I fuck up everything I touch,” I admit coldly, glancing at the bonfire.

I don’t know what it is about fire, but it mesmerizes me. It helps me relax and feel at peace with myself. The fire does that right at this moment.

Especially when I have something to say to Ruby.

“Hey, I want to apologize for the canoe,” I start. I peer over at her again.

“What about it?” she asks so innocently. “It wasn’t your fault it tipped over. And besides, you saved me. You know I can’t swim.”

“Yeah, I remember, Rubes.”

“So, around me, you’re pretty good luck. You’ve saved me from that lake twice now,” she says smiling.

I guess she’s right when I think about it. As my mind lets go of the thought, another creeps into my head. This one a lot less innocent.

I want to ask her something personal, but I don’t want to offend her or weird her out. I don’t know that she’s been with a guy, at least from what little bit Jake had told me and from what I read in her journal the other night.

“I actually didn’t mean that at first. I mean, I’m sorry for overstepping. I shouldn’t have made you kiss me,” I admit.

She stares at me like she doesn’t know what I’m fucking talking about.

Ruby stares at me, waiting for me to say something else.

And I think of the words, afraid I’ve fucked this up. “You know, when I pushed you to the floor of the canoe, kissed you, and rubbed my hands up and down your amazing body?”

Her stare turns to a grin. No words. I am pretty sure she fucking liked it.

She’s even blushing, I think. The fire does kind of distort color, but if I had to guess, she’s pinker than usual.

But even if she did like it, I still shouldn’t have done it. I should have let her make the first move. If she wanted to, she would have. At least in my mind.

I stir the bonfire a little to keep the fire going so we can cook the fish Jake will hopefully catch. I’m fucking starving.

Ruby glances over at the fire. Her eyes glue themselves to the fire, like she’s avoiding what I’m going to say next. If she doesn’t look at me, then I’m not there.

I bring her back to the conversation. “What happened on the lake won’t happen again. I promise. Unless you want it to.”

She peers at me. She opens her mouth to say something, but nothing comes out.

I’m about to continue what I was saying, but on second thought, I move my folding chair over closer to Ruby. I want to make sure she hears every word that comes out of mouth.

“Ruby, I fucking like you. Since the first time Jake brought me to your house, I’ve always been so attracted to you that it hurts,” I confess, pouring my heart out to her.

I take her left hand in my right one and squeeze it. I let go about as quick.

Shit. I realize I probably shouldn’t have done that. Hell, I’m apologizing for nearly fucking her against a tree in the woods.

Ruby gives me this gawky teenage stare, just like she did back when we were kids. Shit, I loved that look back then, and I still love it today. She hasn’t changed a bit in that aspect.

She snaps out of her stare and grabs my hand. “Wyatt—”

“Let me finish. When I liked you years ago, I was afraid things would be weird between Jake and me. I didn’t want to fuck up my friendship with him.”

I put a little bit of distance between us. “But it cost me something greater. I didn’t pursue a relationship that might have been a great one.”

“People date best friend’s siblings all the time. Things wouldn’t have been weird unless you allowed it. Love happens whether we want it to or not,” she responds.

Fuck, she does have a point.

I start to say something, but she puts her finger on my lips. I want to fucking kiss it so badly. I want to wrap my arms around her and fuck her here right now.

But I won’t.

I can’t.

I just told her I was sorry for trying to do it earlier. I’m done. I have to resist, as hard as that might be.

And it’s fucking hard. Trust me.

Ruby’s looking at me. “We don’t get to pick who we love. I believe it happens when we find the one we’re supposed to be with. Don’t you?”

I don’t have an answer for her right away. This relationship shit isn’t really my thing. After all, I consider her family my family; I didn’t have much of one growing up.

She stares back at the bonfire. It’s died down a little bit from when I stirred it a little bit ago.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t have thought that way. I was fucking stupid for thinking that we couldn’t date back then.” I look at the fire, too.

Ruby scoots her chair closer to me and grabs my hand. “You’re not stupid. You’re one of the kindest men I’ve had the privilege to know. I’m glad you and Jake are friends. I would have never met you if you hadn’t been.”

“You’re right.”

She grins at me, and I smile back at her.

Our gazes return to the fire.

We don’t say anything for a couple of minutes. Instead, we bask in the silence and allow the fire to hypnotize us with its tantalizing flames.

I loop my arm around her and hug her tight. She’s not telling me to back off.

Her journal said it all when I snuck into her room and read what I did. She wanted to be with me back in our younger days. Her actions right now tell me she still feels the same way.

How fucking stupid of me. How could I have let something like being friends with Jake come between the girl I liked and a relationship that could have happened years ago?

I keep beating myself up for being so fucking dumb. I should have gone for it anyway, followed my heart the way I really wanted to do. And not let my best friend get in the way—even if she is his sister.

An idea dawns on me, and I break the silence. “I want to make this up to you.”

“Make up what?” she asks.

We look at each other, still holding hands.

“For the lost time. I want us to go on a real first date. When we get back to reality after this trip, I want to take you to dinner at a nice place so we can talk and really get to know each other,” I divulge. I don’t take my eyes off of her.

“I would like that very much,” she says, accepting my offer. My heart jumps. Her brown eyes are unwavering.

“I mean, I know we’ve been around each other growing up, but I’m sure I don’t know everything about you. And most especially these last few years. I haven’t seen any of you very much.”

She’s taking in every word I say. Like a child seeing Santa for the first time.

“That’s true. We have a lot of shit to catch up on.”

I glance down at our hands, still together.

Off in the distance, we hear Jake holler. I’m guessing he’s catching fish—even in the fucking dark.

Ruby breaks our silence this time. “It doesn’t matter what Jake or my parents, for that matter, think. I want to see what will happen next.”

“Should we set a date then?” I propose, coyly.

“Why don’t we wait to decide on the day until we get back home?” she asks. “I have a really needy boss to have to plan around.”

“Fair enough,” I reply. I have a lot to say about that fucking boss of hers, but now isn’t the time. “And another thing…”

“What’s that?”

“I’m sorry for not asking you out on a date back then.”

“I accept,” she says quickly. “But what I won’t accept is your apology for what happened on the lake.” She grins at me again.

Shit. That smile gets me every time.