CHAPTER TEN
Ruby
Today has been one of the longest days ever. It feels like every teenager I’ve spoken to has been a smartass to me, and I’m beyond ready to go home. Unfortunately, I have to submit my grades for the quarter, and it has to be done before I leave.
My kids are doing well, and that makes me smile. History has always been one of my loves, and to know my kids are doing well with it, makes me incredibly happy. Maybe I’m doing something right. On days when I totally question it, I can look at these grades and know I’ve helped them accomplish this success.
As a first-year teacher, this is everything I can hope for. Maybe I’m not changing lives, but more than anything, they’re listening to me. It’s enough to bring a smile to my face. Glancing at the clock on my computer, I give myself a goal of getting these all entered within the next hour. If I do, then I still have time to take a spin class at the gym. Putting in my earbuds, I crank the music on my phone and get to work.
I’m into it, moving my head to beat as Justin Timberlake talks about summer love (hey, I like the oldies), when I feel lips on the side of my neck, the scrape of stubble against my smooth skin. I jump, but don’t scream as I smell the beard oil I gave Caleb. His arm snakes around my neck, my eyes fluttering down to check for the ink on his arm to confirm it’s him. Closing my eyes, I lean my head back against him, exposing my neck to his lips. Reaching up, I take out my earbuds.
“Hey.” My voice is hoarse, as I feel his tongue play against the pulse beating just beneath.
His moan is a deep sound in my ear that causes goose bumps to pop out on my arms, all the way down my body. I feel it in every part he’s touched of me. My nipples harden against the cups of my bra, my core hums with the knowledge of how only he can possess me. I’ve only had him once, but I want him again, again, and again.
“Hey yourself.”
God that deep growl of his is enough to make any mere mortal fall to his feet and offer to worship the ground he walks on. When he loosens his hold on me, I physically feel the loss, but turn in my chair, to look up at him as he extends to his full height. Sitting here, I’m eye level with his flat stomach, just below is his belt buckle and I can see he’s just as affected by me as I am by him. My lips are dry, and my tongue sneaks out to moisten the bottom one. He groans, reaching forward with his hand to curve it around my jaw, his thumb swipes against the wettened flesh. “So, is this how it’s going to be?” Caleb asks, that voice of his is deep, hoarse, dark.
“What do you mean?” I’m genuinely confused, fighting to make sense of what he’s asked. Pushing back the brain fog only this man can give me, I glance up, my eyes meeting his.
He leans down so that we’re even with one another. Immediately my gaze goes to the pink fullness of his lips. I’m hit with a memory of them being wrapped around my nipple as he thrust into my body. As his eyes flash, it’s like he knows what I’m thinking.
“I mean–” He tilts my chin forward “–now that we’ve had a piece of each other, is this how it’s going to be all the time? Sparks flying, heart pounding, goose bump-inducing awareness between the two of us? It’ll calm down, right? Because if I get hard every time I see you, this is gonna be a problem.”
“I don’t know,” I admit as I shake my head in his grip. “I’ve never experienced it before, you’re the first, hot stuff.” I give him a grin.
The side of his mouth tilts in a smirk, before a brilliant smile spreads across his face. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
He nods. “I like that shit.”
A giggle rips from deep in my throat. “I like that shit, too.”
He laughs along with me, before he straightens up and we physically take a step apart from one another.
“What are you doing here?” It’s not very often I see him at school.
“Picked up Kels after her play practice at the elementary school and brought her over for Mom. Dad’s working, and Mom said something about having to get quarter grades in. I’m assuming that’s why you’re here.”
He drags an empty chair over and has a seat. “It’s been a long day,” he sighs. “It’s nice to sit down, I’ve been on my feet forever.”
“It has been a long day,” I agree with him, and suddenly I’m happy that I have the option of basically sitting down whenever I want.
“What’s your plans?” He leans forward, putting his hand on my thigh.
I love that he always seems to have to touch me, to want to be connected whenever we’re together. “I have about ten more minutes to go here, and then I was going to hit up a spin class, but it looks like I’m not going to make it.” I frown as I check the clock. Caleb interrupting has put me behind, but I can’t be sorry to see him today.
“Well that’s easy, come work out with me and Morgan,” he says as if it’s no big deal.
“Have you lost your damn mind?” My voice is as high-pitched as I’ve ever heard it. “Why would I want to go embarrass myself like that?”
He tilts his head to the side, before he huffs out a breath. “Yeah, you do spin class, we don’t. To do spin, you have to be in decent shape. Trust me, you’ll do fine with us, and you’ll get to spend time with me,” he says with a cocky grin.
“Okay,” I agree. “Don’t make me regret this, but give me a few minutes and then we can go.”
Cruise
“It’s not much,” I warn Ruby as we stand at the front door of my apartment. “But I don’t really need much, since I’m not here half the time.”
“It’s fine,” she laughs. “What you have can’t be much different than what I have.”
What she says is true, but for some reason, I’m a little embarrassed to show her where I live. Opening the door, I enter and hold it open for her. I left a light on before I went to work, in case I had to stay late. I hate coming in to a dark house.
“It’s very you.” Her eyes are taking in the sparse furnishings. “There’s not a lot of clutter, very no-nonsense,” she teases me.
“You’re so funny. I’ll have you know I spend most of my time in the bedroom.”
“Oh, I bet you do.” She winks.
“Look at you, getting that personality.” I crowd her into the door I just closed. I allow myself a moment to capture her lips, to let my tongue tangle with hers, to feel the grip of her nails in my shoulders as she hangs on. When I pull back, we both seemed dazed, and that’s honestly the way I like it.
“We should probably change and get that work out in.” She licks her lips, and I imagine she’s tasting me.
“Yeah, c’mon. Maybe we should change separately.”
“Sounds like a good idea.”
“You take Kelsea’s room. It’s hers when she’s here.”
Showing her to Kelsea’s room, I leave, to give her privacy before I go to my room. When I shut the door, I take a deep breath, leaning my head against it. No woman has ever affected me the way she does, and it’s throwing me off. Groaning, I let my forehead hit the door, before I go grab some clothes, and hope to God I’m not tortured for the next hour.
* * *
“I thought you said you weren’t in good shape,” I huff as I run on the treadmill next to Ruby’s.
She’s keeping pace with me, possibly going a little faster. Morgan has abandoned us to work on his abs; he’s not much of a runner.
“I didn’t think I was.” She gives me a look.
“You just don’t give yourself enough credit. Obviously you’re in good shape.” I let my eyes linger on her ass in the pair of leggings she wears. I’m not a huge fan of workout clothes as regular clothes on women, but if she wore those all the time, I wouldn’t complain. When we finally break the five-mile mark, I slow the pace down, holding my sides as we cool our bodies and stealing glances at her as she does the same.
“So what else do you normally do?” she asks as she holds her arms above her head, stretching them behind her back.
“Today is pull-up day. You can hang out with us for a few more minutes and then we can go grab some dinner, or you can head back to my apartment and get changed. Your call.”
Her eyes show interest. “I think I’d like to watch you do some pull-ups.”
I’d be lying if I didn’t admit the fact she wants to watch this is a turn-on for me. I like that she likes my body; I enjoy hers, I want her to enjoy mine. I try to keep my head in the game as I walk over to where Morgan is, and he helps me strap the weight around my waist. He and I have been working out together a long time, we move like a well-oiled machine. I jump up, grabbing the bar and start counting my reps, feeling the burn in my arms and abs.
“Is that as hard as it looks?” Ruby questions from where she sits in front of me. “I mean the way all your muscles are rippling, the way your veins are showing. It looks like you’re working pretty damn hard.”
“It’s not easy,” I huff out. “But this is the best way for me to stay lean and take down those guys who like to run away.”
“Plus he likes showing off for you,” Morgan inserts his voice in the conversation.
“He’s not wrong, but he should totally shut the fuck up,” I groan as I finish up my reps.
The three of us are taking a rest, drinking water, and trying to let our bodies recover slightly when Morgan looks over at the two of us. “So dinner, or did you two have something planned?”
“When he says dinner, he means The Café,” I clue her in on what we do most nights. “You want to come with us?”
“Sure, I was going to eat a frozen organic pizza, but I’ll take The Café any day.”
When the two of us get back into my apartment, I grip her hand in mine. “Thanks for coming with us. It’s weird to say, but neither Morgan nor I have had a woman in our lives for a while and it’s been the two of us as best friends for the last six years.”
“Since you joined the MTF?”
“No, I had to do a year on the police force before I could move to the MTF. I don’t have military training like everyone else, so there were special qualifications I had to fulfill to be a part of it. Not that it really matters, I would have done whatever, but…” I shrug. “Morgan and I have always had each other’s backs when no one else was around, ya know?”
“I get it. He’s important to you.” She wraps her arms around my neck, leaning in for a peck on the lips.
“You’re important to me too.” I hug her around the waist.
“We can co-exist, I promise.”
And right then it hits me how lucky I am to have her in my life. Someone who gets it. Some women would be pissed, but not Ruby, and I’m beyond thankful she chose me.