CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Ruby
May
“Okay ladies and gents, you have five minutes before the bell rings, and that’s all I have for the class. Talk amongst yourselves, but please keep it down,” I tell the juniors that make up my history class.
History isn’t my first love. If given the choice, I would have taught English, but I can do both and there was a need for a History teacher, so here I am. Using my five minutes wisely, I go ahead and start in on next week’s lesson plans, because I plan to spend as much of this weekend as I can with Caleb. A smile toys against my lips as I think about the guy who has so unexpectedly come into my life. We’ve been going strong for months now, definitely longer than any other relationship I’ve ever had. With other guys, I didn’t stay at their places, they didn’t stay at mine. I know part of that is growing up, not being in the dorms anymore, and not having to worry about roommates, but I feel adult in this with him. Like he and I could make a go of this, if we continue to travel down the path we are. I’ve never felt that with another man.
The bell rings and my class dismisses. As is my custom, I watch them as they leave, and then stand out in the hall until most of the crowd disperses. I broke up a fight once, and since then I’ve continued to do this. It’s important that none of the students get hurt on my watch. I take it very seriously.
“Ruby!” I hear a loud voice coming down the hallway, and it’s a voice I’d know anywhere, one that’s started to make me smile.
“Hey Kels.” I wave as I see her and Caleb coming down the hallway.
Lord I love to watch Caleb approach, it’s nice to watch him leave too, but watching him approach legitimately makes my heart beat faster. The asshole, he knows it too, I can see his smirk from where I stand.
He’s working today, wearing his MTF uniform of tactical pants and a t-shirt with a bullet-proof vest reading MTF on the chest in bright yellow letters. His badge hangs around his neck, and goddamn if he isn’t sex on a stick. I watch as he slows his walk down, the loose-legged gait becoming lazy as he eats up the distance between us. Kelsea beats him to me, and I reach down to give her a hug.
“See ya, Ruby, I gotta go find Mom.”
“See ya.” But my eyes aren’t on her, they’re on her older brother.
He hasn’t shaved today, and it makes his brown eyes pop against his tan face. When he’s finally within a few inches of me, he reaches out with his left hand, the exposed ink on his arm catching in my peripheral, and cups my jaw, before shoving his fingers into my hair, tilting my head to the side and claiming my lips with his. The kiss, compared to many of the others we share isn’t even steamy, but this is Caleb. Everything he does is a turn on. When he breaks away, his voice is deep, rough. “Missed you today.”
Not able to take it, I step forward, wrapping my arms around his waist. “Missed you too,” I answer, before leaning in for another kiss.
When we break apart again, he pulls his bottom lip in between his teeth after he licks the fullness. “Sucked not waking up next to you this morning. We’re gonna have to do something about that, Ruby Red.”
“At some point we will,” I agree, because I hate waking up alone too.
“Soon?” he moves his hand forward, using his thumb to wipe at my bottom lip.
“Soon, hot stuff, really soon.”
He sighs. “I’m gonna go say hi to my mom, wanna come with me?”
“Yeah, just let me lock up my classroom.”
He’s a gentleman, standing in the door until I’ve done everything I need to do and then shutting off the light and closing the door for me. I fumble with the key because he’s standing so close. There’s something about his presence that rattles me, but in a good way. As we walk down the hallway, he puts his arm around my neck, pulling me close.
For a moment, I flash back in time, wondering what it would be like to walk these halls with him when I was in high school, if I had been just a little older. He and I would have at least been in this school at the same time. Chances are he wouldn’t have even noticed me, but I can still imagine what it would have been like walking these halls with him.
“Did you walk down this hall with your high school girlfriend?” I tease him.
He throws back his head, groaning. “Yeah, we walked down this hall, but I wasn’t nearly as excited to see her as I am to see you.”
I’ll take what he’s giving me, even if sometimes I don’t fully believe it. Unfortunately I’m a cynic, but it’s gotten me this far in life, so I’ll take what I can get.
Cruise
“I’ve never told a woman about my past, never managed to get close enough one to trust her enough with the information. Opening up about how I grew up isn’t easy, at all.” I hold her close, kissing her forehead to give me comfort as I consider opening up and baring myself to Ruby. I’m not even sure why I’m doing it tonight, but the things we’ve been through recently have made me want to share every part of my life with her. Knowing she doesn’t judge me and she doesn’t blame me are huge parts of why I trust her.
“You and your dad seem like you had a decent life before Karina came along.” She leans up, kissing me on the neck.
I’m torn between her believing these things about me and being completely honest about the path I took to adulthood. “My parents had me at sixteen and my mom left before my second birthday. I’ve only ever seen her once, and never officially met her.” I lay my dirty secret down at her feet, wondering if this will change her perception of me.
She pushes herself up on her elbow, her blue eyes moving up and down my body. I wish I knew her thoughts, could see inside her mind and see if it surprises her. “She left?”
“Yeah.” I reach over, running my fingers through her hair. “She left. Which is why Dad and I are so close now. It was just us for a long time, except when I was little and he was deployed.”
“Who took care of you then?” she questions softly, running her fingers along my bare skin.
“My grandmother. We don’t have a relationship now because of some things that went down between my dad and his dad, but at least I had someone to take care of me when he was gone.”
“Did you like staying with her?”
I swallow roughly, tightening my arms around her. “No, I hated it. The only thing I wanted back then was my dad. I didn’t understand why he was gone, what he was doing, and why I had to share him with the world. I remember him and other people trying to explain it to me, but I could never get it to compute in my head. I always thought he was my dad, and there was absolutely no reason I should have to share him. I felt the sacrifice early, and I reacted badly to it. The second time he was deployed, I was a complete shit. I acted out, got into fights, and was literally a holy terror. After that, Dad didn’t take another deployment and got out.”
“From there, where did you go?”
It’s hard to explain this vagabond life to someone who’s only known me as a person who’s had a stable existence, but I want her to know me. The real me. “We lived in a few different towns in Texas before we ended up settling in Laurel Springs. It wasn’t until we came here that I realized what a home was and felt like I belonged.”
“I’m glad you did.” She finally relaxes, putting her head on my shoulder. “If you hadn’t, I never would have met you. I’m a firm believer, given the way I grew up, that everything happens for a reason. Your mom leaving directly brought you and your dad here. To the Moonshine Task Force. To Laurel Springs, and in the end, to me. I can’t hate her for that, Caleb. I just can’t. I can tell you she missed out on knowing an amazing man, but I can’t hate a life that directly affected bringing you into mine.”
Wrapping my arms around her, I realize how blessed I truly am.