After Tuesday (25 page)

“Who said anything about swimming?” Owen says with sarcasm as he rises, leading Lexi out the back door. “Maybe just a quick dip.”

We all get up and follow them out onto the deck. Liam switches on the lights, illuminating the pool with a blue hue. He wasn’t kidding. It’s way too cold to go swimming. I involuntarily wrap my arms around myself as Owen shrugs out of his shirt.

“What are you doing?” Lexi questions Owen. “You aren’t going swimming, are you? That water has got to be freezing. Owen!”

“Ah, c’mon, Lex. It’ll be fun. It’s not like those whacks that jump in the ocean in the middle of winter.” He kisses her on the cheek. “That’s dumb. This is fun.”

Seeing his logic, she starts to strip.

“Lexi,” I admonish, “you aren’t going, too, are you?”

“Yep! Thrill, baby. Live it!” she bellows with mock macho vibrato.

Although this is so illogical, I can’t deny my desire to join them. I take off my shirt and pants, leaving on my bra and panties. Looking around, I giggle to myself when I see our little group standing together, half naked, only wearing underwear.
This could be great blackmail material.

“Last one in—” Lexi starts.

“No!” I shout. “Hang on.”

After going into the pool house, I walk out with inner tubes and float toys, kicking a few since I can’t hold them all.

“What are those for?” Callum asks, looking totally clueless.

“Beer and cold water are not a good combination. You don’t want to drown, do you?” I ask rhetorically, handing him a floating ring with a duck on it.

“We’ll look like idiots with these things,” Autumn whines, taking the giraffe-shaped raft.

“Uh, we are standing outside in fifty degree weather in our underwear. I think we’ve passed the idiotic phase,” Lexi says, smirking like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. She extends her hand. “Give me the frog.”

I pass her the frog, and everyone else grabs something to hold on to before they jump into the water.
Please let there be no secret cameras on the premises.

“Woohoo!” one of the boys shouts as he jumps into the blue water.

After all the boys are in the pool, the girls jump in.

Holding a ridiculous whale floatation device, I jump into the freezing water, screaming upon impact.
Holy shit!
The water is so cold that it stings. Liam wasn’t kidding about not having a heater.

“Shit!” Casey screeches.

Callum teases her. “Wimp!”

“Owen!” Lexi shouts. “This is so dumb. You have the stupidest ideas.”

He paddles in her direction. “Need a warm up?” he asks, pulling her into a tight embrace.

Holding tight to the floating whale, I look around the pool. Liam is swimming up to Autumn’s side while Callum, Casey, and I tread water.

Casey starts to flirtatiously splash Callum. I guess that makes sense. I haven’t seen them flirt with one another before, but maybe I haven’t been paying attention either.

A pool can be such an intimate place, and suddenly, I feel like I’m invading their privacy. It’s dark, we’re wet, and people want to…well, for lack of a better term, cuddle. If there’s such a thing as a seventh wheel, that is me in this moment.

About three minutes later, the fun of this little act is starting to wear off. I begin to shiver as the cold creeps into my bones. After treading to the wall, I hoist my body out of the pool.

“Ruby? Where are you going?” Lexi calls out.

“Uh, I need to go to the bathroom. I’m getting cold, so I’m gonna get dressed.”

“Okay, we’ll be inside in a minute. It’s freezing in here.”

Turning around, I pick up my clothes and then head to the door.

Dripping wet, I’m shaking like crazy from the chill in the air while I walk into the house. When I enter the kitchen, veering to the right toward the bathroom, I hear the refrigerator close, causing me to jump.

I hear a familiar voice as I take a step back to get a look at who’s here.

“Ruby?”

“Brent?”

When I realize that Brent is standing in front of me with a beer in hand while I’m soaking wet in my underwear, all the blood escapes my face, and adrenaline kicks in.
Why didn’t we think to take out towels?
I’m not displaying genius-level activities at all right now.

I clear my throat. “Hey, what’s up? I thought you were out of town with your family.”

Watching his eyes trace every inch of my body from my feet to my face, I pull my arms around me tightly, feeling self-conscious.

“I told them I needed to study, so they went to Chicago without me. We had dinner together before they left,” he answers, walking toward me. Stopping at the counter, he sets his beer down. “I read your poem.”

As he begins approaching me again, my emotions are swirling, causing every sense in my body to heighten. I love that he makes me feel this way, but it scares me, too. Although I want to jump into his arms as the distance between us gets smaller, we still need to talk.

“Why are you in your underwear?” he asks curiously.

“Oh, we were swimming.” I look at the floor, shaking like crazy. “Give me a minute. Let me get dressed.”

I quickly walk to the bathroom with Brent following on my heels.

“Ruby…” he murmurs.

As I cross the threshold, I grab a towel from the rack, wrapping it around my body. Turning to face him, my heart melts as I look into his eyes. They carry no anger, but rather, they burn with some form of passion.

“I, uh…” He joins me in the bathroom and closes the door behind him.

“Brent? I need to change,” I whisper, eyeing his hand on the doorknob.

My eyes follow his hand as it reaches toward my face. When his fingers make contact with my skin, every emotion I have felt in the last week bubbles to my throat. I close my eyes, trying to keep myself under control, but one tear betrays me as it escapes. His thumb strokes away the hot, wet rogue while his fingers move to the back of my neck, tangling through my damp dark hair.

I dare to open my tear-filled eyes, taking in his familiar face, and immediately, I  feel at home. I can see he’s tortured, like me, by what has happened and by what is happening now. His eyes are glassy, and his mouth is parted, exhaling shaky breaths. I assume he is making an effort to control his emotions.

“We need to talk,” he pants. “That’s the real reason I didn’t go with my parents.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. That was the call I got at school. They were planning to leave early for their trip, so I left before lunch to go home and pack. That was when I read your poem, and I knew I had to stay.”

“Why didn’t you just call me?”

I can see happiness twinkle in his eyes.

“I wanted to
see
you. Liam said you were coming here. I asked him.”

I was set up? Damn.
Liam didn’t even hint that he knew Brent was coming.

“Oh.”

“I think I was wrong. Maybe I overreacted. Maybe you just need to get help.”

I take a step back and cross my arms over my chest. “Help with what?” I fume. “What do I need help with?”

“Ruby…” He grunts, running his hand through his dark hair. “Damn it! I don’t know what the hell is going on. All I know is that I fucking love you, and I can’t help it. There’s something going on. I know it! Unless you tell me what it is, we can’t work on it. I was completely blindsided last weekend. You’re hiding something. You can’t tell me you thought I knew what was going on. Can you? What the hell?”

His seething is causing me to go on the defensive, but instead, I try to process what he’s saying to me.

“I don’t have a problem,” I tell him through tight lips.

“You’ve obviously been drinking tonight,” he says, motioning to my half-naked wet body.

I guess if I saw me, I would think I was drinking, too.
Wait. Does he think I have a drinking problem?
I can’t help but laugh.

“Do you think that’s what’s going on? First, it’s what you do at a party. If I have a drinking problem, then the entire senior class needs to start attending meetings. Second, I haven’t had anything to drink tonight. Not one single thing, but thanks for that. I appreciate your concern.”

“But the entire senior class doesn’t head out for a night at the bar…with their dad of all people. Something isn’t right.”

“You’re right. Something isn’t right, but you’ve got it all wrong. It’s not what you think. Really? A drinking problem?”

“Then, what is it?” His face softens, and he takes a step toward me, closing the gap between us. “Tell me.”

“I…I…” I try to talk through my trembling lips, but I can’t get out any other words. I’m becoming a pool of mush.

There are so many things I want to say. I want to tell him I’m sorry. I want to tell him I should have been more open from the beginning. I want to tell him I love him so deeply that it cut me when he let me go. I want to tell him I’m scared to take the leap and trust him, but I know I need to.

Sensing my unease, he completely closes the distance between us. Pressing my wet body to his, I open the towel, my arms circling around him, as I lie my head on his shoulder. His arms wrap around me, and we bask in the comfort of one another. This unspoken consolation is what I have been craving. This is what I need right now more than anything.

“I miss you,” I mumble.

He rubs my back. “Ruby,” he huffs, “we need to talk about this. Something is going on, but I can’t stay away. Whatever it is, and I really don’t care what it is, please let me in. Don’t hide it from me.”

“I should have told you,” I concede. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t want you to get involved. I don’t want anyone involved. It’s complicated.”

“Well, tell me about it. Anything with you, complicated or not, I want to know.”

He leans back and looks at my mouth, causing my heartbeat to quicken. My lips desire to touch his. I can’t resist it. Taking the first leap, I move my hands to cup his face, the towel dropping to the floor, as my mouth crashes into his.

There is nothing tender about the want and need of this kiss. It’s aggressive, and I take as much of him as I can to make up for every missed kiss this past week. I open my mouth to him, wanting to taste him again. His tongue enters with such passion and fervor that it’s almost as if we are attacking one another as we fight to get closer.

His firm arms pull me in tightly, molding my body to his. My fingers trace the outline of his neck, go down his shoulders, and then move over his collarbones to his chest. He shudders as I grip the fabric of his shirt in my palms.

“Sorry,” I gasp against his mouth. “I should get dressed. I’m sure I’m getting you all wet.”

“It’s not that,” he says through labored breaths. He traces my jaw with his lips. “But you should get dressed.”

He kisses me on the hollow of my collarbone and then quickly walks out the door.

I’ve never felt more naked than I do right now. In a hurried fashion, I shimmy into my jeans and shirt and then quickly finger comb the tangles out of my wet hair.

Trying to act casual, I exit the bathroom and head to the kitchen. When I turn the corner, I see that everyone has come back inside. They are all now sitting at the bar with towels wrapped around them. When my searching eyes find Brent sitting on a bar stool, he waves me over to join them. I have to lean over when he pulls me closer to whisper in my ear.

“I still want to talk. Will you come back to my house with me? Just you and me?”

His warm breath sends a chill down my spine.

“Yes,” I whisper without hesitation.

I’m anxious to tell him the truth, and I hope it will allow us to move forward together. He said he wants to know, and I want him to know. If we’re going to really be a
we
, then he needs to know all of me, not just the pieces I have allowed him to see so far. Standing up, he grabs my hand and begins to lead me to the front door.

“Are you two leaving?” Liam asks.

“Yeah, sorry, man,” Brent answers.

“Hey, Ruby, call me tomorrow. We might go hiking,” Casey adds.

“Oh yeah? Okay, I will.”

“You’re leaving?” Lexi questions, lifting an eyebrow.

I give her that knowing look. “Yeah. You don’t mind, do you?”

“No, not at all.” She pulls her hand to her face, putting her thumb to her ear and pinkie to her mouth as she mouths “call me.”

I nod to Lexi before Brent pulls me into the hall and out of everyone’s sight.  

Nerves, anxiety, and thoughts dance through my being as we walk to his car.  I feel like I’ve been hoping for this moment for an eternity. Now that it is here, I hope I have the courage to take a leap of faith—with Brent.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Brent and I don’t say a word to each other until we’ve pulled out of Liam’s driveway. As soon as Brent is driving down the street, the verbal floodgates open.

“So, your poem...” Brent starts, keeping his face on the road. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Do I? Yes. Am I scared to? Yes. Is he worth it? Yes. Are we worth it? Absolutely.

“I know you don’t want to critique me now. Do you?”

I look over at him to see him smile a bit.

“No, I’m just wondering what you meant by it.”

I can do this. Just let it all go. Get it out there.

“I guess I wanted you to know that…I know things were messed up. They
are
messed up, and a lot of that is my fault. I needed to talk to you. That’s all. I’ve been wanting to talk to you all week.”

“I know. I could tell.” He pauses for a moment, thinking about something. “I wanted to talk, too, but I wasn’t ready.”

“Are you ready now?” I ask, daring a look in his direction.

“I’m ready to hear whatever you want to say, and I’m ready to figure us out.”

My body stills, overcome with emotions, when I hear those words cross his mouth. “Me, too.”

For the rest of the drive until we pull into his driveway, we are silent. After he puts the car into park, I reach for the handle. I feel Brent’s hand gently grab my arm, causing my head to turn toward him. Breathing deeply, he moves over the console and kisses me on the cheek, lingering longer than a peck. The warmth of his lips feels
so
comforting.