I park my bike and walk, stumbling a bit, over to them.
“You get the doors. I’ll get her,” I tell Nat, who nods.
Once again,I bend down and put Ruby on my shoulder. I need her secure so I can use the banister on the stairs to help guide me. I must have gotten a taste of what she had in that last drink.
Shit.
“Did you know your ass is really nice? I bet I could bounce a quarter off it. Hey, Nat, do you have any quarters?”
“Shhh. And no, all out. Sorry, hon.” At least Nat’s smiling at Ruby’s antics and not berating her as she opens the door and lets us pass through.
I march down the small hallway and drop Ruby onto the bed hard enough that she bounces and giggles with glee. And I fucking stumble into the damn wall.
“Are you all right?” Nat asks.
I shake my head, then hold it to stop it from spinning. “You guys take anything tonight?”
Maybe she and Ruby wanted to have their own party. It happens. No judgment here. Just need to know what it is so I can plan for how to get it out of our systems.
Nat shakes her head, unfortunately. “No.”
“How may drinks did you have?”
“I had three. And I don’t know about Ruby. I went to the bathroom at one point, and when I came back, I saw her drinking with those guys you, uh… you punched out. They tried to get me a drink, too, but I wasn’t feeling it, so I called you.”
Awesome. So they gave her something, and I took it too. Could be a whole lot of somethings. Only cure for most of it is time and flushing out the system.
“Get her to bed. I’ll get some water.”
I leave them to it as I lock down the place. I refuse to sway even a bit. Even if the floor slopes at some points tonight like it never did before. I grab a bottle of water, chug it all, then grab three more before I head back to her room.
“All I could get off her was her boots. She’s too wiggly.”
I nod at Nat. “Go get some sleep. I’ll watch over her.”
“Okay. Night, Ruby. Night, Kooper.” She turns and starts down the hall but stops when I call out to her.
“You did good in reaching out. Shit could have gotten worse if you hadn’t.”
She licks her lips and seems to gather some courage before she speaks. “I know she’s had a hard time with her dad being gone. I just want her to be safe. Losing family is never easy.” She goes into her room, shutting her door before I can question anything.
Her words feel odd to my ears. The background on her says she’s an orphan. But what she just said makes me think she had family. At least once.
“It’s so hot. Why is it so hot?”
All thoughts of Nat die as Ruby’s struggles pull me back to her. I close the door and then look at her. She’s writhing on her bed and clawing at her corset. Soon it’s off, leaving only pasties to cover her nipples. The next second,she kicks her pants off, and the smallest bikini briefs ever made lie against her pale skin.
God—if there is a God—give mestrength.
Chapter 26—Ruby
Why is it so hot? I feel like I’m burning up. Taking off my clothes helps, but it’s not enough.
“Turn the fan on. Jesus, it’s like a sauna in here.”
Kooper turns and starts the fan, then comes over and puts two bottles of water on the nightstand and opens the third.
“Here. You need to drink. You took something, and we need to flush it out of your system.”
