“I’m okay, I suppose. What about you?” he asks. His stormy gray eyes are as appealing as ever, but they seem guarded now.Was he like this before?I can’t remember. I notice his dark rust-colored hair has a few stray strands of early gray and wonder what could have caused them.Stress? Trauma? Great, now my own trauma has me diagnosing everyone and everything.
I nod. “I’m okay.”That’s a lie.But telling him the truth, about how I was kidnapped, and—well, I don’t think a company picnic is the place to open that box.
“Well…” He pauses, looking at the ground and clearing his throat before continuing. “Not to sound rude, but what are you doing here?”
“I work part time for Mayson Construction now.”
His eyes widen. “But I thought you moved out of Tennessee.”
I look around, trying to find the appropriate words, but I blurt out a half-truth instead. “Yeah, I did. I actually just movedbackto Tennessee last month.” There is, of course, the fact that I returned for my freshman year of college, but I decide to skip that part for now. Besides, he didn’t ask me why I moved back, and I figure the full truth would be a bit too deep to divulge.I moved back mostly to get away from my dad—who hasn’t stopped checking in on me every couple of hours, every day, since I moved here.
“Where were you before?”
My nerves do a somersault in the pit of my stomach. While I may feel comfortable with Ruin, I am struggling to find the words while trying to keep bad thoughts of where I’ve been out of my mind. Especially since where I have been is a lot closer to home than I want to remember. “Mississippi. But I needed a change of scenery, and I really did miss the Smokies,” I say with a smile.And the Maysons were so kind as to give me a chance, despite my lack of experience,I think to myself. So far, my part-time job in office administration is going well. It’s easy work, and right now, I need easy. But what hasn’t been easy is walking around these city streets, bumping into so many people whomighthave been Ruin. I saw him in every face, wondering what he looked like now that we were all grown up—and now that he is standing before me, he’s even more handsome than I could have imagined.
And taller.Just glancing at him, I would say he certainly clears six feet now.I crane my neck to get a good look at him, noting the little scar on his cheek, soft stubble on his chin, and how he has filled in from the scrawny teenager I knew. I mean, Ruin was always athletic, but now he’s broader in the shoulders. The white long-sleeve he’s wearing can’t be cool in this heat, but he doesn’t seem bothered.
“What about you? What have you been up to?” I ask. His face hardens briefly, and his smile falters. Those gray eyes take on a new depth of blue-steel.
“Nothing, really,” he mumbles, tucking his hands into the pockets of his dark denim jeans. I know there is more there that he isn’t saying, but since we haven’t seen each other in years, I decide not to press. Plus, if I ask a bunch of questions, that might make him want to return the favor. I can’t speak about my past—not yet. Even my therapist has fought the urge to rip her hair out trying to coax me into opening up. But despite the hardened exterior he is presenting, I feel like the warm and kind Ruin is still hiding behind those dark clouds for eyes.
“Well, nothingcanalso be fun, I suppose. So, do you work for Mayson’s too?” I don’t mean for my voice to go up an octave when I realize what his being at the company picnic means, but my excitement takes over for a moment. “I mean, obviously. But what do you do?”Careful, Avalee. Not too many questions!
Ruin scratches the back of his head, once again closing up. Unlike that open boy I met at church so long ago, grown-up Ruin is more reserved. I can relate.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to answer. I’m just glad I’ll get to see you on the regular now,” I add without thinking. I’m probably saying too much. I pinch my elbow slightly, one of the coping mechanisms Dr. Saldon is working with me on.
His soft smile returns, but it isn’t as full and candid as before, and I stop myself from chewing on my bottom lip nervously.
“Listen, Avalee.” He pauses to run a hand over his mouth. “My past is dark. I’m not that little boy skipping stones behind the church anymore. Hell, I’m not even that kid from high school who stopped Ronnie James from being a total dick to you at the tenth-grade dance anymore.”
Oh, Ruin. I’m not that little girl anymore either.“It’s okay. We all have to grow up sometime,” I say. As if on cue, my phone chimes in my pocket, but I don’t have to look to know who the message is from.
“Yeah. That’s true.”
“I see you met Virtue. Ha! How funny is that? Virtue and Ruin? Are you two gonna fill your plates or just stand there all day?” Liz steps up to us with a big, warm smile and her thick Southern accent. She’s wearing a gray T-shirt with Mayson Construction across the front in bright orange-and-white lettering. I have an exact replica of it at home, but I take advantage of the fact that we don’t technically have a specific dress code.
“Well, we actually go way back,” Ruin says.
Liz cocks her head and grins. “Oh, now isn’t that somethin’.” She taps a bright-red gel-glossed nail on her bottom lip as if contemplating something, and I feel another nervous twitch coming on and struggle against the urge to pinch my elbow. “I want you two to come to dinner this Friday night. Can you do that?”
I look at Ruin, whose cheeks turn crimson. July and Ellie are going to love this; I can just hear their good-natured taunts now. “Thank you. I’d love to join you for dinner on Friday with Ruin, if he wants to as well, that is.”
Ruin looks at the ground and then back at me. “Sure,” he finally adds. “Thank you, Mrs. Mayson. I would love to come to dinner on Friday night. What should I bring?”
Dammit. I should have asked that too!
Talking with her hands, Liz shakes her head as she says, “Please stop with the Mrs. Mayson thing. Call me Liz, and you two just bring your lovely selves and I will take care of the rest.” She touches both of our forearms reassuringly and then shuffles off to chat up some other Mayson Construction employee.
We stand there for a beat, watching her toddle off.
“Looks like we have a dinner date this Friday,” I say. “Sorry if I put you on the spot back there. I have been told I am a bit too much of a people pleaser, and I have a hard time saying no.”
Ruin smiles, and it’s warm again. “That’s okay. You didn’t put me on the spot. If anyone put anyone on the spot, it was Liz. I have a feeling she’s trying to set us up.”
I chuckle. “You don’t say?”
“So, you go by Virtue now?”
