Ruby smiles. “Thanks.”
Cash grins.
We find a spot in front of a large window that’s just wide enough for us to stand in front of. I wrap my arm around Ruby’s waist again as we see our first fish swim by. It’s nothing exciting as far as fish go except that it’s swimming at eye level, and that’s pretty fucking cool.
“Okay, I’m going to bore you for a bit while Daddy… uh, Captain Onyx brings us around the top of the island chain,” Cash says.
“Cash…” Onyx’s voice flows down the steps in warning.
Cash’s smile widens. “Hundreds of thousands of millions ofyears ago, the Earth was a hellish place with volcanoes and shit,” he begins.
“I think this is going to be a history lesson I’ll enjoy,” I mutter.
Ruby’s body shakes in a silent chuckle as he watches out the window. My heart soars as he leans his head against my shoulder. I mean to listen to Cash, but I can’t hear anything over the pulse of my blood in my ears.
CHAPTER 11
ROUX
It’s been two weeks since I met Alka, and I feel like I’m living in a dream. He’s the kindest, sweetest, most beautiful man I’ve ever met. Part of me can’t believe I was wary of him at first. How can someone look at his smile and think this man is anything other than perfection?
We’re lying in a hammock a mile or so down the beach from his bungalow. We stopped to get out of the sun for a few minutes, and there was a man from the resort with a basket of bottled waters. Somehow, that ended with us on the hammock, lying across the width with our feet dangling in the sand.
Maybe we were trying not to slide into each other initially. You know, give each other space or whatever. That’s not actually possible in a hammock. So yeah, we’re pressed close, our legs tangled, heads lying on our folded arms, and gently, softly, for me shyly, touching the other person.
Alka’s fingers are on my stomach. They don’t move far and they’re above my shirt, but his touch makes my stomach dance. Mine are on his chin and jaw and neck, feeling his pulse every time I pause over his artery.
His lips, like mine, are in a constant small smile as we admire each other.
There’s seriously no other way to describe the way we’re staring at each other than envisioning a sappy scene from a feel-good Christmas romcom. Yes, it’s one of those moments. All my own. I’m not at all sad about it.
“I know we’ve been keeping things kind of superficial, but how do you feel about talking about real things for a while?” Alka asks.
“Personal things?” I ask.
One of his shoulders rises in a shrug as he nods. “Yeah, kind of. I’m not talking body count or blood type but like… real things. Life things.”
“I think we’ve been doing that, but sure. What you got?”
His smile widens a little. “What do you do? Are you in school?”
I nod. “Yes. I’m going into my third year of undergrad.”
“Where do you attend?”
“I’m transferring,” I say then pause, unsure which school to tell him. I suppose, since the transfer to Rainbow Dorset hasn’t gone through yet, where I currently attend school is the truth, right? In an effort to be honest, I say, “Longwood U.”
“That’s cool. I’ve visited a few times. What’s your course of study?”
I snort and roll my eyes. “Liberal arts. I don’t know what I want to do. I wish I had a passion or something, but I really don’t. I know I can’t live off my brother’s generosity forever, so I need to pick something, but the thought of choosing wrong and being miserable for the rest of my working life hangs over me like a storm cloud.”
“You aren’t stuck in one career forever,” Alka says.
I sigh heavily. “I know, but I don’t want my degree to have been a waste of time and money. I just feel like I have zero passion about anything.”
“I don’t mean to be that cliché person, but you’re young, Ruby. You have plenty of time to figure out what you want to do.I think you might find something you enjoy if you don’t put so much pressure on needing to choose something.”
“Yes, I’ve heard that a hundred times,” I say. Alka smiles apologetically. “I know. I literally have a lifetime. I get that. I suppose it just feels… too big. I feel like I’m going to settle.”
