“I liked everything before and now, and even the ... thing itself. You were sweet,” she said. Then, smiling, she added, “And considerate, and also, like, really earnest.”
“Thanks?” I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not.
“No, it’s good,” she said, skimming her fingers across my chest. “I’m glad it was you.”
My throat tightened. I wanted to say something back, something smart or romantic or unforgettable, but all I managed was, “Me too.”
We kissed again, soft, long, more sure. I was starting to get hard again.
A car door slammed outside.
Ruby sat up fast. “That’ll be your parents.”
I shot upright. “Crap.”
We jumped off the bed and started dressing fast, laughing under our breath.
“The condom!” I grabbed it and stuffed it under my pillow for now, then yanked the comforter straight.
Right before we left my room, we kissed again—quick, smiling.
We passed my sister on the stairs and said hi to my parents on the way to the front door.
“See you, Sebastian,” Ruby said.
“See you, too,” I replied with a smile before the door clicked shut behind her.
She left for college a few days later to start an early summer semester, and the next time we met, we were twenty-five, experienced, and looking different.
11
Ruby
IT WAS 8:04 A.M., ANDmy phone was already at 6%—which felt like a metaphor.
I’d asked Dave before the weekend to delay starting on the main house until we had proper calculations. Monday came and went with no update. And on Tuesday, I woke up to hammering.
I rushed across the property in still-damp hair and half-buttoned clothes to find scaffolding springing up along the main wing—and upon entering the house, past reception and toward the stairs, I found two men carrying down freshly yanked floorboards.
“Where’s Dave?” I asked them, already climbing the stairs.
One of them nodded upward.
“What the hell are you doing?” I barked the moment I reached the empty second-floor hallway, catching Dave as he was about to descend the stairs.
He didn’t even flinch. “Moving ahead. Got the green light from my guy.”
“I’mthe one who gives the green light around here. You work forme.”
“Miss Locke, with all due respect. You want us to meet deadlines, and I’ve got another project lined up right after this. The plan’s solid. No point delaying.”
“I asked for your guy’s full calculations and not the rough plan scribbled on a napkin.” It wasn’t really a napkin, but close enough, and I needed him to stop bullshitting me.
Dave shifted his weight, one hand gripping the railing, the other tapping the phone case in his palm. His shirt had drywall dust across one shoulder, and his steel-toe boots left pale tracks on the hallway floor. “He’s an engineer, he knows what he’s doing. That’s why you hired us.”
“Until I speak to him directly, you stop the work on this building. Send your crew back to finish the cabins and deck,” I ordered.
“I’ve got a guy working there,” he argued.
