After Tuesday (15 page)

“Why don’t you just tell me what’s up with Frankie?” I ask, raising my brows. I’m fully prepared for a punch in the gut.

“Nothing. Believe me, it’s nothing.”

“Brent, I’m not accusing you of anything. Really, I’m not. I just don’t understand why you’re acting this way. Why are you not talking to me? It’s obviously a secret or something.”

“She heard about us and wanted to talk to me about it,” he says, rubbing his hand across his face. “She’s…I don’t know. She’s not happy, I guess.”

“Oh…so, um, does she miss you?” I ask, directing my question to my lap.

“I guess so.”

“Do you miss her?”
Why am I torturing myself like this?

“I’m pissed at her. She’s acting like she gives a shit, like she gives a shit now!”

“I don’t understand. Does she want you back?”

“I don’t know.”

Long-ass pause as I sit here, feeling like a fool.

“Maybe,” he whispers.

My confidence is dwindling. Not knowing what to say, I stare out the window. She likely wants to get back together with him, and I wonder if he’s thinking about how to deal with me. I’m not Frankie. Not even close. I should have known better than to fall for all his blatant charms.

“Ruby, can you please look at me?”

Sucking in a big breath, I brace myself to look at the boy who has stolen my heart without his knowledge, knowing he is about to break it. Through the dim light, I look into his beautiful green-gray eyes.

 Brent explains, “Frankie and I dated for years. We started dating in middle school. Our families are close, I guess. We practically grew up together. She’s always around, and she’ll probably always be in some way. Of course—”

“It’s okay. I understand,” I say, feeling a tear run down my right cheek. I quickly rub away the wetness with the heel of my hand.
Traitor tear.
I close my eyes and lick my lips before I reveal what I fear. “You want to get back together with her.”

I turn to look out the windshield, staring across the glassy lake where the moon shimmers along the dark surface. “Can you take me home now?” I ask.

He lets out an exasperated sigh, laying his head on the steering wheel. “Damn it. This is why I didn’t want to talk about her. I knew you’d get upset. There’s no way to explain it.”

In my peripheral vision, I see him straighten, turning to look at me dead-on.

He says, “It’s not what you think. It’s not what anyone thinks.”

Shaking his head, he mutters something under his breath that I can’t make out.

“What?” I question, looking at him through my glassy eyes.

He seems to be contemplating his next words as he looks out the window. “Do you want the truth?” he asks, facing me.

I nod.
Of course, I do.
Whatever it is, I just want to know.

He says, “I don’t know if you’ll believe me or not, but it’s a game to her. She’s playing a game with me, and she thinks she can win. She’s trying to guilt me into getting back together with her. It’s not going to work though. Trust me. Her words mean nothing to me.
Nothing.
”

He stares at me for a long moment. It’s so uncomfortable that I feel like hours are passing by. I can see the emotions swimming all over his face.

He continues to explain. “I know what she’s been telling everyone, but it’s a lie. Fuck it. You should know. I won’t let her stupidity ruin us. She doesn’t know that I know it, but she cheated on me.”

“Oh. What?”
He’s kidding, right? Cheated?

“She cheated on me over the summer. I knew we were growing apart, but I never expected her to pull that kind of crap. People talk. I won’t rat her out because…well, what good would that do? But I know she did it. A buddy of mine was nice enough to send pictures and everything.”

He pauses, running a hand through his hair. “She’s different than what I thought, or maybe she turned into something different, and I didn’t see it. I just never thought she would do something like that behind my back. She’s a fucking liar. I thought she at least had a little more respect.”

“So—”

“I’m not interested in getting back with her. Okay? What went on between Frankie and me is over.
Over.
I don’t care why she did it anymore. It doesn’t matter. I’m just pissed at her for what she did and at myself for not seeing her for what she really is.”

“So…you don’t want to get back with her?”

He’s still seething a little. “No.
Hell no.
And just so you know, Frankie and I were nothing like this—like us.”

I’m taken aback a little by his words.

Calming down, he whispers, “Besides, how could I possibly want to get back with her when I’m in love with you?”

“What?”

Did he just say what I thought he said?
By the look in his eye, I think he’s a little surprised as well by what just came out of his mouth.

Taking a moment, he closes his eyes. When they open, all the anger has left his face. All that is left is Brent—just Brent.

“
Shit
. I’m doing this wrong.” Breathing in, Brent shakes his head, and then he reaches over, palming the side of my face.

During this moment of suspense as we look into each other’s eyes, my breath catches.

“Ruby, I’m in love with you.”

I close my eyes, trying to calm down, as I take in his words.
How do I feel?
Before I know it, I say, “I love you, too.”

“You do?” he asks. “I’ve been wanting to tell you for days, but I thought you might freak out.”

I open my eyes to see him staring at me. I can’t help the emotional gurgle that sputters from my mouth.

“Are you kidding? Look at me. I’m a flipping mess over the thought of you being with someone else. Of course, I love you,” I say on the edge of emotional giddiness.

The word
love
lingers foreign on my tongue. I’ve never said the word before, not when it means something like this. It’s one thing to love your family, but this is something different, completely different.

I see some recognition in Brent’s eyes. Leaning across the center console, he plants his mouth on mine with so much fervor that I feel it in my bones. As I cup his face with my hands, holding him tenderly, I slowly enjoy every bit of him.

Pulling back, I ask, “So, that’s it? With Frankie?” Then, I kiss him gently again.

Between my kisses, he says, “That
was
it. There isn’t
anything
with her.”

Sweeping away my long dark mane, he trails his lips across my cheek to behind my ear and then down my neck, showing extra attention to the sensitive area in the hollow of my collarbone. My mouth parts in an urgent breath as my entire body is telling me how much I love it.

“Good. I don’t want someone if he wants someone else,” I say, breathing heavily—maybe a little too heavy.

Brent pulls back to look at my face. “I don’t want anyone else. Not at all. Not since the moment I first saw you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” He breathes in before he dips his head to kiss the lower part of my neck.

Closing my eyes, I enjoy the feel of his mouth as it makes its way up the side of my neck to my ear. Running my fingers through his hair, my heart races as his hands do their best to circle my body in the small and awkward space of the car. My fingertips search the top of his collar, slipping into his shirt for more skin to touch.

One of his hands skims down to the lower part of my back. Moving under my shirt, he palms the bare skin while his lips connect with mine. I open my mouth, wanting to be closer. Needing to feel more of him and his love, I raise my body upward and place my knees on the seat for better leverage, pushing my body in his direction. I search his side for more warm skin to touch as I release his shirt from his pants.

Right now—
I don’t know why
—I feel the need to be near him, closer than we have ever been before. I need to feel more of him. I want him to feel more of me.

Leaning over the console, I press my upper body to his. I focus on his mouth and the way his chest feels against mine. His heart is hammering as I move my hand up the length of his stomach to his chest, bringing goose bumps to his skin. He leans back a little as I push myself forward, wanting to be on top of him.

I pull back briefly. With a heavy breath, I say, “Move the seat back.”

He straightens up, reaching down to the button. The seat moves back and starts reclining. Before it’s fully reclined, I move over the console to straddle Brent. Looking into his eyes, my heart leaps as my hands begin to tremble with nerves and anticipation.

I’m not sure how far I want to go at this moment, but I don’t want to stop just yet. My upper body lies on his while I balance my weight on my forearms beside his head. Lacing my fingers through his hair, I press my open mouth to his. His tongue meets mine as both of his firm hands rake across the bare skin under the back of my shirt that lies under his jacket, that I’m wearing. Inhaling deeply, I push my breasts against his chest.

Brent pulls me even closer to him. From the base of my neck to the lower part of my back, his hands roam over my body. Occasionally skimming over my waistband, he touches the bare skin below my panties.

Breathing heavily, as I tighten my fingers in his hair, I arch my back, so Brent can place more of those heated kisses down my neck. One of his hands circle to the front of my body. He gently cups my sensitive flesh tucked under the built-in support of the tank top while his other hand goes to my bottom.

From his touch on the delicate skin of my chest, the butterflies in my stomach have now morphed into raging monsters. He moves his mouth down my neck, landing over the sensitive skin still hiding under my tank. Brent’s hand skims the neckline, pulling it down to reveal one of my breasts. With his lips, he continues to caress my now bare flesh.

My breathing becomes more labored, heaving, when the hand from my butt moves up to cup my other breast. His fingertips circle the covered area while his mouth moves back up to my neck.

I feel a hand slowly skim down the front of my body until it meets the top of my pants. I move my mouth to his, gripping the back of his head. His fingers tease the space between the front of my jeans and my stomach as we kiss. Finally, he stops at the button and pops it open. As I feel his hand turn between us, his fingertips slowly descend into my jeans, finding their way inside my panties.

“Brent,” I gasp.

“Yeah,” he says, moving his lips to the space behind my ear.

“I, uh—” I start to say, but then I’m distracted as his mouth makes contact with my skin.

He pulls back, looking up to me with clouded eyes. “Hey.” He smiles and then kisses me. Stroking my hair, he says, “It’s okay.”

“What’s okay?” I ask, returning the kiss.

“If you want to stop. We don’t have to, you know…go any further.” He licks his lips. “Or keep doing this.”

“Oh…I, uh…” Pulling back to look into his face, I sit up and adjust my top back in place.

He leans forward, rubbing my back. “Ruby?” he questions with a concerned look.

I take a deep breath, focusing my eyes on his chest. “It’s not that I don’t want to.  It’s just…well, you should know, um…I never have before.”

Brent tips my chin up to look at him. “We don’t have to at all. You know I would never make you.”

“Oh, I know you wouldn’t. I do want to…I think. I just want you to know that…you know…oh god, this is embarrassing,” I say, covering my face with the palms of my hands.

“Ruby…” He chuckles. “Why would you be embarrassed? It’s just me.”

I remove my hands to look at his face, hoping to see what I need in his eyes. I’m not sure what I see, but it puts me at ease.

“Yeah, I know,” I whisper.

“We can stop whenever you want.”

“What if I don’t want to stop?”
Did that just come out of my mouth?

“Then, you let me know,” he tells me without any expectation on his face.

I sigh. “Well, I think I messed up the moment for now.”

“Maybe, but I don’t think the front seat of my car is the most romantic place either…not that I would say no.”

He’s teasing me, so I play along.

“It’s a fun place though.” My eyes wander, vacantly looking out the window for a moment before returning to look at him. “What do we do now? Now that I’ve completely ruined the front-seat action.”

 “Hey now, you didn’t ruin anything. I liked it.” He lifts his hand, gently pressing his thumb to my bottom lip. “How about we go for a walk?”

“Sure.”

With me still in his jacket, we get out of the car and walk along the lake hand in hand as we’ve done before. However, this time as we walk together, a sense of completeness overcomes me when I realize that Brent and I are a team that really feels solid.
So what if he has an ex?
I certainly have my own baggage. He wants to be with me, and I
so
want to be with him. End of discussion.

Chapter Fourteen

The first week of school flies by, and I’m looking forward to the weekend. I wasn’t sure how transferring from summer friends to school friends, would play out, but all my worrying was for nothing. We’re only closer now than before.

However, Brent and I have only one class together and separate lunches, and he has practice every day after school. Although I’m able to catch him in the halls here and there, I’m definitely going through withdrawal. We obviously spent too much time together over the last part of summer.

After my last class of the day, government, I stop at my locker to retrieve my things before heading home. Seeing Liam and his sister, Piper, I wave and smile at them as I put my books away.

 “Are you going to the match tomorrow?” Liam asks over Piper’s head while he closes the door to his locker.

“You know that I’m volunteering at the hospital in the morning,” Piper snaps in Liam’s direction.

“Not you, Pipes. I was talking to Ruby,” Liam gently corrects her.

Piper looks at me for a moment, biting her lip, and she then turns to Liam. “Oh. See you later,” she says quickly to him before she walks down the hall.