Page 47 of Stuck With the Best Man

“Again, gross.”

“Again, I know.”

“Why’d you study business?”

I wish I wasn’t so thrilled to hear her asking real questions about me. The best part is that I’m certain she’s asking because she’s genuinely curious, not because she’s hunting down my weaknesses. We’ve really turned a corner after the chaos of today.

“Didn’t know what else to do,” I admit. “I almost failed out too. Mostly because I never went to class.”

“I’ve never skipped class in my life,” Ruby replies.

“I’m shocked.”

She smacks me in the arm.

“Thank you, by the way,” I say.

“For what?”

“For giving me a chance.”

She cocks her head to the side in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I just mean… I’m glad we actually got the chance to talk about the reasons why you don’t like me. And I’m also glad to know that you now no longer dislike me. I know you said it’s not realistic, but it’s important to me. I enjoy being likable.”

“Well, thank you for putting up with the fact that I disliked you. You handled it very gracefully.”

“Did I?”

“Mhm.”

“For the record, I never disliked you,” I tell her.

“Not even a little bit?”

“Nope.”

“Maybe I didn’t try hard enough.”

I grin at her. She laughs. I want to bottle the sound and keep it in my pocket.

A long stretch of silence passes between us. I watch her smile fade slowly, and then she looks away from me. She stands from the bed and goes over to her suitcase, rummaging around in silence. I want to call her back to my side. I want to ask her if there is any version of the future where I might get to kiss her a second time.

She straightens up with a bundle of clothes in her hands.

“I’m going to shower.”

I nod. She floats past me to the bathroom.

With a hard swallow, I force my thoughts to remain perfectly pure and polite, then reach for the television remote.

We might have found shelter, but I have a feeling that we still have a very long journey ahead of us.

Chapter Fifteen: Ruby

Stupidrain.Stupidtraffic.Stupid motel. Stupid only one bed. Stupid handsome fool sitting on that bed beside me and grinning like he’s never been happier in his life. Stupid memories of that kiss against the bookshelves—tender and sweet and begging to be repeated.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

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