Page 88 of Sweet Escape
She blinks a few times, a laugh bursting free when she registers my question. “Are we going to ignore the fact that Ruby Lynn Hayes is in your living room?”
“I was kind of hoping I could distract you with this disgusting snack.”
Liv snatches the bowl from my hands and shovels a handful into her mouth. “It’s delicious,” she mumbles.
Ruby laughs. “Wait, what’s in the bowl?”
“Popcorn with honey and M&M’s.” My lips curl in disgust.
Ruby glances from me to Olivia. “Pregnancy cravings?”
Liv nods, unable to speak around the mouthful of the sugary treat.
“Nice. I’m Ruby, by the way. But I guess you already knew that. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“You been talking about me, Big Guy?”
“Only good things,” Ruby says. “Get out of here, Wilder. We need some girl time. Don’t we, Loulou?”
Liv starts to get up from the sofa, but Ruby stops her. “Nope. You stay. You’re one of the girls now.” She looks over at me expectantly, shooing me away with the flick of her wrist.
I lean over to kiss Liv on the cheek, and Ruby smirks.
“I’m going. Send up a smoke signal if you need rescuing,” I say. “Be nice to my girls, Ruby Lynn Hayes, or I’ll tell everyone about that time I had to rescue you from the creek.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me.”
Olivia
I’m sitting in Wilder’s living room, elbow deep in a bowl of questionable popcorn, with Ruby Lynn Hayes herself staring at me.What is my life?
She’s wearing a pair of bell-bottom jeans and a Dolly Parton tee knotted in the front, enough to show off a sliver of skin along her midriff. As a fellow curvy girl, I’ve always admired the way she carries herself. She doesn’t try to make herself smaller, no matter how much the media likes to scrutinize her. That amount of criticism must be hard to withstand, and yet she’s never lashed out.
Emmy toddles over to her toy box, passively ignoring us in favor of a rainbow stacking toy.
“Ok. Hand it over.” Ruby plops beside me on the couch and holds out her palm, flapping her fingers twice before flattening them again.
My brows draw together. “Huh?”
“Give me your phone so we can take a selfie. I’ll sign your ass if you want, then we can skip to the part where I adopt you as my honorary sister. Lord knows I could use the estrogen boost around these big, broody cowboys.”
I blink rapidly, trying to make sense of what she said. Laughter bursts free, and I dissolve into a fit of giggles, only coming up for air long enough to ask, “My ass? Really?”
She shrugs and digs her hand into the bowl. “You wouldn’t be the first.”
“That’s—”
“Insane? Yeah.” She tosses some of the sugary treat into her mouth, and I watch as her face morphs from curiosity to surprise. “This shit isgood!”
“I tried to tell your brother, but he doesn’t believe me.” My fingers collide with hers as we both go for another bite. I let her grab some first and ask, “So… were they nice asses, at least?”
She frowns, her eyes darting to the side and back. “You know what? I think they were.”
“Small victories, I guess. Or big ones. I suppose you’d have to judge on a case-by-case basis.”
“You’re funny, Liv. I like you.”
