Page 33 of Love Thy Brother
“I live here, man. On purpose. To get away from you.”
Meaning the club, not Rubi specifically, but to Skylar, it was all the same.
Rubi shrugged his huge shoulders, dropping his elbows on the bar. “Sucks to be you then. I’m sticking around for a while. I was just telling Riv to get used to my face.”
Skylar remained unimpressed. He walked away without serving us.
One of the bar girls replaced him. She bit her lip and fluttered her lashes at Rubi.
He didn’t notice.
His gaze was on me. “What do you want?”
“I want you to fuck off.”
“Bottle or pint?”
“You’re an arsehole.”
“Suit yourself.”
Rubi ordered for me. Beer. Nothing for himself. Still wanted to throttle him, but curiosity won out.
“You off the sauce?”
He shrugged. “Figured it wasn’t doing me any good when I was finding it hard to stop, you know?”
More than I wanted to. But I wasn’t about to admit that. Not when the only way I was getting through the rest of the evening was to take the edge off the world with a fucking claw hammer.
I necked my beer. Bought another while Rubi loitered beside me, watching. It was annoying as hell, but I couldn’t deny I felt spoiled by his constant company. The context made me want to scream. But... he was here. Wasn’t that all I’d ever wanted?
Not like this.
I leaned on the bar, exhausted. Tired of the same old hurt running around my head. Getting smashed usually helped, but with Rubi tracking my every move, it wasn’t as appealing.Cos you don’t want him to see you out of your mind on whatever Jonsey shows up with.
Maybe. But it was more than that. I’d been lit on ket when he’d showed up last time. When he’d dragged me out of here and all the way home.
Not enough that he’d noticed.
But enough that I’d let him.
That I’dbelievedhim.
I couldn’t make that mistake again, cos I’d die when he left. And he would leave. Course he would. He’d do whatever Cam told him to because he always did.
“Hey.” Rubi’s hand landed on my back, his large palm finding a home between my shoulder blades as his voice pitched low. “We don’t have to stay here. You can show me your house.”
My head snapped up. “You’ve been in my house before.”
Rubi held my gaze. “I don’t remember.”
“Rocked your world, eh?”
I turned away. He caught my arm, but I shook him off and abandoned him at the bar, sinking deeper into the bustle of locals who flocked to the Joker every night after work.
I figured I’d feel it if he followed me, but I felt nothing, and for a moment, it was pure bliss. Then his words sank in.“I don’t remember.”
Bullshit. He remembered. He had to. Or I was a raving lunatic and he was barely human.
