Page 18 of Break Me Like a Promise (Oak Valley)

I care about you, I worry about you, I love you.

He shook his head, trying to rid himself of what he thought he saw, the sickening pit of possibility he felt in his gut. She let him go, all those years ago. It didn’t matter if she regretted it now. “Nah, all good. This is nothing. You on the other hand…”

Ruby scoffed. “Please, I was going to do this by myself before you steamrolled.”

“I didn’t steamroll.”I just don’t want you to get hurt.

Colton swallowed the words before they dug him into a hole he wasn’t sure he could get out of.

“Yeah, you kind of did, Colton.” She stood in the bus aisle, arms crossed while she looked down at him. “I’m not who I was, I’ve been through a lot in the last ten years. I can handle myself, and I wanted to do this alone.”

Colton remembered what June had said. It was a far cry from what he’d seen on Ruby’s social media. Dinners out, dressed up, laughing on the street. Not that he wasn’t sure those things happened, but there was another side he didn’t have access to.

He sighed. “Ruby, I know you can do this alone. And believe me, you’ll do most of it that way. But it’s okay to accept help now and then.”

It was a hard lesson he had to learn after his injury. All of the doctors, physical therapy, aid to and from different rooms in the house. He didn’t want her to have to learn the same lesson the hard way. He just had to remind himself it in no way had to do with the way his pulse quickened knowing she was back in town. It in no way had to do with the way his breath caught when he ran into her. And it definitely in no way had to do with the ache in his heart when he stood near her.

Ruby chewed her lower lip. “Fine. But you don’t show up unannounced anymore, got it?”

“Even if I come bearing food?”

The longer she glared at him, the harder it was for him to keep from smirking. At least one thing hadn’t changed.

“Text me first,” she growled before disappearing. “You ready to keep going?”

“Bring it on, sweetheart.” Colton bit his tongue at the slip of his old endearment for her, grateful she was somewhere in the bus and she couldn’t see his face. When she came into view wiggling the next seat, she pretended like he hadn’t said it.

They continued removing the seats, taking the occasional break for water or to catch their breath. Each seat was easily a hundred pounds, and while there was a time he could flip tires quadruple that size, the aches in his body were making him hyper-aware of his age and just how long it’d been since he’d done any real physical activity. His knee was twinging by the time they were done, but Colton felt alive in a way he hadn’t in years.

And maybe it partly had to do with the satisfied smile plastered on a certain red-head’s face, the way she looked at him while she guzzled water.

18

Ruby looked Colton over while she finished her water bottle. His skin shone with sweat, hair sticking up at odd angles, his biceps pushing against the sleeves of his t-shirt. She’d had the absolute pleasure of watching his arms bulge as he moved the seats from the back of the bus to the clearing. He still had a cocky bite to his words, one she only learned through his interviews over the years, but there was a softness to him that reminded her of being seventeen, star-gazing from the back of his pick-up.

“Thanks, Colt. Seriously,” she said, wiping her mouth.

He shrugged. “You can just say I was right.”

“Over my dead body.” She shook her head but didn’t stop the smile from spreading. “How’s your knee feeling?”

“Been better but can’t complain. I didn’t realize how much I missed really working out.” He looked at the bus, and she realized just how big a difference his being there made.

Maybe he was right. Even if she was going to do most of this alone, there was room for help.

“You know, if you have any questions about the rest of the build, don’t hesitate to ask.”

She started walking to his car. “Yeah, yeah. Are… Are you still coming Monday?”

His steps followed hers and stopped when she turned around and leaned against his car.

Of course his eyes had been glued to her ass. Some things never changed, and Colton being the playboy he turned into after they broke up seemed to be one of them.

“You can stop looking at my ass anytime,” she said, fixing him with a glare.

“Not a chance, cupcake.” He smirked.

Ruby’s cheeks flushed, and she mentally kicked herself. She hated that he could — and did — still do that to her. She cleared her throat, needing to get back on track.

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