Chapter 22

twenty-two

. . .

Ruby

We’d spentthe last hour with Pearl Pierce, and the comfort with her was unexplainable. I remember feeling it when I was young. At a time in my life when I didn’t trust easily, and not that it had changed a whole lot, but I was wiser now, at least I hoped I was.

But back then, I was even more cautious of people.

Maybe it was just fear or some form of self-preservation. My mom had broken marriages and burned a lot of bridges in this town, and I’d always been aware of that. Felt some of the judgment fall onto me being the daughter of Wendy.

But Pearl had always been different.

Warm and kind and genuine.

I’d had no hesitation when I’d spend time talking about books with her.

And today had been no different.

From the second I’d walked through the door, her face had lit up.

“I’m so proud of all that you’ve accomplished. Not surprised at all. I always saw big things for you, Ruby,” she said as she squeezed my hand.

“Thank you. You were always so encouraging to me.” I cleared my throat and glanced over to see River watching us before I turned my attention back to the lovely woman sitting in front of me. “It meant a lot.”

“I know good people when I see them.” She smiled. “Do you ever get to read for pleasure now? I know you’ve been in school for so long, but now that you’re done, maybe you can get lost in some fiction?”

I chuckled. “Funny you should say that. Demi, Peyton, and Saylor just had me add several romance books to my Kindle library. I guess I’m going to dabble in a little fiction.”

“Oh, I love romance. It’s my favorite genre,” she said, as she clapped her hands together once.

“Really? Well, it sounds like I’ve been missing out,” I said. “I think I’ll start one tonight.”

“You will be addicted. And let me tell you, my husband appreciated me reading all those sexy books.” She waggled her brows, and River groaned.

“Hey, what’s wrong with reading romance?” I said, narrowing my gaze at him.

“Nothing. I just don’t want to hear my grandmother talking about sexy books and my grandfather’s appreciation of them.”

My head fell back in laughter, and I added a few of her recommendations to my growing library on my Kindle app.

“Don’t be a baby. Gramps gave you the birds and the bees talk a long time ago.” Pearl smiled at her grandson as he walked over, wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and sat beside her on the bed.

“He did. I love you. We’re going to head out.” He kissed her cheek.

I pushed to my feet and hugged her goodbye, promising to come back and visit her soon.

When we were back in the car, he told me he was taking me to his house because he had a larger kayak, so apparently, we were now kayaking together.

The thought made me happy, so I wasn’t going to overthink it.

“I love your grandmother.”

“Yeah, she’s one of the good ones.”

“When you were in the bathroom, she mentioned something about you going to speak at the juvenile detention center later this week. Is that something you do often?”

He pulled into his driveway and put the car in park. “Nope. It’s my first time. There’s a new program director, and he seems like a cool dude. He asked Romeo and me if we’d come to speak to the kids and tell them about our experience and how we made changes for the better after being there.”

He glanced out the window, shoulders stiff and jaw flexing with tension.

“Are you going with Romeo?”

“No. He went last week. He said it wasn’t bad at all. I just don’t like dredging up shit.” He ran a hand through his hair and turned back to look at me. “It wasn’t a good experience for either of us. And sure, we’re okay now, but it wasn’t because that place shaped us in any way. Hell, we shouldn’t have even been there.”

“Why were you sent there? It was for an incident at the Daily Market, right? I remember my dad telling me about it. That you and Romeo hadn’t done anything, and you were set up for a crime that someone else committed?”

“Yeah. It was actually Slade Crawford and his scumbag friend who stole some booze, vandalized the place, and then knocked Walt Salden down. He sustained a pretty bad head injury.”

“Demi’s brother was the one who did it?” I asked with surprise.

“Yep. He was fucked-up on drugs at the time, and her father covered it up. He let us take the fall. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“And you tried telling everyone what happened? That you didn’t do anything wrong?”

He nodded, and there was a deep sadness in his gaze when it locked with mine. “Slade’s father had a lot of money. Romeo’s dad had just gone to prison, and his mom wasn’t equipped to go to bat for us. My grandparents were old, and they didn’t know what to do. Grammie just cried all the time, and Gramps was devastated when they took me away. But shit happens, right? You move forward.”

I climbed over the console and onto his lap before I could stop myself. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him as tight as I could. My heart was aching for these two boys who’d been sent away for something they didn’t do. They must have been terrified.

“Yes. Shit happens. But that doesn’t make it any easier. I’m sorry that you went through that,” I whispered in his ear.

His hands came around me, and he held me there. “It’s fine, Queenie.”

I pulled back to look at him, and a tear broke free and moved down my cheek. “It’s not fine. I’m sure it was scary. I know what it’s like to feel judged for things you didn’t do.”

He reached up, his thumb swiping away the single tear trailing down my face. “Don’t you shed even one tear for me, Ruby Rose.” His lips turned up in the corners. “I’m not Bullet or your dad. I don’t deserve that tear.”

My hands moved to each side of his face. “You deserve more than you think you do.”

“You’re making a habit of climbing onto my lap in the car, aren’t you?”

I chuckled. “What can I say? It’s pretty cozy over here.”

“I’m fine. I don’t think about it often. I just don’t know that I want to go visit a place that I don’t have fond memories of, you know?”

I nodded, my hands stroking the sides of his face. “Yeah, but maybe you could make it better for those kids that are there now. Maybe you could make it less awful for them.”

“Never thought about it that way. That wouldn’t be a bad thing.”

“You want me to go with you?”

“You’re going to go with me to the juvenile detention center and watch me speak to a bunch of troubled kids?”

“Yes. Troubled kids are my favorite.”

And River Pierce is my favorite, too, but I won’t say that out loud.

“You’re something else. You’re willing to do that, but you won’t have sex with me again?” His voice was all tease as his hands settled on my hips. I could feel his bulge beneath my ass, and I tried to hide my smile.

“Come on, lover boy. Let’s go take the kayak out and maybe I’ll read you some romance from the book I’m planning to start tonight. You can learn a thing or two about women.”

“I’m an expert on women.” He was up and out of the car with me in his arms in no time. My legs wrapped around his waist, and my head fell back in laughter.

“Pretty smooth, right?”

“You can put me down now,” I said, as he pushed into the house.

“Nah. I like carrying you around when you’re feeling sorry for me. Otherwise, you’re glaring at me and fighting with me. So let me enjoy this moment.”

“I don’t feel sorry for you,” I said, over more laughter as I tried to push down and get to my feet.

“I don’t know, Queenie. I was just a kid back then, and there were some scary fuckers in that place. It was pretty terrifying.” His voice was all tease.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him. “You play dirty, River Pierce.”

“You have no idea,” he said as he walked through the house and set me down on the kitchen island.

He grabbed a couple of bottles of water, a box of crackers, and some grapes and dropped them all into a bag. I left my purse on the counter and jumped down, tucking my phone into the back pocket of my jean shorts and following him out to the backyard.

“Your brother did a good job. He’s actually surprised me. I didn’t think he’d last more than a day, and the guys have not gone easy on him.”

He dropped the bag into the kayak, and we both climbed in.

“I’m surprised, too. Maybe there’s hope for him.”

He reached for the paddles, and we started gliding through the water.

“I think when you stop saving him, he’ll be forced to figure his own shit out.”

I nodded, leaning back as the sun shined down and warmed my skin. I loved it out here. He made his way around the bend, and we moved toward the cove. I couldn’t stop thinking about what he’d shared in the car.

“That must have been complicated for Romeo and Demi, with what her brother and father did to you guys.”

“Yeah. They didn’t have an easy path, but they got through it. Hell, I held shit against her that had nothing to do with her for years. And now Slade will be coming back to town and working for Romeo at the gym. I guess sometimes you need to let shit go. Forgive people for their mistakes, right?”

I thought about it. “Agreed. It’s not good to hold on to anger.”

We came to a stop under the large tree that was creating some shade beneath its lush canopy.

He set the paddles in the kayak and leaned back on his elbows. Even with his gold aviators, I could see he was watching me.

“Thanks for coming with me to see my grandmother and for not being a stubborn ass and getting in the car.”

I pulled off my sunglasses and rolled my eyes dramatically. “I’m not a stubborn ass.”

“Yeah, you are. But I like it.”

I slid my sunglasses back onto my face and leaned back. “Well, you’re pretty stubborn yourself.”

“I won’t argue that. But I’m glad you agreed to hang out. I wasn’t lying when I said I’d missed you.”

My stomach did that twisty thing that made me want to throw myself overboard for being so sappy.

“I think we need to have some rules,” I said, thinking about how this would all play out.

He groaned. “Why the fuck do we need rules? We’re consenting adults. We can do whatever the fuck we feel like doing.”

“I like to know what I’m getting into. You’re a lawyer, for God’s sake. You should love this. It’s like a contract. An agreement. You know, so things don’t get messy.”

He sat forward and sighed. “Okay. Let’s hear your terms.”

“The first and most important rule is that we both remember this is temporary. We need to agree to an NCF clause.”

“I can’t wait to hear what that means.”

“No catching feelings,” I said. “That’s where things get messy.”

He chuckled. “You don’t have to worry about that with me. I give you my word. I will not catch feelings. You aggravate me, and you turn me on. You annoy me, and you make me laugh. That’s all this is.”

“Right. I feel the same about you. I hate you as much as I like you. So, obviously, that can’t go anywhere, or we’d end up killing one another.”

“Agreed. So, we have nothing to worry about,” he said, as his tongue swiped out to wet his lips. “What, exactly, do your rules allow under these strict guidelines?”

“Well, we’re friends who are attracted to one another and also irritate one another. But we like to eat, so I think meals are allowed.”

“Good. Are we talking about eating food or your pussy?” His voice was all tease, but my body was most definitely not laughing at the comment. I squeezed my thighs together and made a serious effort to remain in control.

“Both are approved.”

“Fucking fabulous. So, meals, both at a restaurant and between your sexy thighs. What about sex?”

“I think sex is a yes, but we touch base after each time we cross the line. If either of us starts to feel like we’re catching feelings—we take sex off the table. Trust me, I’ve had this problem with men in the past. Take the professor, for example. He didn’t think it would happen, and then it happened.”

“That’s because it wasn’t an equal relationship. He reaped all the pleasure and did nothing for you. Of course, he caught feelings. But this is a mutual pleasure deal. We both give, and we both receive. Therefore, we’re in a safe zone. The balance is there.”

“That makes no sense,” I said.

“Neither does your ridiculous contract, but here we are.” He yawned, pretending to be bored. “Anyway. Food. Sex. All the orgasms. Check in and make sure we’re still annoyed by one another. What else?”

“Do you have any requests?” I asked.

“Hmmm… Are we telling anyone?”

“No. This stays between us. Why? Do you want to tell someone?”

“Not really. I don’t give a shit who knows what’s going on, but the guys already suspect, and I won’t lie about it.”

“Agreed. If anyone asks, we just say that it’s casual, and we’re having fun. I like getting this all squared away. This is very adult of us.”

“Very. We know where we stand. I’m good with it. I’ve never had an agreement with anyone I’ve been fucking, but I’m here for it.”

“Ahhh, glad you brought that up. Let’s add an addendum. No dipping your wiener schnitzel in any other ladies when you’re sleeping with me.”

Loud laughter escaped his lips, and it echoed around the cove. “Deal. But that means you stay the fuck away from all other wiener schnitzels while you’re enjoying mine.”

“I can do that.”

“Well, we have an agreement, and I wouldn’t be a very good non-boyfriend if I didn’t stick to the terms.”

“How about I read us some romance and see if it gets you in the mood?” I said, waggling my brows.

“Fine. But just so you know, I’m always in the mood when you’re around.”

I leaned back, opened my Kindle app, and offered him a few options. “We’ve got a small-town romance, a mafia romance, and a billionaire romance. Do you have a preference?”

“Will one of those lead to you getting naked on this kayak?”

“Maybe.” I laughed and leaned back, swiping to chapter one. “Let’s do the small-town romance. I’ll read one chapter, and you read the next.”

“No fucking way. That wasn’t in the contract. You read, and I listen.”

“That’s not fair. Why am I doing all the reading?”

“Because I don’t want to read this book. How about you read, and I bury my face between your thighs while I listen? Then we’ll both be doing some work.”

My teeth sank into my bottom lip, and I shifted my legs apart. “Deal.”

I was fairly certain that this non-relationship was going to be the best one I’d ever had.

He moved so fast the boat shook, and he was suddenly between my legs and did exactly what he said he would.

And I enjoyed every second of it.