Chapter 27

twenty-seven

. . .

River

“I can’t believeeveryone is going to help paint the new place for my brothers,” she said, as we pulled in front of the rental house that Zane, Rico, and Panda were moving into.

“I offered them free pizza and beer, and they were all in.” I put the car in park. Rico had attached himself to me, and I can’t say I minded it. Maybe it was that he was her brother. Hell, I didn’t know, but I was all right with the dude needing to lean on me. At least for now. “Hey, I emailed you the contract back. That pretentious prick of a dean you are going to work for actually agreed to everything we’d asked for. He upped your salary, increased your vacation time, and took out some of that fucked-up wording he’d had in there.”

She was leaving in ten days. Her dad would be home in three days. Everything was about to change.

I’d known it was coming.

Hell, this was my MO. Short and sweet. No feelings. We were just having a good time.

Nothing more.

She’d been ready to get out of this place since the day she’d arrived. She talked about it often. How this wasn’t her home. Maybe there were too many memories here that she wanted to forget.

But like it or not, her time here had been better than she’d expected. She’d made friends. She was out riding horses every weekend, which was something she couldn’t do in the city. She was spending a lot of time with her father, helping out the kids at the Fresh Start, and whether either of us wanted to admit it or not, we’d grown attached to one another. It hadn’t been the plan, but I couldn’t have stopped it if I’d wanted to.

The good thing about me—I was a pro at turning off my feelings. I’d had losses that were devastating, and I’d learned how to bounce back.

Losing my parents at a young age taught me that attachments were not permanent. You had to set your life up in a way that meant you could survive if any of it were taken away.

Maybe it was a good thing that Ruby was leaving. Because if she stayed much longer, I knew in my gut that I wouldn’t survive if she left me, and that scared the shit out of me.

It was for the better.

This was a fling. Nothing more.

Hell, I’d found the only woman that was as guarded as I was. We were a safe bet. We’d known that there was an expiration date for us from the beginning.

I just had to remember that it was coming soon.

“Thanks for doing that for me.” She turned to face me. “Do you think you’ll miss me when I leave?”

Do bears shit in the woods? Fuck yeah, I’ll miss you.

“It’ll be fine. This was the plan.” I studied her, saying something I knew I shouldn’t. “You want to take the job there, right?”

“Sure. And all the women in Magnolia Falls will be all over you once I’m gone. Evie was seething when she saw me sitting on your lap when we watched the fireworks.”

“Does that make you jealous, Queenie? Knowing Evie wants to be in my bed the minute you aren’t?” It was a shitty thing to say. I had no intention of having Evie in my bed. I didn’t want anyone else in my bed. But I wanted to see if it bothered her.

“Never. I know what this is. That’s why it works. We both want the same thing.” She shrugged, and I saw something in her gaze. Sadness, maybe.

I think we both knew nothing had gone according to plan. I should just cut the cord now and make this easier on both of us. But I couldn’t seem to do it. I’d thought about it several times over the last week, but here we were.

“And what is this?” I asked.

“Two people who don’t want anything serious, getting what they need from the other.”

I nodded. “Sounds about right. Let’s go paint this house.”

She helped me carry in several boxes of pizza, a few six-packs of beer, and some sodas.

Rico and Panda were both wearing matching baggy jumpsuits that I assumed were for painting, and they looked absolutely ridiculous. Zane was in an old T-shirt and a pair of faded jeans. When I walked around the corner, Demi and Romeo were checking out the kitchen. Saylor was talking with Kingston at the small table in the corner, Nash and Hayes were out in the backyard, looking around, and Cutler came running toward Ruby.

“Rubes, I missed you. We’re going to ride tomorrow, right?”

I took what she had in her hands and set it on the counter, and she bent down to his level so she could hug him. She was so tough on the outside, but there was nothing but heart beneath that exterior.

“Yep. I wouldn’t miss riding with you and Demi for anything.”

“I wish you weren’t moving. My dad said it’s coming up pretty soon.” He pouted.

You and me both, little dude.

“I’m going to miss you, but I’ll come back to visit.”

He turned to look at me and lunged. “Hi, Uncle River. Did you bring my favorite pizza?”

“Of course, I did. That’s why I’m your favorite uncle,” I said, as I fist-bumped him.

He looked up at me and winked. This fucking kid was too smooth for his own good.

“Hey, we don’t have favorites,” Kingston said, shooting me a glare. “Unless, of course, your favorite is Uncle King. And who could blame you?”

Everyone laughed, and Ruby started passing out plates so they could eat before her brothers offered to show her around the house. Obviously, this wasn’t my first time here. She didn’t know that.

She didn’t need to know that.

“I’m going to start in the bedrooms. Let’s bust this out,” Nash said, spoken like a true contractor. He and Kingston had already been here with me to check out the place. Romeo nodded and followed Nash down the hall.

Kingston grabbed Hayes and Saylor and said they’d get started on the family room, and Ruby and Zane headed for the guest bedroom, while Rico and Panda were taking on the laundry room.

“Looks like you and me are doing the kitchen,” Demi said.

I grabbed a slice of pizza and took a few bites. “Let’s do this, Beans.”

She stood on the step stool and started taping off the ceiling, and I got the paint brushes and rollers out before filling the bin with paint. Kingston had recommended we paint the whole place in a light gray color. Just getting some fresh paint on the walls was going to make a big difference.

The house didn’t need much. I normally invested in dumps that we could flip, but these were Ruby’s brothers, and they’d been eager to get their own place, so I’d bought this one in pretty decent shape as is.

I knew it would be better for her not to be worrying so much about them after she left.

Her mother wasn’t changing, but her brothers were proving to be capable of more than they’d shown up until now. Maybe having their sister back here had made a difference or motivated them in some way.

“Okay, what’s the plan?” Demi asked, as she held up a paintbrush and smiled at me.

“How about I do the large space and roll the paint on most of the wall, and you do all the edging?”

“Sounds good to me.” She dipped her brush into the fresh paint and got to work.

I could hear voices in the distance, laughter coming from one end, music coming from another. Everyone was pitching in because that was just what we did for one another.

“You going to be okay when she leaves?” Demi asked, looking up at me with her hair tied in a knot on top of her head.

“Of course, I will. I’m always okay, Beans.”

“I know you are. But it’s also okay if you’re not.”

“I’ll be fine. It’ll be good to get back to normal,” I said.

“Have you thought about asking her to stay?”

“No. She doesn’t want to stay. Hell, she hasn’t even applied for jobs here. She only applied out of state. This isn’t where she wants to be.” I rolled the paint across the length of the wall and moved to my right as Demi filled in the spots along the trim that I couldn’t get to.

“Maybe she doesn’t know you may want her to stay.” She paused. “If it were up to you, would you want her to stay?”

Fuck. It isn’t up to me. So, I’m not going to go there.

“You know I’m not big on fairy tales. I’m fine, Demi. I like being alone.”

I always had—up until recently. I’d preferred it for the longest time. That was why my relationship with Ruby was catching me off guard.

“That isn’t what I asked you, River.”

I dipped my roller into the fresh paint, and my gaze locked with hers. “It’s not up to me. End of story. Tell me about the progress on the house.”

She groaned and started painting along the bottom of the wall again. “Reese is driving out this week to go over some ideas for furniture and décor. I’m excited. Things are really coming along.”

“Yeah, every time I stop by, there’s more progress. You guys will be moving in before you know it.”

“Hey, River,” she said, her voice low and steady.

“Yep.” I knew she wasn’t done with our earlier conversation.

“Just because you don’t believe in fairy tales doesn’t mean they can’t happen. You deserve your happily ever after, just like everyone else.”

I watched as the fresh new paint covered the old, faded color with ease. Maybe that was how life worked. You could just keep putting on new coats of paint and starting over.

That was what I’d done most of my life.

“Sure. But everyone’s happily ever after might look different.”

“Yeah, I know. But it’s hard when you see it before your eyes, not to hope that someone grasps it, you know?”

“What do you mean?”

“I see it. This sort of magic that lives between you two. I love watching you guys together. All that banter and laughter—it’s pretty special.”

I rolled my eyes. “You think watching us argue and fight is special? I think you might be romanticizing things.”

“Even Romeo sees it. Hell, we all do. I just don’t want you to miss it, River. To let something good get away because you’re too stubborn to admit how you feel.”

I let her words sink in. Normally I would shut this shit down immediately, but this was Demi, and there was some truth to what she was saying.

What I had with Ruby was different from anything I’d ever had with a woman. But I also knew when someone had one foot out the door because it was normally me. And Ruby Rose had one foot out the door. She wanted bigger things than I had to offer, and she deserved them.

“How about this?” I paused and looked down at her. “I hear you. I’ll think about it, okay?”

Her lips turned up in the corners, and she nodded. “Fair enough.”

But what I didn’t have the heart to tell her was that life wasn’t always fair.

And I knew that better than most.