Ruby smiles, “Yeah, younger sister, Mila,” she says. “And of course our parents.”
“Do you and your sister get along?”
“We do,” she says. “We’re close like you and Sienna are.”
I smile. “Sie and I only ever had each other growing up,” I say, exhaling. “Well, and Reid. Still do, I guess.”
“You guys are so close,” she says, her hand moving on the sheet, fingers splayed open. “It’s actually amazingly sweet how close you are. Even when Reid and Sienna were fighting, you could see it.”
“We’re the only family each other has,” I tell her. “It’s why I was glad Reid came out to school here with Sie.”
Ruby laughs a little. “And fell in love with her.”
I chuckle. “He was always in love with her.”
“True,” she replies, raising a brow. “You’re okay with it, right?”
“Yeah, of course,” I tell her. “Like I said, the three of us are family. It’s all good.”
“Well,” she says, exhaling as her hand moves again, inching closer toward me, “you guys have me too, you know. I mean Sie and I hit it off since day one here, but well…” she trails off, biting her bottom lip as her eyes find mine in the half darkness. “I’m your friend, too.”
Friend.
There it is, that word again, that description of what we are. Just thinking about it starts a dull ache, low in my gut, as though reminding me not of what we are, but of who we can never be. But as much as it hurts, I know it’s for the best too. That nothing I can offer Ruby is enough, so the last thing I should be thinking about is dragging her into my world.
“Caleb,” she whispers, her hand moving again until it’s slipping under my pillow and finding my hand. Her touch sends shivers of electricity up my arm and as much as I know I should pull away, I don’t.
“Yeah?” I whisper as her fingers slide against mine, pulling my hand from under the pillow.
“You know that, right?” she says, her voice low. “I’m your friend.”
I smile at her, my eyes growing heavy. “I do, Ruby,” I murmur. “Thank you.”
I don’t know when we stop talking and eventually drift off to sleep, but the next time I open my eyes, the morning light is streaming through a crack in the blinds.
Rolling over, I find Ruby’s side of the bed empty, a sheet of paper on her pillow. Reaching for it, I fall onto my back as I hold it up and start to read.
Hey sleepyhead! Think the plan worked…no nightmares! Hope you wake up feeling rested. For the record, you’re not impossible to sleep with.
I’ve got class till 3pm, but if you wanna go for a run afterward, I’m game
I let out a breath, a weird smile on my face as I lower the paper to my chest, my eyes on the ceiling as I listen to the peaceful silence of an empty house. Ordinarily I would hate this, but this morning, it feels calming, as though something has shifted.
Rolling over again to look at the clock on Ruby’s side of the bed, I end up with my face on her pillow, her scent instantly filling me and awakening my senses.
And my dick.
I let out a low groan, turning my face as I bury it against her pillow and inhale deeply, even knowing I’m just torturing myself doing this.
But it all feels too fucking good to ignore, no matter how much I know I should. Without thinking, I slide a hand inside my sweats, my fingers curling around my hardening dick. All of this is so, so wrong and I know it, but it doesn’t stop me from tugging gently, once, twice, three times.
Groaning again, I fall onto my back, my eyes closing as I allow myself a few seconds of believing that I’m lying in Ruby’s bed, but it’s her hand on my dick, about to get me off.
Before I can go much further though, I hear the front door slam shut, the sound of footsteps as someone walks through the house. Scared it might be Ruby, I yank my hand from my sweats, swinging my legs over the side of the bed and sitting up as I mentally command my dick to calm the fuck down.
But she doesn’t come into her room and when I finally get myself under control, I slip out of her bed, pulling up the duvet as best I can, before venturing out to the kitchen.
Sienna stands leaning against the kitchen counter, her eyes on her phone as she scrolls through something on the screen. When I walk in though, her head snaps up, a strange look on her face that eventually morphs into a smile.
“So, you and Ruby, huh?”
I shake my head, running a hand through my hair as I make my way toward the fridge. “Not like that, Sie,” I say, peering inside. “What are you doing home anyway?” I add, hoping to change the subject.
“Lab got canceled,” she says quickly, as she crosses her arms over her chest, a smug look on her face. “Uh huh, and what exactly is it like then?”
I roll my eyes as I grab the orange juice and pour myself a glass. “It’s nothing.”
She scoffs. “Please, you sleeping in her bed is not nothing. Come on, tell me what’s going on,” she continues. “I’m not gonna be mad.”
I turn and lean against the counter across from her, the two of us in identical poses as we face each other. “She offered to let me sleep in her room because she thought I might feel safer there with the door shut,” I start. “I wasn’t about to let her sleep on the couch, so…” I trail off shrugging as I take another sip of juice. “But it was nothing more than a friendly gesture. That’s it.”
The smug smile on Sie’s face disappears and I expect her to ask me something about why I need to feel safe or what it is that makes me feel afraid here. But she doesn’t, instead she does that thing she’s been doing lately where she walks over and wraps her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug.
I humor her now, wrapping my arms around her and hugging her back, because truthfully, this change in us, it isn’t just with her anymore.
“I’m glad you have her,” she whispers, her mouth against my ear. “This makes me very happy.” She pulls back, a smile on her face and her eyes shining as she looks up at me.
“You’re only saying that ‘cause you stole my best friend,” I say teasingly as I pinch her side.
Sienna laughs, swatting a hand across my chest. “Oh, so we’re trading now are we?” she asks.
I let out a chuckle. “Or,” I say, my eyes meeting hers, “the four of us are all friends?”
Sie’s smile widens, her arms squeezing me a little as she whispers, “Yeah, I like that idea.”
With her lab canceled, Sie and I decide to hang out for the day, spending time together, just the two of us. It’s something we haven’t done since she came back to Providence for our dad’s funeral and she’d stopped speaking to Reid because she thought he was involved in what happened to me.
It’s nicer this time though, because for the first time in a long time, both of us are happy, unburdened by the drama of our fucked up family or the misunderstanding of everything that happened. We spend the day laughing and talking, grabbing lunch together as Sie fills me in some more on what life is like here at Hawthorn.
By the time we finish eating, it’s almost three.