“I’m not hooking up with anyone and besides, he isn’t really ready for that.”
“Oh, so you have been thinking about it then!” Mila shouts, as if she’s caught me in some sort of lie.
“I’m hanging up now. I’ll see you Thursday.”
I end the call, but I know that isn’t the end of the prying as I catch Sienna watching me, her eyes glittering with all the possibilities. She longs so badly for Caleb to have someone, a girlfriend who will help him through his dark days, but what she doesn’t understand is bringing someone new in can complicate things. And right now, Caleb doesn’t need complicated.
“So you have been thinking about him then, huh?” she asks.
“Of course I have. How could I not? He’s gorgeous, but Sie, it’s not the right time. He needs a friend and I’m happy to be that for him.”
“How have things been going?” she asks and for a second I don’t know if I should share anything with her. It feels like an invasion of Caleb’s privacy and also like I’m talking behind his back. The last thing I want is for him not to trust me.
“I think he’s doing pretty well. He said running helps and he’s liking his job so that’s good,” I say, not giving away too much. I can only hope it’s enough information for Sienna.
“Well, that’s good,” she responds, and I breathe a sigh of relief as she changes the subject. “So what are we going to do this weekend with Mila here?”
Chapter Ten
Caleb
Work is slow tonight, Adam and I spending more time standing behind the bar talking to each other than actually serving customers. It’s good though, getting the chance to just hang out and talk, get to know each other a little better.
It feels almost normal, as though my life is slowly getting back on track again, even if that’s not exactly true.
Plus, as much as Reid and I will always be tight, with him dating my sister and now back playing football, I don’t see him as much as I maybe expected when I first moved out here. Which is fine, I get it, he travels for games and he has school that takes up his time. And we do hang out together still, but it’s nice to know he’s not the only friend I have out here.
“So you thinking about hanging around Hawthorn for a while longer?” I ask as Adam walks back from the storeroom, slinging a towel over his shoulder.
He shrugs. “Yeah maybe a couple more months,” he says. “Depends on how quiet it gets when the semester finishes,” he adds. “The options dry up real quick when school ends and everyone heads home.”
I chuckle, shaking my head at him.
He grins, crossing his arms over his chest as he leans against the bar. “Speaking of ladies,” he starts. “What’s the story with you and that friend of your sister’s? What’s her name…Ruby?”
I reach for a towel as I wipe down the bar top, avoiding looking at him. “There is no story,” I say. “We’re just friends.”
“Right,” he says sarcastically. “But you’d obviously like to be more?”
I swallow hard, knowing that what I’d like to happen and what can happen are two very different things, no matter how much I wish they weren’t.
Adam’s grin widens. “So you won’t mind if I have a crack then?” My head snaps up, my gaze landing on his as Adam bursts out laughing. “Yeah okay, you’d definitely mind,” he says, brow raised in question, that stupid grin on his face still.
I exhale, running a hand through my hair as I debate whether or not to admit what I think of the whole Ruby and me situation to this guy, a virtual stranger to me. I’ve barely even admitted my feelings to Reid, and we’ve known each other our whole lives.
“She’s my sister’s best friend,” I tell him. “My roommate, so yeah, maybe for those reasons, I would mind,” I tell him instead, knowing that’s only part of the reason.
Adam chuckles shaking his head a little as he pushes off the bar. “No problem, Caleb. She is officially off-limits for me,” he says, hands up as though in surrender.
“Thanks,” I say, wondering if what I just did was a dick thing. Maybe Ruby would like Adam and I’ve just nixed any chance of her and him finding out by pretending that she’s off-limits to him because of our living arrangement.
“No worries, mate,” he says, nudging my shoulder as he walks past. “Although, do you know if she has a sister?”
I roll my eyes as he walks past, not even bothering with a response.
By the time I get home, it’s almost midnight. The bar stayed quiet enough that we ended up closing early, but by the time the clean-up and stuff was done, it was still late.
I walk in the back door of the house and through the kitchen to the living room. Ruby is sitting on the couch, her laptop on a cushion in her lap and the TV on mute.
“Hey,” I say, stopping in the doorway, my hands resting on the top of the door jam.
She turns to me, her mouth falling open a little, before she swallows hard and says, “Hi, you’re home early?”
I drop my arms as I walk into the living room. “Bar was dead tonight,” I tell her. “Have I ruined your plans by coming home early?” I ask, gesturing to her laptop.
“Not at all,” she says. “It’s good actually, ‘cause I’ve got the perfect movie for us to watch tonight.”
I smile. “Oh yeah, what’s that?”
She grins at me. “It’s a surprise,” she says, clicking something on her laptop and closing it.
“A surprise, huh?” I ask. “Okay. I can roll with that. I’m just gonna take a quick shower,” I add, jerking my thumb over my shoulder. “Grab us some beers and I’ll be out in a sec?”
Ruby smiles, jumping off the couch. “I’m on it.”
I’m quick in the shower, washing the smell of beer and bar off me, before getting out. I pull on some sweats and a t-shirt that I grabbed from my bag, which Ruby has now moved to her bedroom, as though I’m officially sleeping there.
It still feels weird, like I’m intruding in her personal space, but at the same time, I don’t want to not do it either. Sleeping in her bed, knowing she’s there beside me, is peaceful and calms me. It’s the only way I know how to sleep without having nightmares and I’m not sure what I’m going to do when I have to finally move out.
Fuck, move out.
I really should start thinking about finding somewhere else to live. Stop crashing with my sister and her friend, when they clearly don’t have the space for me. But then I remember they don’t really have the space for Reid either, but he stays and neither of them seem to care.
Maybe the four of us could find somewhere else to live, somewhere bigger, where I have my own room and I don’t have to impose on Ruby like I am.
But fuck, I don’t want that either.
“Jesus, Caleb,” I groan, shoving a hand through my wet hair as I make my way back out to the living room, having no fucking clue what I want.
Ruby is back on the couch, her laptop closed and on the coffee table, along with two beers and a bag of pretzels.