She smiles at me and it’s fucking beautiful. “I mean obviously, right?” she says, shrugging as her grin widens.
I laugh, sliding closer as I nudge her with my shoulder a little and point toward her laptop, grateful that she doesn’t feel the need to bring up what happened earlier today. That we are just acting like we always do when I come home late and she’s up waiting for me.
“What are you doing?”
By the time Monday rolls around, I’m feeling back to my normal self again, well as normal as possible given everything.
Mila left earlier today, excited at the prospect of moving here next semester. As crazy and unlike Ruby as she is, I do really like her, especially once we got the chance to get to know each other. Thankfully I hadn’t had to work last night, so we’d done family dinner and movie night together, which had descended into the usual shit fight when Reid, Ruby and I had tried to get Sienna to watch something she didn’t want to watch.
Surprisingly, Mila had been on Sie’s side and it was fucking hilarious having the two of them try to convince us that Captain America: Winter Soldier was a poor choice. Obviously we’d won though and the whole night had been really good fun.
The door to Ruby’s classroom opens and I watch as everyone streams out, Ruby included.
“Hey!” I smile, arms open as she walks toward me.
“Hey yourself,” she replies, stepping into my arms.
I wrap them around her, pulling her close so her body is flush with mine as I press a kiss to her temple. “How was class?”
Ruby wraps her arms around my waist, squeezing me. “Good, really good.”
I pull back a little, my arms still around her shoulders as I look down at her. “Professor Creepy leave you alone?”
She smiles up at me, her beautiful brown eyes sparkling. “Yep,” she nods. “He did. I think he’s got the message.”
My grin widens as I glance up at the classroom windows, see the fucker we’re talking about as he stands there staring at us. “Mmmm,” I say, turning back to Ruby. “Well, just in case,” I whisper, as I lower my head and brush my lips against hers, not even thinking about how wrong this is or how much I shouldn’t be doing this right now.
Fuck it.
Chapter Seventeen
Ruby
It isn’t just a brush this time as Caleb presses his lips to mine and everything in me lights up. It feels like my body is burning from the inside out, but I never want it to end. I’m trying not to completely lose it right now over this fake kiss. I know it’s just for show, but it’s not one of those half-assed kisses where he just pecks my lips. It is full-fucking-on and I want to moan out loud and I want to beg him for more, but that isn’t what this is about. It’s about making Professor Keller think Caleb is my boyfriend, that what we have is real, and right now Caleb’s doing one hell of a job. The tip of his tongue darts out and he runs it along the inside of my bottom lip and without thinking about it, without even realizing I’m doing it, my arms wrap around him, my body melting into his.
Our first kiss is a farce, but holy shit if it isn’t epic. There’s not a chance anyone walking by thinks this isn’t real, because even I’m starting to think it’s real. I want it to be real.
“Go with it, Ruby,” he now murmurs against my mouth. “He’s watching us.” Caleb pulls back slightly, his hand now wrapped around my neck, his thumb brushing my cheek. “How was your day?”
“My day?” I ask, sounding far too breathy and desperate. “My day was fine.” This time my words are more composed, but my body still feels like it’s spinning out of control. There’s a haziness to my thoughts and even though I answered that my day was fine, I don’t have a clue if it even was. Everything in my brain keeps coming back to our kiss, a kiss that wasn’t even real.
“Good,” he now says, kissing the spot where his thumb just touched. “I think he’s probably gotten the picture, don’t you?”
“Yeah, for sure,” I reply, glancing back toward the lecture hall as we walk away, trying to regain my composure.
“You sure you’re okay? Your cheeks are really flushed,” Caleb now says, laughing a little. “That was some kiss, huh? I didn’t realize I’d caught you so off guard.”
“Stop giving me shit, Caleb Parker. You’re just a really good fake kisser.” I shove him a little as we’re walking and he laughs out loud. It’s like music to my ears, a song of happiness, a song that makes the weekend feel like a million years away.
“Who said it was a fake kiss?” he responds, and my heart suddenly halts in my chest. It was a fake kiss, wasn’t it?
We had a conversation on Saturday where he said he couldn’t do this whole relationship thing. He told me to be patient and that is exactly what I was doing until he accosted me with a kiss that was better than sex. This wait is killing me. But I know he wavers, he struggles with what is right for him and what isn’t. He wants his life back and being with me feels normal, so it’s difficult for both of us to draw that hard line in the sand.
“Why are you so damn cheeky?” I ask, bumping him with my hip as we walk home. “It was a fake kiss because it can’t be real, remember?”
“Oh, don’t worry, I remember, Ruby.” His reply back is playful, but there’s still some seriousness in his tone. Of course he knows it was fake, right? This boy has my head spinning.
We walk together in silence, me obsessing over it all while he seems totally casual, like he wasn’t affected by it at all. I’ve kissed lots of boys in my time. Hell, I’ve even slept with a handful, so I have no idea why this one is causing me to take a pause and analyze it. Why can’t I just look at Caleb like a random boy I’ve made out with at a party? Someone needs to slap me.
“Reid is taking Sie out of town for her birthday this weekend,” Caleb announces and while I know her birthday is this weekend, I didn’t know Reid had something planned. I’m sure it will be fucking unreal because he doesn’t do anything small when it comes to her.
“Where are they going?” I ask, knowing I need to talk to Sienna about it. Reid spoils her and she’s damn lucky since she’s struggled for so long financially. She deserves everything he does for her and one day when she and Reid have graduated, they’ll be able to live the life she’s always wanted.
“They’re going down to San Diego. He booked some fancy hotel, which I’m sure will only serve as a place for them to have sex. Seems like such a waste.” His face turns up into a grimace causing me to laugh and completely agree with him.
“Right?” I respond, mockingly appalled at their ability to spend the entire time in the hotel room. I’m sure it has a beautiful pool and probably some overpriced spa too, but I’d be all in. “You working this weekend?” I add.
“Nah, I actually took Saturday and Sunday off, too. No real plans though.”
It’s like his words remind me of what an idiot I am and I gasp out loud, my hand covering my mouth. I feel like such a fool, carrying on about Sie and Reid and asking him if he’s working.
“I’m such a moron!” I yell out, slapping a palm over my face. “It’s your birthday too! We have to celebrate,” I say, turning to face him, grabbing his shoulders as I shake him a little. “Come on. What do you want to do?” I pause for a brief second, giving him very little time to answer. “Obviously I can’t take you to San Diego, but let’s do something together. Tell me what you want to do.”