“Yeah, just tired.”
I nod, knowing she got up earlier than usual this morning. “I’m just gonna take a shower. Maybe you need an early night?”
“Yeah, maybe,” she says and I kiss her once more before straightening. I head back to her bedroom to grab some fresh clothes before taking a quick shower, a little worried that there’s something more going on with Ruby.
After I’m done, I head back to the living room and see a fresh beer sitting on the coffee table, waiting for me.
“Thanks,” I murmur, as I take a seat beside Ruby, wrapping my arm around her shoulder and pulling her close.
She rests her head on my shoulder, her arm falling across my stomach as she continues to watch TV. Reid and Sie are sitting together on the other end of the couch, so I don’t ask Ruby if she’s okay again, preferring to wait until we are alone.
“How was the bar, dude?” Reid asks, glancing at me over the top of Sie’s head.
“Pretty dead,” I tell him.
He nods as though that’s the answer he expected. “You think you’ll be able to get time off over break?”
I glance at Sie now, who lifts her head at Reid’s question. I know he’s asking for her anyway, because she’s the one that wants this more than anything. And I do get it, given everything that’s happened.
“Yeah, should be able to swing it,” I tell him, smiling. “Bar will likely be dead with everyone out of town for the holidays, so we will probably close the week between Christmas and New Year’s.”
Reid and Sie both smile, Reid giving me a quick nod before turning back to the TV. Ruby lifts her head now, a soft smile on her face. “Yeah?” she whispers. “You want to come to Lake Tahoe?”
“Of course,” I whisper back, leaning down to kiss her, even though a part of me is super nervous at the idea of meeting her parents.
Everything between us still feels so new and unfamiliar and while I’m not questioning how I feel about her and whether I want this, because I know without a doubt that I absolutely do, there is a part of me that worries what her parents will think of me. Whether they’ll think I’m good enough for their daughter.
And I also can’t help but wonder if they know about me and Sie and our family, about what happened to us back in Providence? It was all over the news and I know it reached California, but did it reach them too?
“Thank you,” Ruby whispers, leaning up to kiss me. “I’m excited to show you around.”
After the movie finishes, we all pack up and head to bed. As Ruby and I slide between the sheets, I pull her close, wrapping my arms around her.
“You sure you’re okay?” I whisper in the darkness, my hand moving up and down the warm skin of her back.
She sighs. “Yeah.”
Her answer, the way she says it, tells me she’s anything but okay. “Did your exam go okay?” I ask.
She shrugs, her arm wrapping around me as she rests her head on my chest. “I think so.”
“Ruby,” I whisper, smoothing her hair back as I gently tilt her face to mine. “What’s wrong?”
She shifts a little, moving so she’s lying beside me, our heads sharing the same pillow. I roll onto my side so we are facing each other, keeping our bodies close and my arms still wrapped around her. “Nothing really,” she says.
“Doesn’t sound like nothing,” I say, my palm flattening against her back.
Ruby takes a deep breath, letting it out on a long, slow exhale. “I’m okay. I’m just tired.”
I feel like there’s more to it than that, but I don’t push it, partly because I’m too afraid to ask if it’s something to do with me, to the nightmares that have started showing up again. Instead, I lean in and kiss her again, lingering this time. “We need to start going to bed earlier,” I murmur, my mouth against hers. “I feel like I’m corrupting you by coming home so late, by keeping you awake.”
I feel her smile now, her lips still against mine. “You’re so sweet to me,” she whispers. “But I’m okay, really. I always get like this around finals time. I’m sorry I’m being grumpy.”
I pull her closer, deepening the kiss a little. I feel her body melt against mine, her warm skin as it presses against me, heating my whole body and blanketing me in a way that feels unbelievably calming. “You don’t ever have to apologize to me, Ruby,” I whisper. “And you know this whole talking to each other thing is a two-way street, don’t you?”
She smiles again, her hand sliding down my back to my ass. “I know,” she murmurs.
I let out a low groan, pulling her even closer. Ruby rolls onto her back, pulling me with her so I wind up half lying on her. I pull back at little, see her smiling face as she looks up at me, her hand against my cheek. “Are you sure you’re okay with coming home with me over Christmas?” she asks, now switching the conversation to me.
“I’m totally okay with it,” I tell her, leaning down to kiss her again.
“Even with meeting my parents?”
“Of course,” I say, shrugging as if it’s no big deal, even though inside my chest, I feel as my heartbeat kicks up a notch or two, a tiny prickle of anxiety dancing over my skin. “Parents love me anyway.”
Ruby laughs, her eyes shining now. “Oh, they do, do they?” she teases. “And exactly how many parents have you met then?”
I’m smiling as I look down at her, wondering if my answer is going to freak her out. “None actually,” I admit, actually having avoided it the few times I had a girlfriend who wanted to make it happen.
“No?”
I shake my head. “Nope. Does that worry you?”
She narrows her brow. “That you haven’t ever met a previous girlfriend’s parents? Why would that worry me?”
“I don’t know,” I exhale, knowing that’s not even really what I’m asking. “But does it worry you about me meeting your parents, given…you know, everything?” I wave my hand around my head in explanation.
Ruby rolls her eyes, her hand sliding to the back of my neck as she pulls me closer. “Caleb, I thought we were past this. There’s nothing wrong with you, you’re—”
“Yeah, I know,” I say, cutting her off. “But what if…what if I have a…or what if something happens while your parents are there?”
She leans up and puts her lips against mine. “Nothing’s going to happen,” she whispers. “But even if it does, it won’t matter. It doesn’t matter.”
She presses her lips against mine again, before pulling back, but I don’t let her go, kissing her again as I follow her head back to the pillow. “I think it’s you who’s sweet to me,” I murmur, my mouth against hers still and knowing it’s so much more than that.
“Oh yeah?” she asks, and I can tell she’s smiling, and that whatever was bothering her when I came home tonight is apparently forgotten now.
“Yes,” I whisper. “Sweet, beautiful and oh so fucking sexy,” I add.
Ruby lets out an adorable giggle-moan combination as her hands slide down my back. “How sexy?” she questions, a teasing quality to her voice.