I don’t know if this will be for a night or a week or a year or forever. All I know is that I trust Sonny with more than my life. I trust him with my heart.
Sonny shows me inside his home, where I’ve only been a couple of times before. He shows me to a bedroom that looks like it was decorated professionally, like the rest of the mansion. After telling me that I can use that room, he shows me an attached bathroom that is almost just as big as the bedroom itself, if not bigger. He points out the linen closet full of clean fluffy towels and tells me to help myself to any of the soaps, shampoos, or anything else I find in there.
Then, he leads me to an attached door. He slowly pushes it open, and when I look inside, I see grey walls and darker grey bedding on a tall and larger-than-life bed. Other than a suit jacket thrown over the arm of a leather loveseat, the room looks unlived in.
“This is my room,” he says, surprising me.
“Don’t tell me the king of the castle has to share a bathroom,” I tease.
“No one has ever stepped foot in that room but the maids.”
“Ever?” I ask, surprised again.
He smirks. “Ever.”
“Thank you,” I say, turning serious.
“You don’t have to thank me, Tink.” Tugging on my hands, he pulls me closer to him. I can feel his warmth radiating off of him, smell his masculine cologne that clings to him. “I will always be here for you. If you need me, I’ll run to get to you. No matter what.”
Tears fill my eyes as I look up into the storm rolling in his. “Promise?”
“On my life.” I fall into his chest, hugging him tightly to me. I try to stop from crying, but he hears my sniff. “You alright? A lot happened today.”
Tilting my face up to look at him, I give a weak smile. “I am.”
“Why don’t you take a shower or bath and relax. Wash the day off, you know?”
“That sounds nice.”
I watch the bathtub fill with hot water, steam rising in plumes. I give in, letting my emotionally spent body sag and cry in relief that I’m here. But seconds later, I hear a knock on the door. “Tink? Can I come in?”
“Yes,” I sniff, wiping the tears from my face.
“I wanted to give you clothes you could change into.” He stops when he looks at me. “You were crying,” he states, not asks, making me drop my face to hide. “If you’ve changed your mind and want me to take you home, I will. I won’t be mad.”
“What?” My head snaps up with my body to stand. “No. I’m not crying because I’m upset I left; I’m crying because leaving has made me feel better. I want to be here. I want to be with you.”
“Tink…”
“Thank you for the clothes.” I stop him from saying anything that might hurt my heart in the moment. “I guess I didn’t think that part through,” I laugh.
“We’ll get you everything you need tomorrow. Don’t worry about any of that now.” Leaning forward, he kisses me on the head before leaving me to my bath.
Sliding into the hot water feels like heaven on my tense muscles. Hurt, disappointment, shame, guilt, sadness, anger… they all fall from my tired body.
I soak until my skin is pruned and the water has turned cold. After drying off, I slide on the sweatpants and T-shirt Sonny left for me. I begin to walk to the bedroom he told me I could sleep in, but look back over my shoulder to the other closed door on the opposite side.
Rolling my lips between my teeth, I think about what I want to do versus what I should do. I finally give in and make my way to his door, gently knocking before turning the knob to walk inside.
14
Sonny
I look up from my book when I hear her gentle knock and the door open. Standing in the doorway, biting her lips and showing me her dimple, she looks nervous.
“Sonny?”
“Yes, Tink?” I ask, biting back a smile because a nervous Ruby is fucking adorable.
“Can I stay in here with you? Just for a little while?” she asks, playing with the hem of my shirt she’s wearing that’s doing things to me it shouldn’t be. “I don’t want to be alone right now.”
“Sure, why not.” I smile, patting the bed beside me.
She quickly walks over to join me, jumping in, burrowing into the covers. “I didn’t know you wore glasses.”
“I usually have in my contacts.”
“You’ve got the whole sexy nerd thing going on with the glasses and the book. It’s a whole different side of you I didn’t know existed,” she teases.
Placing my book on the nightstand, I say, “I guess there are a lot of sides to me you’ve yet to see.”
Smiling, she asks, “Like what?”
“Well, let’s see,” I begin, leaning back to get comfortable. “You’ve seen the arrogant trust-fund teen, the hardened ex-con, the school bully, the protector, and the sexual tease for starters.”
“I liked some better than others.”
Huffing a laugh, I say, “Me too.”
She shifts in the bed, sitting up more to face me. “Those are the ones I know about. What about the ones I have yet to discover?”
“Tink…”
She sighs, rolling her eyes as she moves to lie back down. “It’s fine, Sonny.”
Without thought, I move on top of her, needing to have her see me in this moment. Her eyes go wide when my body presses to hers. The only things separating us are the blankets and our clothes, but I can still feel her under me. “Fuck,” I mutter, letting my head fall to her shoulder. “Guess you’re seeing another one right now.” Slowly, I lift my head just enough to see her ocean eyes letting me drown in them.
“What’s going on, Sonny?” She must see my confusion, going on to say, “With us? What are we doing?”
I swallow past the lump in my throat, the sound loud in the quiet room. Sitting up, I move off of her but sit facing her. It’s truth time.
“I think it’s time I’m honest with you.”
“Okay…” she says nervously, biting her lips again.
“I want you, Ruby. In every way possible, I want you. I have for a long time but knew it wasn’t right for one reason or another. But now, you’re here; you’re an adult. And I think maybe you want me too,” I say, feeling more nervous and vulnerable than I ever have in my life.
My father sent me to prison and could have me killed with the flick of his wrist, but this girl—woman—in front of me is bringing me to my knees before her. I’m unnerved, showing her all my cards. Showing her all my weakness. Showing her that she’s the one person who can crush me, kill me in the only way that matters, down to my heart and soul.
I take the chance and look up at her. “Say something,” I beg, looking at her bright blue eyes filling with tears. Tears of what, I’m not sure.
“I’ve wanted you since I was thirteen and I gave you my first kiss. Since you were there to pick up the pieces that were left after I was attacked. Since you were the only one who saw that I was slowly killing myself and needed help. I’ve wanted you to want me back for so long.” Her eyes close and a tear cascades down her cheek, dipping into her dimple that’s showing as she bites back her emotions.