Ruby’s gaze drops to our joined hands, which rest on the bed between us. “Don’t be mad at Reid,” she whispers. “It was my idea not to tell you.”
I laugh, tugging her closer as I slip an arm around her waist. “Firstly, I do not believe that it was your idea,” I whisper, brushing my lips against hers. “And secondly…” I pause, brushing my lips against hers again. “I’m not mad at anyone.”
“Really,” she asks, lifting her eyes to mine.
I smile at her. “Really. I love you, Ruby. So fucking much.”
When the alarm rings out the next morning, I’m already awake. Ruby is asleep beside me, barely stirring as I lean over and silence the noise.
“Shit,” she mumbles, burying her face against my chest.
I press my lips to the top of her head, inhaling as I pull her against me. “It’s still early,” I whisper. “Why is the alarm going off?”
“I know,” she groans. “But we need to call Ed.”
I chuckle, wrapping my arms around her as I pull her closer. “Ed can wait, babe. It’s just a car and a partial license plate.”
I don’t mean to sound ungrateful about it all, but I’m tired of getting my hopes up only for them to come crashing down when it yet again falls apart. Nothing I seem to do makes any difference and as shit as it is, I’m slowly coming to realize that what’s happening to me now is what I deserve.
I’m going to have to pay for what I’ve done.
One way or another.
Ruby shuffles against me, lifting her head as she blinks the sleepiness away and focuses her eyes on mine. “It’s not just the car, Caleb,” she whispers.
“Huh?” I ask, confused.
Ruby’s fingers weave through my hair, brushing it back as she smiles at me. “There’s Meagan too,” she adds. “And there’s me and I know there have to be more, we just have to find them. We just—”
“Ruby, babe,” I say, gently placing a finger against her lips. She stops talking, her brows narrowing a little as she watches me. “I know you want to fix this, okay, I know. And I truly love you for it, for everything you’ve done. But let’s not get our hopes up okay.”
Ruby huffs as she reaches up and pulls my hand away from her mouth. “Don’t talk like that,” she says, frowning at me. “Now let’s get up. You need to call Ed and we need to get going.”
She pulls herself from my arms, rolling away from me and out of the bed before I have a chance to move. I watch as she grabs my phone and throws it onto the bed, staring pointedly at it as if to say you know what you have to do, before she opens the door and walks out of the room.
I fall back onto my pillow, shaking my head at this woman who has walked into my life and completely turned it upside down.
And for better or worse, whatever has happened since I’ve met Ruby, I know I wouldn’t trade any of it if it meant I couldn’t have her. Yeah I wish I’d done things differently and yes I wish I could go back and change so many things, but the one thing I wouldn’t change is being with her.
No matter how selfish that makes me.
I grab my phone from the bed, shuffling a little as I prop a second pillow behind me and scroll through to Ed’s number. Just as I’m about to hit call, my phone vibrates with an incoming text.
Ken: hey, are you able to come in a little earlier today – hoping to chat. Nothing to worry about, but just a few things we need to talk about.
“Fuck,” I groan, my head falling back onto the pillow.
What the fuck now?
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ruby
While Caleb is making his call to Ed, I return to my initial idea of asking our neighbors about the car. It could once again be a long shot, but it can’t hurt to ask. All we got off the camera footage was a partial license plate number and the make and model of the car.
At the time I was almost run down by the silver Audi, my only thought was that it was somehow connected to Caleb’s past, but the more I dwell on the thought, the more I’m aware that the connection was to me instead. That silver Audi has to belong to Professor Keller. It was on the footage multiple times, pulling into our alleyway at strange times, never following the pattern most people do.
People leave for work at the same times. Students head to class on a schedule and even when the schedule changes, it really doesn’t. We’re creatures of habit and varying habits isn’t the norm. The randomness of this car’s appearance screams it doesn’t belong, and there’s only one way to find out.
I look back at the bedroom, knowing Caleb’s call could last five minutes, but also knowing it could be much longer, I quickly slip my shoes on and quietly leave the house.
As much as Caleb and Reid want this shit over, they hate the idea of me out snooping around trying to find out anything I can. They’d both call it risky and worry that I’m putting myself in a precarious situation, but if it gets us a step closer to pinning all this on Professor Keller, then I’ll do it.
I stop at the house directly next door. It’s a group of guys, who on occasion Sienna and I would flirt with, but that died off when Reid made his presence known every time we were outside. I knock a few times, waiting for someone to answer, and when a few seconds pass, I knock again, louder this time.
I hear the shuffling of feet and the lock on the door clicks. When it opens, I’m met with a disheveled guy who was clearly asleep.
“Ruby,” he says, now more awake than he was just seconds ago as his eyes drag over my face and down to my boobs.
“Eyes up here, John,” I say, snapping my fingers, in no mood for playful, flirty banter.
“Okay, okay. Take it easy,” he grumbles, tugging a hand through his hair, obviously annoyed that I woke him and I don’t care to follow him back to his bed. “What do you need?”
“Do you or any of your roommates have a silver Audi sedan?”
He laughs, cackling sarcastically. “We’re all here on scholarships, Ruby. We can’t even afford a ten year old Audi.”
“Anyone you know then?”
He shakes his head in response, his lip quirking up in the corner.
“Okay, thanks,” I respond, knowing I have about ten more houses to get through.
“No prob... Wait, hang on,” he calls as I start to walk away. “I’ve seen that car though. The one you just described. Silver Audi, yeah.”
“You have? Where?”
“Here in our alley. It’s been coming in and out, sometimes parking for a while, but I’ve never seen anyone get out of the car. I just figured it was a friend of someone who lives here.” He motions up and down the street with a tilt of his head.
That’s what we all thought. A random car and none of us cared to wonder why it was here, all of us assuming the same thing.
“Do you think it’s connected to what happened with your boyfriend?” he now asks, but his words fall a little quieter. It feels like everyone who asks is prying, like all they want is inside gossip, and I immediately grow defensive.
“How do you know about that?” I shoot back, sounding harsh, but also sounding stupid. Of course he knows about it. It literally happened steps from their back door, too. The police were here, cop cars, an ambulance. It was like a live version of a TV drama. “Sorry,” I quickly add. “It feels like everyone is on Professor Keller’s side and no one cares to hear what really happened.”