Their Freefall At Last by Julie Olivia

19

Bennett

Please explain to me how Michael “Potato Face” Waters is back in my life.

And touching my Ruby.

Michael gives a little smile, and it doesn’t look as slimy as it might have nearly ten years ago, but I don’t entirely buy it.

His cheeks dent into little dimples, like caverns of deception. God, his face is still so punchable, and I don’t know if that makes my jealousy feel justified or if I just feel like a jerk.

“Hey, Michael,” I say by way of a greeting.

I hold out my hand. To his credit, he doesn’t hesitate before shaking it.

“Bennett. Still with the long hair.” He gives a backfiring engine of a laugh. “Well, dang, you fit right in here, don’t you?”

“So I’ve been told.”

Michael tongues his cheek. “Still hate me, huh?”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

“Good to see you with clothes on for once.”

I smirk. “Still proud of that prank.”

“Guys.” Ruby places a palm on my chest.

I realize we’re both still shaking each other’s hands, like two businessmen stuck in a deal. I pull away at the same time he does.

“Sorry.”

“Sorry,” Michael echoes, still glancing at her a little bit too long for my taste.

His eyes linger at the small bit of cleavage she now has. At the corset she picked out that tests my limits every time I glance at it myself. At the freckles on her cheeks.

Screw this guy.

Guilt slices through me at the vitriol dripping through my head. I’m not a hateful guy. I don’t get all “Macho Man” Randy Savage around dudes just because they look at my friends with lust in their eyes.

So, how is this different? Is it because it’s Ruby?

I shake the thought from my head as Michael’s eyes swivel to me. Something must show on my face because his eyebrows rise.

“Well, I should get back to my friends. It was really nice to see you again, Red.”

“It was nice to see you,” Ruby replies.

“Nice to see you, Michael,” I add.

“You too, man,” he says, giving a wide-eyed pump of his eyebrows, and snorts.

He doesn’t mean it. Though I didn’t either.

With a final nod, Michael shoves through the crowd, back to whatever hole he crawled from.

Ruby whirls around, a rush of ginger hair falling from her braided bun. She levels a look at me with fire in her eyes. If I didn’t know she was such a sweet girl, I might actually be terrified.

She raises a single eyebrow.

Okay, so I’m still a little intimidated.

“What?”

Her eyes widen, and she blinks with purpose. “What was that?”

“What was what?”

“That alpha … thing.”

I laugh. “There was no alpha thing.”

“Bennett.”

“Ruby.”

She shakes her head and grins. “You—”

But her words are interrupted as some new sea shanty starts blasting through the speakers. The whole crowd erupts into cheers.

I reach down, twisting my free hand into hers, and lead her over to a far corner of the outdoor courtyard. I don’t like how loud this place is or how I can barely hear myself think, let alone hear my best friend talk.

I rest my other hand on the brick wall next to her head. Her breathing instantly hitches.

Oh.

I didn’t realize I’d caged her in. I lean back so as not to crowd her.

I exhale. “I’m sorry if that was weird. I didn’t mean it to be.”

She nods, more to herself than me.

“Okay. I believe that apology.”

She looks off to the side, to my hand on the wall, to some poster in the distance … anywhere but at me. But even so, she looks so elegant in her search. Her slender neck. Her beautiful freckles.

I sigh. “He’s just …” I bite my bottom lip to think of words, but nothing elegant comes to mind, so I finish with, “He’s just always had a weird thing for you.”

Ruby finally meets my gaze, her brow furrowing inward. “So?”

“So?”

“Yeah. Why does it matter?”

I let out a breathy laugh. “It just matters.”

“Don’t you have someone waiting for you?” she murmurs.

“Do I?”

“The woman. At the bar. The redhead.”

Oh.

Sure, she was pretty. Except her hands weren’t soft, like Ruby’s. Her face wasn’t filled with freckles. Her laugh wasn’t as light. And when I saw three of my best friends hugging my greatest friend of all, I knew there wasn’t going to be another person on my mind tonight anyway.

It’s impossible not to notice Ruby in this crowd. Not when she’s as beautiful as she is with her exposed shoulders, dotted with pretty freckles. Not when that outfit of hers gives her a winning smile, like she knows the effect it’s having on the men around her—no, on me. And that confidence is intoxicating.

I reach out, taking Ruby’s chin between my thumb and forefinger. I’m being bold. But I’ve got a little rum in me and a whole lot of nerve, so I do it anyway.

Her green eyes dart to mine.

“You’re the only redhead for me,” I whisper. “You’re my anchor, Rubes.”

I gently release her chin, running my palm over her shoulder and slowly up her neck. Touch has never been foreign to us, but this time, I can feel her pulse under my thumb. Her heart is racing just as much as mine. I wonder if it’s the alcohol coursing through her. Except, no, she hasn’t had a drop all day.

I feel her swallow under my palm and instantly pull back.

Maybe I went too far. Maybe I made it weird.

“Let’s get back inside.”

“Yeah,” she says with a swallow. “Good call.”