I opened my computer and found a Wi-Fi connection, thankful that whoever owned the house had a framed portrait with the password on it directly in front of the bed. I launched the Skype app without thinking. It had barely finished logging me in when it pinged with an incoming message.

AHall80: Night, Rubes.

AHall80: I’m glad you’re here.

RubyMars: Me too :) RubyMars: I promise to try my best and not be an awkward twat tomorrow.

AHall80: You’re not an awkward twat.

AHall80: Goofy AHall80: Cute

AHall80: Not a twat

RubyMars: Stop.

AHall80: Why?

RubyMars: Because you don’t have to say that stuff. I know what I’m like.

AHall80: Me too

AHall80: I’m falling asleep. Go to bed, Ru.

RubyMars: Okay, I will.

AHall80: Text your mom.

RubyMars: Yes, ma’am.

AHall80: …

AHall80: I’m ready for the sassy whenever you’re ready to bring it.

RubyMars: I don’t know if you’re ready for it in person all day.

AHall80: I’m ready.

AHall80: Night. Tell me if you need anything.

RubyMars: I will. :) Goodnight.

AHall80: Night, Rubes.

Chapter 17

It was still dark outside when I woke up.

Only the palest hint of blue lit up the curtain covering the window. It didn’t take but a minute as I lay there in bed, groggy and grumpy, to remember where I was and who was in the room right by mine. I’d stayed up for an hour after I’d logged off Skype, snuggled there under the covers beating myself up for how awkward and quiet things had gone with Aaron on-and-off since he’d picked me up. There had been these moments that seemed so right, so similar to the way we had been online… and then there were the other moments where I’d crawled back into myself and let my nerves get the best of me.

I wanted to blame it on the fact that Aaron could practically be considered spectacular by any mortal woman, but I knew it was more than that. It came back to him being everything and more than I’d thought he would be. I’d lain there and thought about how he’d brought me water while I’d basically flipped out, and hadn’t brought his friends to the airport, and hugged me, and held my hand, and… it was all too much. Too freaking much. Him as a person was beyond my expectation.

Sometimes it was easy to let people who had disappointed you in the past make you think everyone was like that, but apparently that wasn’t the case. At least not with him. I wanted to have a good time this weekend. I wanted things to be as normal as they could be. I wanted… I wanted a lot of things, but I’d take what I could get.

Knowing there was no way I could go back to sleep after lying there for who knows how long, I got up and started going through my suitcase. In no time, I found clothes, underwear and my toiletry bag. I hadn’t showered the night before and I’d regretted it, but I hadn’t wanted to walk out of my room and chance running into someone.

Sure enough, the house was totally quiet when I opened my door and snuck into the bathroom. It didn’t take long to shower, shave, and scrub off the makeup I’d left on from the day before, which was gross. I tried to be as quiet as possible as I headed back into my room to drop off my things.

For a second, I thought about staying in there until someone else got up but decided that’s what normal Ruby would have done, so instead, I went right back out. Up the stairs, the oversized kitchen and living area were empty. Blue and lavender colors filled what I could see of the sky through the giant windows, and I knew it was only a matter of time before the sun took its throne. I grabbed a bottle of water from the pack on the floor that Aaron had picked at yesterday and headed toward the sliding doors connected to the living area. On the deck outside were a handful of colorful chairs and patio furniture. I closed the door and plopped down into the one furthest down the deck.

It was a lot cooler than I’d imagined it would be as I set the bottle on the floor besides the leg of the chair and brought my legs up, knees to my chest, heels close to my butt. Wrapping my arms around my bare shins, I shoved aside the idea of going back inside for a jacket and pants and simply sat there, sucking it up, watching the horizon just behind the row of houses facing the one we were at.

The silence and fresh air were wonderful. I wondered how long it would take for everyone else to get up, and then I wondered what we’d do that day besides go to the beach and grocery shopping. When I was done wondering about that, I thought about Aaron for about the hundredth time over the last twelve hours.

Coming here had been a mistake. I realized that. A giant mistake. The worst kind of mistake. Because I’d come to hopefully get over him, or at least cement our platonic relationship and move him into the friend zone, and in less than four hours, he’d pretty much built himself a house in I Will Never Look at Him as Just a Friend land, and that was worse.

But it wasn’t like I had another choice.

I could talk to Aaron like he was the man I’d gotten to know online, I tried to tell myself for only the thousandth time. It would be the same thing as having a friend who was really, really unattractive. You had to see and focus on what was on the inside. Because really, that was all that mattered at the end of the day. Beauty faded… unless you were my mom and somehow managed to stay attractive every year.