Page 51 of Class Clown

“No, no,” Lizzie entered. “My take is that she told him he needed to be careful because . . . yeah, nope, I’m with Aryn.”

I groaned. “What is happening?”

A low male throat clearing announced that Brooks was still there. “Uh, if it helps, there’s a chance he’s as confused as you are. He did a good thing by helping Gina, and in return she’s after him and you’re mad at him.”

“Possibly.” I sighed.

“You’re still finding yourself attracted to him?” Hailey asked.

“It’s sort of worse now that I know he didn’t hate me when we were younger and he’s been so thoughtfula few times.”

“The thoughtful things melt me too.” Lizzie soothed. “You’d have to be a robot to not love that.”

“Or, in a really solid and loving relationship with your own dream guy,” Meredith added, and we all cracked up again as Brooks mumbled, ‘thanks babe’.

“What kind of things are we talking about here?” Aryn asked.

I toyed with the edge of my blanket and cleared my throat. “It’s nothing big, really, just little things. Like, after the day at the reservoir I was sunburned and some lotion showed up on my dresser. Or, that day I fell down on the hike he left me some ibuprofen and a cup of water, and made me some tea to help me warm up. I was at the main lodge during a rain storm one night and he brought me a poncho for the walk back to our cabin. And sitting in front of me is a cup of tea he gave me to help with my cold.”

It had gotten really quiet and I knew they were all melting on the insides as they listened. I listened to the echo of my words and realized that Nico had been looking out for me in subtle little ways for a long time.

“Guys,” I whispered. “I’ve never, ever had a person see my discomfort and do something about it.”

“No wonder you’re smitten with this guy,” Lizzie said. “It’s incredibly sweet.”

“Whoa,” I defended. “Who said smitten?”

“Infatuated?” Lizzie supplied.

“Absolutely not,” I stated.

“You know what this means, Rubes?” Hailey asked softly. “It means he’s been watching, and seeing you.”

“I’m getting butterflies myself right now,” Aryn said. “I’d take those small gestures over something large any day of the week.”

They were right and it was not helping with my growing interest in the man – which was completely against my plans.

“Brooks is taking furious notes right now,” Meredith joked, breaking the warm, crawling feeling that had been wrapping me up. “Small gestures equals happy girlfriend.” We all laughed.

“What are you going to do?” Aryn asked.

“Well, I think he must have spoken to Gina because she’s been mopey and kept her distance, so that problem is solved,” I replied. “As for mypersonal issues with a chemical reaction inside my brain, I mostly plan to pretend I’m fine until I’m actually fine.”

Meredith hummed. “Denial. My favorite.”

“Ah, the makings of a great romance,” Lizzie cracked.

“Are you still hoping to match him up with Kristy?” Meredith asked.

I wanted to say yes, definitely, but I hesitated and they all understood it. Thoughtful silence ruled for a moment until Hailey intervened.

“We support you Ruby, genuinely. Whatever that looks like, and however you feel.”

Tears, hot and unexpected, flew to my eyes and I dabbed at them, unable to speak. Meredith jumped in to change the subject.

“Now, what about your stalker?” she asked.

“Stalker?” Brooks hollered into the phone. “Why didn’t we lead with that?”

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