Page 66 of Class Clown

“So, you want me to pursue one of them?”

I couldn’t push the words out. It would be a lie, and I’d sworn off lying. I swallowed hard as he watched me. Finally, unable to figure out what to say I shrugged and held up my hands.

“Not really, no. I’m hanging up my matchmaker hat. I was terrible at it.” I tugged at the sleeves of my hoodie. “I guess that now I want you to go after what will make you happy.”

And I meant it. He was not who I’d thought he was, and he didn’t deserve my manipulations. He deserved good things.

His expression softened, and my heart thudded in my chest at the way he was looking at me.

“Alright,” he said.

“Okay,” I responded lamely.

He turned, heading to wrap up some of the never-ending camp work, and I slunk back into our cabin, wondering what he’d choose to do now.

Chapter 16

Ruby’s Truth: I usually avoid cliches, but it’s true that you really don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.

An entire week passed and it went like this.

I complained to Cole about the rats. He told me he’d take care of it. A maintenance man with a bad attitude spent the entire week rat-proofing cabins while glaring at me. Like it was my fault there were rats.

Quinn grew bolder until even Cole admitted it was getting strange. The forest rangers had promised to come on Saturday.

Three kids with a stomach bug, two kids with some sort of bug bite issues, one sprained wrist, and about a million sniffles.

Saturday morning, I laid in my bed listening to the sound of Cole and Nico hamming it up as they talked about some sports game they’d watched before leaving to come to camp. It was a peek into their relationship that I hadn’t had much of in the past. Most mornings they were hustling off, and I wasn’t around them during their daytime duties. I’d often wondered how sunshine, fluttery Cole had been besties with military-style Nico, but I heard it now. They had a similar core and sense of humor, and balanced out each other’s weak spots.

I had that too, with my Thornback friends, but I also wanted it with a man of my own. Which meant that I needed to firm up my convictions about waiting for Mr. Right instead of constantly falling for Mr. Right Here.

One of my biggest past weaknesses had been going for a handsome face and charming smile, with no thought about the quality of the person behind the façade. I needed to go in with my eyes open and my logical brain engaged. In fact, I should remember that I didn’tneeda man to survive, Iwanteda man. Everyone knows there’s a difference between want and need.

In the spirit of keeping it real and firming up my new resolve, I decided to list reasons why Ididn’tneed a man in order to be satisfied in my life.

They eat all the leftovers before you can get to them.

No sharing a bed and listening to snoring, or getting bounced around by tossing and turning. No blanket stealing.

No working with someone else’s schedule.

The bathroom is always available.

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