Page 34 of Betting on the Best Friend
“Thanks for tonight,” I say as Ruby disappears, followed by a honking car.
“How do you think it went for your plan?” Sydney asks.
I sigh and shove my hands in my pockets. “Hard to say. She likes to hang out with me over most people anyway, and I didn’t need Mike to make that point. But as far as seeing me as someone besides her reliable hang-out friend? I don’t know.”
“Want my opinion?”
“Only if it’s something I want to hear.”
“Let’s clear the sidewalk before Mike finds us and tries to turn you into a skin suit to get closer to Sami. I’m parked over here.” She points, and I fall in step beside her until we reach her Mercedes SUV.
“Maybe you and Ruby are only meant to be friends,” Sydney says, but before my heart can sink, she adds, “but I don’t think so. How long were you guys hanging out before she dumped her ex?”
“We’ve been working together for three years. We started hanging out pretty shortly after she started at the library. They’ve been broken up for six months.”
She tilts her head, and although her eyes are on mine, her gaze is distant, like she’s calculating something. “I believe in fate, so take this for what it’s worth, but that timing wasn’t a mistake. You were given plenty of time by fate or whoever to build a friendship. But your gut instinct that it’s time to tip it over into something else is correct.”
I absorb that. It’s both validating and frustrating. “It’s what I want to be true. But it only matters if Ruby eventually sees that. And the eventually part is killing me.”
“I’m not a genius about my own relationships.” She grimaces. “Biggest understatement of my life. But I’m pretty good at reading other people. Ruby watches you constantly. She’s always aware of where you are, what you’re doing.”
“She’s observant.”
Sydney gives me a wry look. “Would I have to be your fake date if that was true?”
I smile. “Let me rephrase. Ruby is observant of people she cares about. She’s the nurturing type. Sometimes she hovers, but mostly she’s monitoring everyone’s emotional temperature and materializing like magic with the thing you didn’t know you needed. A hug or a Coke or a distraction.”
“I know the kind of personality you mean. I sense that from her. But she watchesyoudifferently. You’re part of her fabric in a way that’s different than her girlfriends would be.”
“You haven’t seen us all together.”
“I don’t have to. Let’s say one of her roommates announces tomorrow that they’re moving out of state for a job. They’d leave a void behind, but I’ll bet you my car that no matter which roommate it is, it would be the same kind of void. But if it was you leaving?” She shakes her head. “It would create a void she’d experience differently. Does that make sense?”
I want to say I get it, but I give her a helpless shrug.
“I’ll ask Katie, but I’ll bet when Ruby is around her friends, she watches them like she’s ready to step in if needed but also like they have their own separate plots and villains and obstacles. Ruby watches you like . . .”
I lean toward her, willing her to finish the sentence as she trails off and chews on her lip for a few seconds. “Like what?”
She meets my eyes. “Ruby watches you like you'rehers.”
Chapter Thirteen
Ruby
When I get home,there are no lights on in the condo. I don’t even bother going through our gate, instead veering toward Josh’s and marching across his patio to his sliding glass door, which I open to stick my head in and holler. “Sami!”
“Rubes?” she calls from the front room.
I let myself in and find her on the living room sofa, her head propped up by pillows and her feet across Josh’s lap. He’s resting his laptop on her legs. It’s adorable.
“It’s pretty early to be done with your date,” Sami says, a cautious note in her voice.
“Hope you know how to take out restraining orders, Josh, because you’re going to need one soon.” I throw myself into an armchair.
“Am I in trouble?” Josh asks.
“Not for you. For your woman, also known as my clueless bestie.”
