Page 98 of Betting on the Best Friend
Charlie closes his eyes for a moment like he’s in pain. “Happy to help.” He opens them to meet mine, and his are still dark. “You can thank me by not forcing me into a play-by-play review.”
“That’s not what I meant,” I say. “Niles isn’t—”
“Ruby,” Charlie snaps.
I take a step back.
“I need to go.”
He gets in and closes the door, pulling out almost as soon as the engine catches.
I stand there for a stunned minute before I walk back to the library. What just happened? And I mean all of it, from the second he suggested the kiss.
What. Just. Happened?
Chapter Thirty-Four
Ruby
I pass Niles andTally having a tense conversation in Tally’s corner on my way back into the library, but I barely register them.
I answer questions for guests on autopilot as I pace the invisible boutique perimeter. As Emma St. Clair’s signing line grows shorter, guests drift to the tables and buy up the offerings, the tables grow bare, and the crowd finally thins.
Driving home afterward, everything stays on autopilot. My brain. My nervous system. Even my internal navigation, because I’m nearly to my parents’ house before I realize I’m driving to the wrong place.
Or maybe the right one.
Joey’s car is in their driveway when I pull up, so I park on the street and cut across the lawn to walk straight through the front door without knocking. I hear voices and television noise coming from the den, and I find my parents on the sofa and Ava in an armchair with Joey on the floor in front of her, leaning against her legs while she plays with his hair. They all groan when theWheel of Fortunecontestant on the screen makes a bad letter guess.
“Hey, sweetie,” my mom says. “Ava got us hooked on theWheel. Come play.”
I head to the sofa and flop down, resting my head in my mom’s lap.
“Uh oh,” Joey says.
My dad mutes the TV. “What’s wrong?”
I wouldn’t even know where to start, and I only shake my head.
“You can’t come in here looking tragic, collapse in a heap, then not tell us anything,” Ava says.
“Have you met my sister?” Joey asks. “You just described her signature move.”
My mom clucks, and Ava gives him a light smack on the head.
What do I say?Niles showed up to flaunt his engagement then accused me of cheating. I kissed Charlie. Charlie kissed me. We kissed each other. He took off like I kicked him in the crotch. We broke and nothing is working to fix it. Charlie kissed me. I kissed Charlie. We kissed each other. And a few suspicions I had are fact now, and I have no idea what to do.
I heave a deep sigh. “How did you know you were in love?”
“Me?” Ava asks. “I just never wasn’t.”
Joey reaches up to take one of her hands and kiss it, then keeps it in his.
“Any of you,” I say.
I expect Joey to give me a smart aleck answer, but instead he watches me, a considering look on his face.
My dad says, “From the moment I met your mother, every day with her in it was better than any day without her. I could see it right away. There was nothing to figure out. It just was.” Now it’s his turn to take my mom’s hand and press a kiss to the back of it before settling their joined hands on his lap.
