Page 7 of What are the Risks
Her forehead creased. “Did that bother you?”
“Of course not, but would it bother Noah if he found out?”
She shook her head. “If anything he’d thank you for keeping other guys away.”
I doubted that. Noah was only in my life because Ruby was, and I knew he felt the same about me. In high school we’d run inverydifferent groups. I only noticed him once he started paying attention to Ruby.
There was only one thing we had in common – and I was looking at her now.
“Out of interest,” I began. “How often do you get hit on?”
“What type of question is that?”
“A curious one.”
She blinked at me in confusion before giving a small shrug. “I don’t know. Definitely not as often as you.” With a defeated huff, she returned her keys to her pocket. “Whatever. We’ll stay. But you’re buying my burger.”
CHAPTER THREE
I missed you more
Ruby
After finishing work late last night, I’d braved the three hour drive home to Detroit. As tempting as it had been to put it off until the morning and slip straight into bed, the empty roads made the late-night run worth it.
By the time I was pulling into my parents’ drive, it was well past midnight and they were fast asleep. As Mum’s way of still being around to greet me, she’d left dinner in the oven, laid out my pyjamas, and made up my bed with fresh linen. It was one of the perks of being an only child – I receivedallthe attention.
Checking the clock now, it had just gone eleven a.m. While I could easily drift back off to sleep, I didn’t want to waste time. I only had two full days here, and one of those would be entirely tied up by Thanksgiving.
I’d somehow lucked out and scored Thanksgiving off, but I had to leave first thing the day after to make it back for my afternoon shift.
Reaching for my phone, there were two missed calls from Noah, a message from Ryker, and a stream of unopened alerts from the girls’ group chat. Knowing that would take the longest to get through, I opened Ryker’s message first.
Ryker: My flight gets in at four. Are we hanging tonight or what?
Ruby: I’m spending the day with Noah. Sorry. :(
Ryker: Roger that. See you tomorrow.
I returned Noah’s calls next. He picked up straight away.
“Finally, babe. I was worried you were going to sleep the day away.”
“I was tempted,” I said, muffling a yawn. “Where are you?”
“At Bella’s Café.”
“What are you getting?”
“A coffee for me.” A spark of excitement slipped into Noah’s voice. “And an iced latte for you.”
“Anything else?” I coyly prompted.
“I suppose I could get you a chocolate croissant.”
“I’ll make it worth your while later if you do.”
Noah chuckled. “I’m almost at the counter. I’ll see you soon.”
