by Lily Danes
That seemed to be enough for Cory, who was being urged down the path by his friends. A few of them flashed curious looks at Ruby, but no one else spoke to her.
When they were alone, Josh braced for a repeat of that afternoon. He could feel the same tension running through her, the same frustration and fear.
“Hey.” Josh pulled off his mask, then cupped her cheek. She didn’t lean into his touch, but at least she met his eyes. “He’s just some guy. He isn’t one of your asshole label heads, or a member of the paparazzi. All he wants is to hear you sing. He’s not the only one, you know.”
She shook her head, more like she was shaking off the encounter than saying no. “I’m not ready. Not yet.”
“You’re planning on teaching singing. Are you going to do that without making a noise?”
Her lips thinned. “That’s different. It’s not performing. No one will be taking pictures or posting about it.”
Josh stroked her cheek with his thumb, wanting to soothe away her anger. “I’m sorry. I know you don’t want to think about this.”
She nodded. Though she looked relieved he was dropping it, her eyes maintained a slightly manic look. “Good. Because we have some unfinished business.” She palmed his cock, and it came right to attention. “A couple nights of unfinished business, actually.”
Ruby walked backward, moving toward the boats, but this wasn’t the same woman he’d danced with earlier. The energy coursing through her at the Saints and Sinners party had mutated, the desire now edged.
He didn’t feel lust pouring off her, but determination. An overwhelming need not to repeat the afternoon. This time, she refused to run away.
Josh followed her, uneasy. It no longer felt like Ruby was there for him. Instead, she was trying to prove something to herself.
She stood on the dock, waiting for him to join her. “Let’s go. The rock should be deserted. If not, we’ll just do it in the boat. How’s your balance?”
The words sounded right, playful and a little naughty, but her expression didn’t match.
Josh didn’t get in the canoe. Instead, he took her hand, keeping his grip soft. “There’s no rush. Let’s go for a swim.” Like the first night, when things were light and easy.
“We can skinny dip later. Come on.”
He planted his feet. “If you want, I’ll help distract you, but not with sex.”
“That’s not what this is. You know that.”
“Do I?”
“You should. I’ve already said yes twice—on the golf course and this afternoon.” She freed her hand from his to run a long caress up his arm. “I thought the third time would be the charm.”
God, he wanted her to be speaking the truth. His cock definitely wanted that. But the hurt in her eyes hadn’t vanished, and when she looked at him, he wasn’t the only thing she saw.
He needed to be, because Josh suspected the rest of the world might stop existing when he was inside Ruby.
“Tomorrow,” he said. “When you’re not thinking of the past.”
“There’s no past. No tomorrow. Just you, me, a canoe, and this night.”
The unspoken words hung in the air. A fling, like they’d both agreed to.
He couldn’t believe he was going to do this. “Not tonight.”
Hurt flickered in her eyes. “I’m not using you,” she insisted.
He didn’t know if that was true or not, but it wasn’t a risk he was willing to take.
Josh braced his hand on the back of her neck and bent to kiss her on the forehead. His lips lingered, and she exhaled a ragged breath.
“I have to meet with the electrician tomorrow at the store.” Josh brushed back her hair. Even now, when he was trying to walk away, it was hard not to touch her. “But I’ll be here before the nightly party starts. We can skip it if you want.”
Ruby kept her gaze downward. “Tomorrow, then.” Her voice gave nothing away, and she didn’t reach for him.
Josh walked away, leaving her standing next to an empty canoe.
12
Ruby had one lovely moment when she woke up before she remembered. For a few seconds, she wasn’t the idiot who was hung up on some bullshit she should have gotten over months ago, and she wasn’t the idiot who threw herself at a guy in a desperate attempt to forget that same bullshit.
And for a brief time, she wasn’t the idiot who’d been rejected by that same guy.
Groaning, she pulled the pillow over her head.
“That bad?”
Ruby lifted the pillow enough to squint at Emma. “There’s a good chance I screwed up last night.”
Emma waited. She was still covered in welts and refusing to be seen in public. Since she wasn’t going anywhere, Ruby gave her the abridged version.
With every word, Emma grew more incredulous. When the story was complete, she lay back on her bed and covered her own face with a pillow. The fabric mostly swallowed her friend’s scream. Then she lifted it and threw it at Ruby.
“What is wrong with you?” Emma demanded, though her frustration was tempered with love. “You had two missions while you were at camp—forget about those fucktoads in Los Angeles and have a bit of fun. Why is that so difficult?”
“I don’t know,” Ruby wailed. She sat up in bed. “You don’t understand. You’re a goddess. This isn’t my opinion. It’s a fact. Even without makeup, you’re beautiful, and all your followers know it. Half your Instagram followers are just there for your selfies. You’ll never be publicly shamed for not being perfect, because you’re incapable of looking anything but gorgeous.”
Exasperated, Emma pointed at her blotchy face.
“Yeah, and you’ve stayed hidden all week because you know exactly what will happen if a photo of you goes public.”
Emma flailed her hands in exasperation. “I have one job. One talent. Beauty is the only thing I’m good at. Your looks are the least of what you can do. You write, you play, and you sing like a freaking angel. You used to love it too, and you walked away because your feelings got hurt. You’re stronger than that.”
Ruby threw her friend’s pillow back at her. “There was a public debate about whether I was hot enough to fuck. That doesn’t bruise an ego. It crushes it. I was humiliated, and I can’t go through that again. So yeah, it’s taking me a while to get over it. Getting drunk and letting off steam wasn’t going to magically cure me.”
“I know.”
“Then what was this week all about? Why did you insist I come with you?”
“You’re out of your apartment, aren’t you? For a day or two, you were smiling. You remembered that there’s a world beyond Los Angeles and the tabloids, and you weren’t looking forward to some stupid job you’re going to hate.”
“Maybe, but this isn’t reality.” Ruby waved around her, taking in both the cabin and the camp surrounding them. “It’s escapism. Even if I hadn’t screwed up last night, it’s not like Josh has a magical penis that could make me forget the past.” She winced, remembering how, the night before, she’d hoped it would do exactly that.
Emma huffed in exasperation. “I don’t want you to forget. I want you to use the past. You’re a fucking artist, Ruby. Artists don’t bury their pain and regrets. They use them to be better. Stronger. More alive, because living is full of pain. That’s why I brought you here. It wasn’t the tabloids or the internet comments that broke you. It wasn’t when the label let you go. It was when you dyed your hair and recorded a techno dance song—because that was the day you stopped feeling like an artist.”
Ruby jumped out of bed. “You make it sound so simple. You try being called hideous by thousands of people, then tell me how easy it is to get over something like that.” She marched to the shower, then spent several extra minutes under the stream, cursing to herself and swearing Emma didn’t know what she was talking about.
It might have worked…except Emma wasn’t wrong. Ruby couldn’t remember the last time she’d been truly happy.
Other than the last few d
ays with Josh, that was.
Ruby yanked a comb through her hair and put it up in a sloppy bun. The day didn’t feel too hot, so she pulled on a pair of jeans and a white tunic top. It wasn’t the best outfit for camp, but she had no interest in the trampoline or lake.
She snorted. She could go to the daily arts and crafts session to get in touch with her creativity. Maybe that would shut Emma up.
“I’ll see you later.” She paused with her hand on the doorknob and remembered that Emma was still her friend. “Do you have enough calamine lotion for the day?”
Somehow, she looked worse this morning. Ruby felt a twinge of sympathy. This wasn’t how her friend had planned to spend her week.
It was like Emma had been waiting for Ruby to notice her. She grabbed her phone from the bedside table and snapped a selfie.
“What did you say? That I’m a goddess who couldn’t be ugly if I tried?”
Ruby narrowed her eyes. “You don’t have to—”
“Now, I know this isn’t TMZ, but I have nine hundred thousand Instagram followers, and most of them are due to the way I look.”
“I didn’t mean—”
Emma set the phone down. “Done. People will be calling me ugly within minutes.”
Ruby pulled up the app. “Don’t even pretend. You’re incapable of a bad shot, poison oak or not.” Emma's rash-covered face filled the screen. “Dear God, you look awful.”
“Told you. Because you’re right. I’m doing the same stupid thing you did, and I don’t need to. You know what’ll happen? A few people will unfollow me, a few will laugh, and a lot more will support me for being honest. The rest will forget—just like what happened to you while you were busy wallowing. Because I’m one of the best makeup artists in L.A., and a week of poison oak doesn’t change that. Just like a few bad pictures don’t take away your talent. You’re a lot more than the size of your ass, so get out there and remember how to be the woman who busted that ass for years, because she knew she had something to say and was determined that other people would hear it.”
Ruby wanted to have the last word, but she couldn’t think of any reply. She couldn’t argue, not when every word Emma spoke was true.
How had she let fear rule her life so much?
Her days on a major label were over. The gossip magazines had moved on. Next week, she started a stable job.
But this week…she could be whatever she wanted.
Josh was busy all day. Meeting the electrician, he’d said, though she had no idea what that meant. It was a reminder how many things she didn’t know about him. It saddened her that she would never learn most of them. If nothing else, she supposed he’d given her material for a new song.
A new song. Her heart beat faster at the thought. There was a guitar and piano in the lodge.
She couldn’t sneak into the lodge, not in the middle of breakfast, but she didn’t want to wait—and the crowd might work in her favor. No one would be paying attention to her.
People were friendly and relaxed, and a few said hello as she passed. She returned their greetings, then moved purposefully toward the stage. She picked up the guitar like she’d been ordered to retrieve it, then exited the lodge with the same confident steps. As soon as she was outside, she hurried to one of the more secluded trails.
A mile into the forest, she found a flat rock. She sat on it and took a minute to tune the guitar. The notes warmed her up the same way leg stretches warmed up a runner.
Ruby closed her eyes and let the day fill her. She became conscious of the hard stone beneath her and the warmth of the sun peaking through the trees. She listened to the trill of birds and the leaves whispering to each other as the wind passed through the branches. When she felt herself become another part of the woods, she opened her eyes and began.
It was past time to discover what stories lived within her.
As she strummed the guitar and found new lyrics, one word at a time, time changed. It didn’t stop or speed up, but it took on a different quality. It was heavier and full of expectation, as if time itself waited to see what would be created in the hours she sat alone in the forest. The sun peaked overhead and sank down the other side, and the shadows of the trees grew long before Ruby set down the instrument. She stretched, her body protesting after so much sitting, and her stomach grumbled, a reminder that she’d skipped lunch.
Her step was light as she returned to the lodge. They were setting up for dinner, and no one commented as she placed the guitar back where she’d found it.
She grabbed a sandwich from the Grub Shack. It tasted a lot better than the one she’d eaten the day before while telling Josh her story.
Ruby glanced at her watch. It was almost five. An appointment with the electrician shouldn’t take this long. Josh might already be at camp, wondering where she was.
As soon as she polished off the sandwich, she began the search. First, she crossed the center of camp, past the climbing wall, Ping-Pong tables, and the basketball and volleyball courts. Everywhere she looked, there were happy, relaxed campers, but no Josh.
Her stomach began to knot, and she tried reasoning with herself. He’d said he’d arrive before the party, which was hours away. There was no reason to be nervous.
Even so, she covered nearly every inch of camp and didn’t find him. All that was left was the giant slide near the path to the parking lot, and she couldn’t picture him playing on that by himself. As expected, it was filled with laughing campers, but he wasn’t with them.
Her gaze skipped across the path that led to base camp. She’d forgotten to check the archery range.
Halfway there, she froze.
Josh stood there, preparing to shoot at the farthest target.
No, not preparing to shoot. Helping a woman shoot.
Apparently, the only way to help her was to place one hand on her hips while the other rested on her shoulder.
Ruby didn’t think an inch of space separated them. The woman had dark hair, similar to her own, but her legs were long and toned, and the arms holding the bow were well-defined. She looked like an active, fit woman who hadn’t spent a single day crying on her couch with a half-empty bag of potato chips on her lap.
For too long, Ruby stood rooted in one spot. Her stomach knotted and her breathing grew shallow, her body struggling to process her emotions. It felt like she’d been betrayed.
She’d known she and Josh wouldn’t last, but somehow she’d grown to trust him at least enough to believe he wouldn’t reject her in the middle of camp. But there he stood, looking way too happy as he laughed and adjusted the other woman’s form. Anyone walking past would see them and know that Ruby had been replaced.
Not just replaced. She’d been dropped.
A surge of energy hit, and she spun on her heel. Ruby hurried down the path toward base camp before Josh could spot her. She had no idea where she was going when she hit the parking lot.
Emma’s car was there. Ruby didn’t have the keys, but she didn’t need them. This wasn’t L.A. In a place like this, people were more relaxed. Emma had laughed about being able to leave the keys to her Toyota in the glove compartment.
Ruby turned the ignition, cranked the music, and raced away from Camp Firefly Falls.
13
“Just like that.” Josh adjusted the angle on Holly’s bow. He wasn’t an expert by any means, but Max’s sister was terrible. The arrow flew in a wobbly arc, landing harmlessly in the grass a full ten feet behind the target.
Max relaxed against one of the trees. “You were at least in the same zip code this time.”
Holly gave him the annoyed look perfected by little sisters the world over. “For someone who hasn’t taken a shot, you’ve got a lot of opinions.”
Max ambled over and took the bow from her. In one easy motion, he notched an arrow, aimed, and shot a perfect bull’s-eye.
Holly wrinkled her nose. “Show-off.”
Max slung his arm around her shoulders. Standing side by side, no one could mist
ake them for anything but siblings. They had the same almost-black hair and cool blue eyes, gifts from their Irish ancestors.
Josh couldn’t think of two people he loved more. Their family and his had spent many holidays together over the years, and they were the closest thing he had to siblings.
“I always hit my target,” Max declared with a pointed look at Josh. “Unlike some people.”
Josh ignored the jibe. “It helps that Max has worked here for the last three years. He’s mastered every game at Camp Firefly Falls.”
“Not Aeroball. I keep hitting my head on the mesh ceiling.”
Holly pinched her brother. “If you’d sneak me in like Josh, I’d finally get to play Aeroball.”
“Not happening.” Max waved at the daytime drunks playing on the slide. “I’m not sending my baby sister to this hedonistic mess.”
Holly’s expression turned mutinous. “Your ‘baby’ sister is twenty-six-years old with a master’s in psychology.”
“Then you can come to next year’s therapy week for married couples. You’ll help Birk with counseling duties. Now stop giving me grief when we should be ganging up on Josh. He still hasn’t gotten laid.”
Holly punched her brother on the arm. “Don’t be crude.” To Josh, she said, “Why the hell not?”
Josh gave a noncommittal shrug and gazed over the camp. When he arrived that afternoon, he’d gone straight to her cabin, but no one answered. Josh had spent the next thirty minutes searching the grounds. The longer he went without seeing Ruby, the more agitated he felt. The night before, he’d needed to walk away before his dick made the wrong decision for him, but he wasn’t sure his pride had made the right call. She’d been hurting, and he’d walked away.
All he knew was he couldn’t seem to go thirty seconds without thinking of her, and every minute they were apart was time he’d never get back.
Three more nights. That’s all they had. Three days from now, one cabin at a time, Camp Firefly Falls would empty.
Holly was waiting for his for answer. “It’s not like that,” he said.
