One Last Fling

by Lily Danes

  Josh pretended not to see the look the siblings exchanged.

  “Thanks for coming to get me,” Max told his sister. “I’ve got one more thing to do. Wait for me at the car?”

  “Not again.” Josh rolled his eyes. “As often as your truck breaks down, you should really teach yourself how to fix it.”

  Max grumbled. “Have you looked under the hood? The engine is practically a computer. I’d have better luck hiring the Geek Squad than trying to do it myself. Even your father would’ve had a hard time.”

  Josh’s father could fix anything—and he’d made sure his son developed the same skill set. It hadn’t been a bad way to grow up, learning at his dad’s side. Josh used to look forward to the times his father would ruffle his hair after he retrieved the right screwdriver or recited the correct way to do an oil change on the Pontiac.

  A wave of sadness washed over him, unexpected and painful. Their time together had been special not because he was learning, but because his father was there. Now he had the store and the tools, but the man who’d given them meaning was gone.

  Holly gave him a quick hug goodbye and headed toward the parking lot. Max pointed at a stack of bows propped against the trees. “The last group managed to break half the bows. Help me carry them to the lodge for repair.”

  Josh picked them up and fell into step with Max.

  “This is your fourth day, right?” Max kept his gaze on the path and his tone conversational. “You said you’d just give it a try. I’m glad you stuck it out.”

  “It’s a pretty nice place.”

  “Yeah.” Max shifted the bows on his shoulder. “You’ve been with the same woman every time I saw you.”

  A reply didn’t seem necessary.

  “And every night,” Max continued, “your truck isn’t in the parking lot. You’re going home.”

  “She has a roommate. What am I supposed to do?”

  “There are all sorts of places around here to sneak away. I’ll give you a list.”

  “Your interest in my sex life is getting a little creepy.”

  Max pointed to a group of campers strolling across the lawn. “You see that?”

  “What am I seeing?”

  “Happiness. You should try it sometime.”

  Josh wanted to protest, but the words would be hollow. He wasn’t unhappy or depressed. He got from day to day just fine. And that was all his life was—moving from one day to another.

  “You think a one-night stand will make everything better?” His lips twisted. Saying it like that made Ruby sound like just another woman, interchangeable with all the others.

  Max drew to a stop outside the lodge. “Probably not, but at least you’d be doing something instead of sitting still and rusting. It’s a place to start, at least.”

  * * *

  She wasn’t running away. Of course not.

  After all, Ruby had spent the day reconnecting with herself and her music. For hours, she’d tried to remember who she was when she wasn’t afraid.

  And because she wasn’t afraid, it wasn’t possible that she was fleeing camp as fast as Emma's car would go.

  Okay, maybe she was running away. Ruby didn’t want to see those soft blue eyes and remember how they focused on her. Josh didn’t just look at her. It felt like he saw her.

  Now he was seeing some pretty dark-haired woman who looked like she exercised twice a day. For fun.

  Ruby tightened her grip on the steering wheel. This was why she was taking a break from relationships. She’d been rejected enough for one year. She wanted to get settled in her new life before she started thinking about a new love.

  That was the whole point of her agreement with Josh. They would be exclusive while it lasted, then go their separate ways with no hard feelings.

  He couldn’t even make it seven days before finding someone else.

  She kept driving until she passed nothing but farms. The rural setting did nothing to soothe her. If anything, her agitation only increased with each mile.

  Cursing, Ruby found a dirt turnoff and slowed just enough to spin the car around.

  She had to do something. Running wasn’t going to accomplish anything. Getting drunk probably wouldn’t accomplish anything, either, but it sounded like more fun.

  Ruby was at the party of the year, and she’d barely gotten tipsy the whole week.

  No way was she going back to camp. It would have been awkward enough to face Josh after throwing herself at him the night before. With another woman at his side, it would be mortifying. Sure, he’d made it sound like he’d be her date, but it looked like he’d changed his mind. She wasn’t going to risk being humiliated at the toga party.

  Plus, it was a toga party. There were some events she was happy to avoid for her entire life.

  Twenty-five minutes later, Ruby pulled into the parking lot of Boone’s.

  She strode toward the bar, knowing with every step that this was a stupid decision. If she drank too much, she had no way back to camp. Ruby doubted they had a lot of Uber drivers out here.

  But sometimes, the stupid decisions felt a lot more necessary than the smart ones.

  She ordered a shot of tequila, though nothing good ever came from doing shots. As soon as her glass was empty, the bartender topped her off, and the second one went down even easier than the first.

  Maybe Ruby would have stopped there. At the very least, she would have slowed down—except she chose that moment to glance up and notice a familiar face watching her.

  It took her a second to place the tall, muscular man, but as soon as she did, Ruby signaled for another drink.

  She glanced at the rest of the patrons. A few men eyed her. She was an outsider in a place that didn’t see a lot of those, but she was also a woman alone in a bar. It wouldn’t be long before a few of them decided to be friendlier.

  Ruby didn’t want to talk or flirt. She didn’t want to go home with a stranger.

  Her eyes fell on the small, empty stage. After three shots, she knew exactly what she wanted. “You have bands here?” she asked the bartender.

  He began pouring beer into a cold pint glass. “Thursday through Saturday. Not tonight though. Our regular guy’s out sick.”

  “One guy isn’t much of a band.”

  “We mostly do covers here. No one’s interested in originals, so a guy with a guitar is plenty.” He shut off the tap and handed the beer to the customer.

  She should let it go. She was here to get drunk and forget her problems, not… “Does he bring his own guitar, or do you have a spare?”

  For the first time, she had the bartender’s full attention. “You play?”

  Then again, a guitar case full of tips might pay for a cab to get her drunk ass back to camp. “Yeah. I play.”

  * * *

  With liquid courage running through her, Ruby shouldn’t have been nervous. Once, performing in front of others was what gave her life meaning.

  But when she took a seat on the stage and every eye turned to her, her stomach tensed so hard she feared she’d be sick. She hadn’t experienced stage fright like that since she played a wise man in her fourth-grade Christmas pageant. Ruby took longer than necessary to tune the guitar, giving her nerves time to settle.

  Instead, they raced outward, the fear and tension sizzling through her body.

  Before she could change her mind—or the tequila wore off—Ruby picked out the first notes of a Don McLean song, opened her mouth, and let the words pour out.

  It was like returning to herself after an out-of-body experience. As her voice carried through the room, she felt more solid than she had in months. She planted her feet on the stage, grounding herself even as her soul flew upward.

  After months of disuse, she’d feared her voice would be rough, filled with the cracks and bumps that had defined her for too long. Instead, it was as clear as ever, the pure tone unsoiled by disappointment.

  The song was a safe choice, the kind sure to get a bar filled with older patrons noddin
g along, but she found comfort in the familiar melody. She followed it with Joan Baez and John Mellencamp, and when those were greeted with applause, she tried some old songs by The Bangles and even threw in a bit of acoustic Nirvana. All the influences she’d grown up with and a few of her own favorites.

  For the finale, she pulled out the first song she ever learned to play. Ruby wrapped her voice around the bittersweet lyrics of the Beatles’s “Yesterday.” She let the words flow through her, attaching a lifetime of emotions to each syllable.

  This was what she did. She immersed herself in a song and explored the world created by the words and the melody. One note at a time, she found a way to make it her story.

  The crowd grew silent as her clear voice rang through the bar. Every face turned to her. Even the bartender stopped serving to watch.

  When the last note drifted away, no one moved, not ready to break the spell. The applause came slowly, and while it wasn’t anything like the loud screams she once heard on the club circuit, it was solid and enthusiastic, the sound of appreciation for the gift she’d shared.

  As the small audience clapped, Ruby felt a part of herself that had been empty for too long begin to fill.

  It wasn’t ego. Not entirely, at least. Yes, she loved the audience. She came alive before them, but it wasn’t adulation she sought. It was connection.

  Before she could set down the guitar, the door opened. She tensed like she already knew who it would be.

  Josh entered the bar. His gaze went straight to her—and he looked annoyed.

  14

  When Josh stepped into Boone’s, he wasn’t sure if he should be pissed or worried.

  For hours, he’d searched Camp Firefly Falls, looking for Ruby on every piece of equipment. He’d even interrupted the afternoon pottery class, in case she’d decided to work out her stress by sculpting a lumpy ashtray. By the time the sun dipped below the horizon, he had to accept that she was avoiding him.

  Then Max texted to say she was there, and she was drinking like a woman trying to forget.

  Josh raced to the bar. Whatever strange desperation had fueled her the night before, he doubted adding alcohol to the equation would be an improvement.

  Except instead of finding a sloppy drunk, he found a vision.

  Over the last few days, he’d watched her laugh and flirt, and he’d thought she was beautiful.

  This was different. She was a study in contrasts, her body relaxed even as her face radiated excitement. It was like she was lit from within, a glow that filled her dark eyes with light and brightened her smile.

  He saw no sign of the tequila shots Max had said she was downing, but she looked drunk from the stage and the crowd and the music.

  Whatever anger Josh had felt earlier vanished. He only wished Max had texted him sooner so that Josh could have watched her perform.

  Ruby set down the guitar and stood. Several people were already standing next to the stage, wanting to thank her personally. He understood the impulse. Her joy was a beacon, and they wanted to share her light for a bit.

  He knew she’d seen him when he entered, but since then she’d avoided looking his way. It wasn’t until she’d given everyone a moment of her time that her gaze sought him out.

  It was a direct stare, but he couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Josh tilted his head toward the door, silently asking her to meet him outside. She gave a small nod.

  The night air had a hint of a bite, a small promise of autumn. Josh exhaled at the reminder of how little time he had left. Fall would come, then winter, then every season after that, and for all of them he’d be in the hardware store. Not unhappy, but never fulfilled.

  That glow he’d seen on Ruby’s face, he wanted that. In a few short days, she’d brought so much color into his world. He feared life without her would be muted and gray.

  The door swung open and noise from the bar spilled out, then abruptly cut off when it closed.

  She stopped with several feet separating them. Josh itched to touch her.

  “When did you decide to play tonight?”

  Ruby ignored the question. “You were with another woman.” It was a matter-of-fact statement, but he picked up a small tremor on the final word.

  His brow furrowed. He’d spent the entire day looking for Ruby. He hadn’t talked to another… “You mean Holly?” He didn’t bother to hide his incredulity.

  She shrugged.

  “The woman at the archery course? She’s a friend. Max’s sister. I’ve known her since she was in pigtails.”

  Ruby’s expression didn’t soften, and his mind raced to recall what she’d seen.

  They’d just been playing around. And he’d helped her correct her form. Then she hugged him goodbye.

  And if Josh saw Ruby doing the same thing with another camper, he’d probably jump to the same conclusion she had.

  Then he would have wanted to break the guy’s jaw. All things considered, maybe Ruby’s tequila shots were the better coping strategy.

  Josh took a step forward. “Holly and Max are family. Whatever you saw, it wasn’t what you thought. Kissing Holly would be…” He grimaced at the thought. “It would be gross.”

  She tilted her head, and he thought she wanted to be convinced.

  “I wish you’d come over to say hi. I would have introduced you, like I’d introduce any girl I was dating to my friends.” Her eyes darkened. It was the wrong thing to say. “I mean, if we were dating. You know what I’m saying.”

  Ruby exhaled. “After last night, I thought you moved on. Found someone with less baggage.”

  “You’re kidding, right? I was trying to find you to apologize. I shouldn’t have walked away because my pride was hurt. Okay, and because I wanted to nurse my blue balls in private.”

  Her laugh popped out. She covered her mouth, like the sound surprised her. “It’s okay. In a roundabout way, it got me here tonight. I’m glad it did. Also, we got skip the toga party.”

  “True. How did you end up playing?”

  “It was time.” She didn’t elaborate. “So that’s it? You and me…nothing’s changed?”

  “Nothing’s changed. You’re still my camp crush.” Probably always will be. Her eyes looked darker than usual, and he longed to know what thoughts hid behind them. “Am I still—”

  The bar door crashed open, and several people from town stumbled out. They called loud greetings to Josh and said goodbye to Ruby with equal enthusiasm.

  He barely had time to turn back to Ruby before she was in his arms.

  Stunned, it took him a moment to remember to kiss her back. He wound his arms around her waist, holding them both steady as she opened her mouth below his. He swept his tongue inside, tasting a hint of lime and salt.

  Ruby pressed closer, her soft breasts meeting his chest. He splayed his fingers over her lower back, and she tilted her hips toward him with a sigh.

  A warning bell rang in the back of his mind, and Josh wanted to strangle his conscience. Ruby was in his arms, warm and eager and pretty much every birthday and Christmas rolled into one. It was so sudden, he had to ask if this was a repeat of the night before.

  “Is this really what you want?” He spoke the words against her lips, unwilling to put more distance between them.

  She nipped his lower lip. “Where’s your truck?”

  Josh pointed to a corner of the parking lot, far from the lights of the bar. Ruby’s grin turned a little wicked as she urged him toward the vehicle.

  She got in first, and he’d barely climbed into the driver’s seat before she swung one leg across his lap, straddling him. “Ever had sex in a truck?”

  His dick thought that sounded like a great idea, but his damn brain wouldn’t shut up. “I need to hear you say it.”

  She sat back on his thighs with an exasperated sigh. “You really aren’t good for a girl’s ego, Josh. You’re not supposed to find me so resistible.”

  Josh tilted his hips, pushing his hard length into her core. “Feel that? I
’m dying to be inside you. It’s taking everything I have not to tear open your jeans right now. But I’ve gotta know this is what you want.” That I’m the one you want.

  “Maybe last night I was trying to forget, but that wasn’t all it was.” She circled her hips, sighing as her core rubbed against him. “I’ve craved this since we met. I’m not trying to forget anything tonight. I feel so alive right now. I don’t want to lose that.” She leaned forward to kiss one corner of his mouth, then the other side. “Feel alive with me?”

  Whatever part of him remained uncertain fled at her words. “God yes.” His voice was rough. Josh wound his hands into her dark hair and pulled her in for a long kiss. He fucked her mouth with his tongue until Ruby was grinding on him with the same rhythm.

  “You had to wear jeans, didn’t you?” He grumbled, remembering white cotton dresses and red bikinis. Much easier access.

  Ruby rose and spun away so that she was in the passenger seat. Her fingers dropped to the button on her jeans, then the zipper. Josh watched, mesmerized, as she slid the denim over her hips.

  With a curse, he started the car and slammed it into drive. “Put on your seatbelt,” he growled.

  Ruby blinked at him. “You’re taking me back to camp? Are you kidding me?” She pulled her jeans back up.

  He kept his eyes on the road. Josh feared, if he caught another glimpse of the black lace underwear, he’d find the next turnoff and jump her.

  “We’re not going to camp. We’re going to my house.” He risked one glance at her, and the throb in his cock increased. “Because I don’t want to feel alive for twenty minutes. I want the whole damned night.”

  * * *

  They spilled through his front door, hands and lips frantic as they tried to touch and kiss every part of the other.

  Josh worked his way under her shirt and pressed his palms to the soft skin of her back. She was so warm beneath his fingers. He felt like he might burn up when his entire body was naked over hers.

  He was willing to risk it.

  Ruby plucked at his T-shirt. “Off,” she murmured. He reached for the back of his shirt, only breaking the kiss to pull it over his head.