She had no right to want him. And no way to resist…
Ruby Davis has a crush on her brother’s best friend. At least, he was his bestie until the big betrayal. Now Drew is off limits to everyone, especially Ruby. She can’t stand the way people treat him, or the way he feels about himself. It isn’t right. And those deep green eyes are calling to her.
Drew is scarred and damaged, and he has no business even looking at Ruby. But he can’t help himself. She’s beautiful, but he does his best to stay away. When they are assigned a school project, they become reluctant friends – even though they want so much more.
She’s torn between her feelings for Drew and loyalty to her brother. There’s no way they can ever be together…but love just might find a way.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Sara Hantz…
In the Blood
Will the Real Abi Saunders Please Stand Up
Discover more of Entangled Teen Crush’s books…
Ten Things Sloane Hates About Tru
Playing the Player
Finding Perfect
Aimee and the Heartthrob
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 by Sara Hantz. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.
Entangled Publishing, LLC
2614 South Timberline Road
Suite 109
Fort Collins, CO 80525
Visit our website at www.entangledpublishing.com.
Crush is an imprint of Entangled Publishing, LLC.
Edited by Tracy Montoya
Cover design by Heather Howland
Cover art from iStock and Shutterstock
ISBN 978-1-63375-393-8
Manufactured in the United States of America
First Edition October 2015
Chapter One
Ruby Davis raced into class just a few seconds ahead of the first bell, feeling her loose ponytail swinging from side to side in time with her steps. She skidded to a stop and scanned the familiar room, the tables in their regimented layout, the paint peeling slightly on the walls. Her breakneck rush had been for nothing—most of the desks had been taken, apart from a couple less than two feet away from the teacher’s desk. Great.
She’d planned on arriving early for the first day of the new school year. But she’d slept right through both of the alarms she’d set. Tomorrow, she would definitely set three.
“Ruby, over here.” She saw her best friend Tiffany waving frantically with one hand and pointing to the seat next to her with the other. Oh, thank God.
A sigh of relief escaped Ruby’s lips, and she returned a grateful wave. She headed to where Tiffany sat, dropping her bag on the desk as she reached her.
“Thanks. I was beginning to panic that the only seat left would be in the front.” She sat down next to her friend and smoothed down her new midnight-blue American Eagle sweater, which she’d bought for the start of school with the money from her job. She took out her books and then leaned back in the chair, folding her arms across her chest and relaxing for the first time since she’d woken up more than half an hour late.
Ruby noticed everything Tiffany was wearing was new. Her dark skinny jeans were gorgeous, and Ruby would’ve loved a pair. Ditto on her filmy new tank, which practically screamed “Nordstrom designer rack.” Tiffany’s mom was always buying her clothes. Luckily for Ruby, she and Tiffany were the same size, and her best friend would always share anything she had. She’d saved Ruby from her low-income closet malfunctions on many occasions.
“So, a bunch of us are going out after dinner tonight. You up for it?” Tiffany said, looking over the top of Ruby’s head—likely keeping watch for their teacher.
“I don’t think so. I’ll have homework to do.” She braced herself for Tiff’s reaction.
“What?” Tiffany’s dainty features scrunched up into a frown, and she tilted her chin downward, causing her blond bangs to fall in front of her eyes.
“I’ll have homework to do,” Ruby repeated. “Sorry.” The corners of her mouth twitched, despite her trying hard to keep a straight face. Tiffany just looked so dejected, it was almost comical.
“I know what you said. I just didn’t think you meant it,” Tiffany said, sounding unhappy.
For Tiffany, studying had always come second to going out and having a good time. And until recently, Ruby had felt like that, too. But now things really had to change. “We’re juniors. I’ve got to look to the future. Which means studying for a scholarship so I can afford a good school.” Ruby elbowed Tiffany and smiled to soften her words. “Not all of us have our lives figured out. You love interior design and can apprentice at your mom’s design studio right after school. I, on the other hand, am going to be stuck slinging scrambled eggs and coffee forever if I don’t earn a scholarship.”
This past summer, apart from when she’d been working, she had spent most of her time helping her mom take care of her disabled dad. Which pretty much sucked. Her dad wasn’t exactly a ray of sunshine, and although she loved him, she could only take his negativity in small doses without going crazy. Their miserable summer had made her more determined than ever to avoid being stuck in a dead-end job—or worse, on welfare like her parents.
Not that she blamed them for their circumstances. Her dad’s face and body had been badly burned in a horrific gas explosion at work when Ruby was young, and he hadn’t been well enough to hold a job since. In constant pain, he was so self-conscious about the scars which trailed down his body and had made one side of his face virtually unrecognisable that he hardly ever managed to leave the house. Ruby’s mom had given up her own career after his accident, and she’d devoted all of her time to him. Her mom worried that if he was left alone for too long, he might do something stupid. By “something stupid,” her mom meant… Actually, Ruby didn’t want to go there. All that needed saying was that they kept an eye on him most of the time. It was a twenty-four-seven task.
But doing well meant a lot more to Ruby than simply escaping the hard times. She wanted, more than anything, to earn enough money to pay for someone to come in and help, so her mom could then have more of a life. Ruby had hoped that her older brother, Blake, would contribute in the future, too, but it wasn’t something she could discuss with him at the moment, as he was far too absorbed in his own life. With good reason.
“What about me?” Tiffany asked, interrupting Ruby’s thoughts. Her bottom lip jutted out in an exaggerated pout. Which usually worked when she used it on the boys in their class, but Ruby was immune to it by now.