“You don’t want to see me again?” she asked, more voicing her thoughts than expecting him to answer because he didn’t need to. He’d made himself perfectly clear.
“That’s not what I said.” Drew kicked the gravel beneath his feet, while not making eye contact with her.
She didn’t get it. Did he want to go out with her or not? She stole a quick glance in the direction where Blake had been standing and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he had gone. Probably into school, since the bell was due to ring in only a few minutes.
“So what did you mean by saying it’s for the best?” She rammed her hands into her jacket pockets and attempted to appear calm.
“I want to keep what happened between us a secret.”
He wanted to see her, but no one else could know. It seemed wrong on so many levels.
“Why?” She frowned.
“It’s just better that way, with no one knowing. It doesn’t mean we stop seeing each other,” Drew replied, finally looking at her. His green eyes were troubled and conflicted. This didn’t seem easy for him. “If you still want to,” he added.
“Of course I do. But I’m not sure about keeping it a secret.”
She had visions of them sneaking around trying to catch an odd moment together. She couldn’t see how they could make it work, even if she wanted to, what with his home life and her living with Blake. It would be impossible.
“Think about it,” Drew said. “What if Blake finds out? How’s he gonna take it? At least this way, we can still be together, just not at school. We can work it out.”
She could see what he meant and guessed it sort of made sense. Truth be told, she didn’t want to have another falling out with Blake. She couldn’t stand that they weren’t talking very much at the moment. On the other hand, she worried about Drew’s motives. Was he really doing it to protect Blake, or was it more because he didn’t want people to judge him any more than they already had?
“What if I talk to Blake and tell him?” she probed.
Drew’s face clouded over. “No. I don’t want him to be angry.”
“It might upset him initially, but I’m sure he’ll come around,” she said, not really believing what she was saying. If Blake’s recent behavior was anything to go by, he could take a very long time to come around if he did at all. But that didn’t mean they shouldn’t try.
“Maybe, but I don’t want to risk it. I don’t want anyone else to know about us. It’s too difficult at the moment,” he said, his adamant tone leaving her no option but to agree.
What choice did she have, if she wanted to keep seeing him?
She shrugged and nodded her acceptance.
“Let me get this straight,” Tiffany said, grabbing Ruby’s arm so tightly that her nails dug a little too hard into Ruby’s flesh. Obviously she was a bit excited. “You’ve been making out with Drew Scott in his BEDROOM!”
Ruby had texted Tiffany earlier in the afternoon, as they didn’t have any classes together, to see if they could meet after school, and they were sitting in a nearby park. She’d decided that when she’d promised Drew not to tell anyone about the two of them, that didn’t include Tiffany. There was no way Ruby could keep everything to herself, and she trusted Tiffany not to tell anyone.
It had been pure torture all afternoon sitting in class and having to maintain a distance from Drew. He didn’t seem to have any difficulty, though. He didn’t even say good-bye once school was out. He clearly wasn’t going to let even the slightest hint of a relationship between them get out into the open. She didn’t know how he managed to do it.
“Yeah.” Ruby couldn’t help grinning at Tiffany’s reaction. One she could relate to, seeing as if the situations were reversed, she’d be acting exactly the same. A new guy was always big news.
“And how was it? On a scale of one to ten.” Tiffany wriggled on the bench in excitement.
A shiver shot down her spine as she thought about exactly how it was. She couldn’t believe they’d first gotten together only a few hours ago. It seemed like they’d been a couple forever.
“Good. Amazing,” Ruby replied, her voice sounding sappy even to her own ears.
“And what about his. You know… his…” Tiffany sucked in a breath.
Ruby knew exactly what she meant. “Burns?”
Tiffany nodded, then winced. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. You must think I’m awful. Please don’t tell him I said that.”
“It’s okay. That’s what got us together in the first place. He went for a shower, and I saw them. He’s no worse than my dad. It didn’t freak me out or anything.”
“I don’t think I could do it,” Tiffany mused.
Ruby’s jaw dropped. “I don’t believe you! Just because he’s been burned doesn’t mean he’s any less of a person. You act like you would with any other hot guy.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.” Tiffany scrambled to recover. “Just that… I don’t know. I’m not sure I could handle anything like that without making an idiot of myself or saying the wrong thing. I know he’s a great guy and that you like him.” Tiffany had flushed to a bright shade of red and was staring at her feet. “And you’re right—he’s still hot.”
Ruby realized that she was overreacting, and she got what Tiffany meant. It was hard for people to deal with the awkwardness of large scars or disabilities, stuff like that. She’d done it her whole life, so Drew’s scars didn’t intimidate her, but she’d sometimes been afraid of saying the wrong thing about the events that had caused them. “No. I’m sorry. Of course I understand what you’re saying.”
“Do his scars hurt? Was making out hard because of them?” Tiffany asked, her color back to normal.
“They are sensitive. We had to be careful. I was really worried at first, but it was okay. We managed.” Ruby couldn’t help a tiny smile escaping her lips as she thought about just how well they managed.
“So when are you seeing him again?”
“That’s the point. I don’t know.” Ruby groaned. “He wants to keep it a secret.”
“Why?”
Yes, why? echoed a voice in the back of her head that seemed to be fighting with the side of her that accepted Drew’s reasoning. “Because Blake doesn’t know. Plus I think Drew doesn’t think it would look good to other people.”
“I get the Blake reason, but not that it wouldn’t look good. It’s not like either of you are seeing anyone else. So where’s the harm?” Tiffany frowned and looked puzzled.
Tiffany was preaching to the converted. If only Drew could be as rational as Tiffany, it would make things so much easier. “It’s Drew’s decision, so I’m going along with it,” Ruby responded lamely.
“I guess.” Tiffany nodded. “So when are you telling Blake?”
“I don’t know. We haven’t discussed it. The main thing is that you can’t say anything to Drew to let on that you know. At least not yet. Not until I’ve mentioned to him that I’ve told you.” She wasn’t sure when she’d bite that bullet. Not if how he reacted earlier was an indication of how he’d respond.
“Well, it’s not like I hang out with him, so he won’t hear anything from me. Nor will anyone else,” Tiffany replied.
She hadn’t really had to say that—she was sure that Tiffany wouldn’t throw her under the bus. One reason they’d been best friends for so long was that they always kept each other’s secrets.
“Now, back to the making out.” Tiffany moved even closer to Ruby on the bench so she could give her a nudge. “Marks out of ten for kissing?”
Chapter Eleven
Ruby’s stomach dipped when she reached out to pick up her cell from the bedside table and saw Drew’s name on the caller ID, and she had no idea why. Well, she did. Her initial reaction each time he phoned was that he was going to dump her. Not that there was much to dump. Since they’d first got together a couple of weeks ago, they’d only managed to see each other alone three times. Twice they’d met at the park, and the last time they’d gone to a tiny café downtown, where no one they knew went. Although all they’d managed to do was hold hands under the table. It was hardly a knock-you-off-your-feet romance by any stretch of the imagination.