Page 57 of Stroked Long
“Friends?” There is a slight twitch of her lips that makes me think my Ruby is coming back.
My Ruby? Shit.
“Yeah, friends. I, uh . . .” I clear my throat and look her in the eyes. “I like talking to you. And even though you try to get me to eat sweets, I like hanging out with you as well. You make my days fun.”
Now there is a full-on, mega-watt smile gracing her beautiful face. The flowers in her hand are now pressed against her chest in a hug, and she’s moving toward me.
“I would love to be friends with you, Bodi.” Opening her arms, she steps into my space and pulls me into a hug. Her face rests against my chest, and smelling the sweet scent of her shampoo instantly puts me at ease.
Wanting to reciprocate the affection, I wrap my arms around her and pull her small body closer into mine.That’s bullshit. I want to hold her because I like holding her.Not because I want to reciprocate. “I’m sorry for being an ass this morning, Ruby. Sometimes I react before stopping to think. And poorly at that. I enjoyed last night.”
“It’s okay, Bodi. I could see you were under duress.”
“You don’t have to forgive me that easily.” I chuckle. Eva was right.I’m pretty sure Ruby will let you off easy. She’s cool like that.Yeah, she is cool like that.
“Eh, what are friends for?” Pulling away, she fixes her hair and says, “As a friend, I have to ask, when do you leave for the Olympic trials? I need to know when I can come over to celebrate with Double Stuf Oreos.”
I wouldn’t put it past her to do just that, although I could envision her doing so with party poppers, those annoying whistle things, and a bundle of balloons. It would be a bitch to clean up afterwards.
“The day after tomorrow. And I’m not on the team yet so don’t get too excited.”
“Please.” She pushes my shoulder. “We both know you are a shoo-in. Which means, I will be buying some Double Stuf Oreos and when you return, we shall cheers our Oreos and celebrate, because you will celebrate with me, won’t you?”
She stares up at me with her big brown eyes, making my chest tight. I would pretty much give this girl anything she wants right about now, not just because of how beautiful she is, but because of how she makes me feel. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to enjoy someone else’s company or laugh, or even joke around, and the mere fact that Ruby has been able to achieve that so easily lets me know I need to keep her around.
There is something about her I can’t let go.
Pushing my hands back in my pockets and rocking on my heels, I answer, “Of course I will celebrate with you.”
“Yes,” she cheers, throwing some fake guns my way and spinning in a circle.
So strange, yet, so fucking adorable.
Chapter Eleven
RUBY
“Are you really coming over, or is this one of those things you say you’re going to do but then you end up calling me five minutes before you’re supposed to arrive and tell me you decided to board a plane to Bora Bora instead?”
“That happened once. It was a hell of a deal, and I couldn’t pass it up,” my friend Andrea says into the phone. “I promise, I’m coming over.”
“Good, because I’m not going to go all out and make red, white, and blue Jell-O just so I can sit on my couch and eat it by myself while watching the Olympic trials on TV.”
“Oh please, don’t act like you haven’t done that before. I specifically remember in college you taking down an entire box of those Lofthouse frosted cookies in one sitting.”
Those cookies are deathly addictive. I had to do step aerobics for five days straight afterward to make myself not feel so chunky.
“In my defense, I was riding the crimson tide.”
“Ugh, gross. Ruby, don’t say that. You’re not an eighty-year-old woman. Just say you were bleeding out of your vagina.”
I push my cart around a huge display of chips in the grocery store and say, “Yes, because saying I’m bleeding out of my vagina is so much more appropriate.”
“Watch it,” an elderly woman says as she bumps into my cart. “And watch your mouth, you harlot.”
“Gosh, I’m so sorry,” I apologize profusely, but the little wrinkle sac doesn’t even give me a second glance as she continues to bump into other shoppers on her way to the Poise Pads.
God help me if I ever accost people while trying to buy products for my leaking bladder.
