“Or someone.” He wagged his brows and tossed his keys in the air before catching them again. “Her name is Ginger and she’s a TA. Apparently she’s lonely and I’m heading over to her place to see if I can help her out with that.”
He didn’t wait for me to say anymore and I was thankful. Right now Isaac is the last thing I need. I’d already been going over the details of my date with Ruby more than I should, trying to find the point where things had gone wrong. Each time I came up empty.
She’d even said she had a great time.
Walking outside, needing some fresh air, I sat on the front porch and leaned back, closing my yes. My phone rested on my thigh as I again found myself going over details
“You okay?” I opened my eyes and saw Palmer climbing the stairs with Emelie holding her son Ethan in her arms. They paused and part of me wanted to say yes, but another part knew that I had no fucking clue what my next move should be. Asking the guys of the house seemed pointless, and asking my sister, hell, that would open up a whole mess of questions I didn’t feel like filtering.
“When is the point when a guy should just say the hell with it and move on?”
I sat up taller and leaned forward, waiting for them to respond. Ignoring the look they shared with one another, I continued to wait.
“I’m gonna take a wild guess here and assume that you’re getting the brush off and can’t figure out why?” Emelie smiled and shifted Ethan from one hip to the other.
“We went out, things seemed great. Now,” I held up my phone, “I’ve messaged and nothing.”
“Did you act like an ass?”
“No.” At least I didn’t think I did. “It was a movie, and afterwards I didn’t even try to kiss her.” Though I wanted to.
“Well, that’s the problem.” Corbin poked his head out of the door and instantly I regretted talking at all. “She thinks you’re gay.”
Palmer rolled her eyes and pushed on his chest. With that he grabbed her hands, pulled her in close, and she squealed, just before he covered her mouth with his own and dipped her backwards dramatically. I looked away, wondering how in the hell some dipshit like him got the girl and I got nothing.
“See,” Corbin motioned toward Palmer, who now looked a little dazed. “Kiss the girl and then they are putty in your hands.” With that he gripped her ass and gave it a little squeeze. She mumbled menacingly before shoving him and then they disappeared inside.
“Hey.” Emelie still remained on the porch and took the seat next to my own. Repositioning her son on her lap, I watched her being so gentle with him. It was strange, but with each of my brothers settling down one by one, I’d managed to gain a new sister. And this little guy, he was part of that large extended family too.
He held a toy four wheeler in his hand tightly and I was reminded of the stories they shared after the twins’ trip back home. After Corbin fell into the dark place when our brother Brent was killed in a motorcycle accident, Clayton had introduced the little guy to four wheeling and now he’d found his new love.
“I remember how resistant I was in the beginning.” Emelie talked to me, though she watched her son. “Not all of us wear our fears and worries on our sleeves. We each have things that keep us from jumping headfirst into an opportunity. For me it was…” She motioned toward her son. “It wasn’t just me that could be hurt but him too.”
I highly doubted that Ruby had a kid, but I got what she was saying.
“College is hard, and not just the academic parts. We are all discovering who we are, who we want to be. We all have obstacles and things are so easily misinterpreted. Maybe this girl is scared.”
I looked away from Ethan and found that Emelie was looking directly at me.
“I don’t know you that well, Jay, but from what I do know I can tell you aren’t a bad guy.”
A silence settled between us, with only the sounds of her son playing with his toy and mumbling as he did.
“If the phone isn’t working then maybe you should go to her. Maybe you should take away her choice to hide behind a text and force her to tell you why she’s avoiding you. It’s better than driving yourself crazy.” Emelie shrugged just before the door opened and out stepped Clay. Of course like most guys in this house he gave me the stink eye because I was occupying his girl’s time.
Emelie stood and passed her son off to Clayton.
“Even if it’s something you don’t want to hear, at least you’ll know.”
And with that she walked inside and left me alone with Clay. “Nothing worth your time is easy. All the great things take time and dedication.”
Clayton had changed, I’d seen it. Hell, we’d all seen it. He chose to love a girl and her son without pause. He’d been thrust into the life of a dad and he was good at it. The love he had for Em and Ethan no one could deny.
***
I stood outside of the dorm Isaac had told me Ruby’s friend Darcy lived in. Somehow setting up camp outside of the Dean’s house felt like a bad idea.
The sounds of laughter echoed as a group of girls walked up the sidewalk. Hope shot through me that one of the girls may be Ruby but I was left disappointed. However Darcy was there.
Standing, I gained the attention of a couple of them and one by one they slowly all saw me
