This Ruby is worth something, now all I have to do is believe she can be who she wants.
The evenings darken as summer heads to autumn although the late heat isn’t going anywhere. I head home from my shift at the café; I’ve arranged to catch the guys at the pub later, so Kate needn’t worry about the noise tonight. The narrow house is squashed together with other terraced homes, the majority filled with students. Ours is easily spotted because for some weird reason Kate likes to tend the square metre patch of grass below the window and there’re pansies growing. I’m willing to bet our house is the tidiest on the street inside and out.
Inside, Alison lounges on the sofa eating ice cream, blonde hair pulled into a ponytail, and watching some crap reality TV.
Alison looks up when I walk in. “You have a visitor.” She indicates the kitchen with her spoon. “Hot guy - how many do you have tucked away?”
I drop my messenger bag on the floor. “You mean Jax?” I doubt Will or Nate would match her tastes, but Jax appears to be everyone’s taste—which he loves.
“No. Dan. You never mentioned you had a boyfriend.”
A sharp spike of panic launches into my body. “What?”
“Dan. He’s in the kitchen with Kate.” Alison frowns at me. “What’s wrong?”
The room shrinks as I’m sucked into the fear I haven’t missed in the last few weeks. “Dan.”
“Yes. He said you’d asked him to come over.”
The dizziness grips, the weak girl fighting through. “Make him leave,” I say hoarsely. “Tell me when he’s gone.”
“Oh shit, I’m sorry. Is he an ex? I didn’t know. He seemed so nice and friendly.”
I fight the urge to charge out of the house. “Make him go. Please.”
“Ruby, that’s not very nice,” says a familiar voice. I snap my head up and Dan stands in the doorway, holding a mug of coffee. The friendly, smiling man is a world away from the bastard who threatened to rape me last month. Physically, he’s imposing and frightens me, but Dan also knows how to charm and use his looks into sweet-talking girls into doing what he wants. Evidently, this worked with Alison and Kate.
I swallow against the memory of the last time I saw Dan. His hands on me, hurting, violating. The words, threatening what he’d do when he found me again, echo in my ringing ears. I can’t talk over the lump in my throat.
“You never told me you were back,” he continues. “I wanted to chat to you about our misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding?” I choke back the words. He can’t see my fear; he feeds off that. “I don’t want to see you, Dan.”
“Just a chat?” he offers.
“No.”
Dan is dressed for a night-out in a crisp black shirt and jeans covering his long legs. His blue eyes are one of the things that captivated me years ago, but the friendliness in them is a charade. Good-looking guy with a rotten core.
Kate appears behind Dan, cradling her mug. “Everything okay?”
“No, it’s not. Why did you let him in?” I keep my gaze trained on Dan, refusing to break eye contact. I’m stronger than the girl he attacked. I’m not her.
“I couldn’t leave him on the doorstep!” protests Kate. Dan gives her a grateful smile and she returns it.
“Yes. You could.”
“Maybe we should leave you to talk?” suggests Alison.
“No!” I clear my throat. “Dan’s leaving.”
No.Three times, I’ve said ‘no’. Dan’s mouth twists further into anger each time.No. The word I should’ve learned years ago.
“Ruby,” he says, tone cajoling.
“Get the fuck out!” I shout, pushing away the weak Tuesday threatening to invade. “I don’t want to see you!”
If I climb the stairs to my room, will he follow? My housemates look at each other awkwardly.