Page 34 of Tides Of Your Love (Riviera Shores #3)

Rio

“DID YOU SEE THE WAY he looks at you?” Ruby asked the moment we stepped out of the house.

I didn’t reply.

“He’s into you, Rio. I would be all over him if I were you.” She nudged my side with her elbow just before we reached her car.

As we buckled up, she continued, almost musing to herself. “I mean, a guy like that—perfect for a no-strings arrangement.”

Thanks for the gut punch, Ruby.

“We’re sleeping together,” I blurted just as she pressed the gas pedal.

Maybe it was the shock, but Ruby slammed the brakes, stopping short.

“Drive. I’ll tell you. Just drive.”

She pulled away, but the massive grin she shot me told that she was literally proud of me, as if I cracked the atom.

I exhaled a long breath. “I didn’t tell you because ... to be honest, I don’t know how to define it. Us.”

“How long ago?”

“Not too long. A few weeks?” I knew the exact time, right down to the second, but I didn’t want her to know how long I kept it from her.

“And not a word to me? How many times have we spoken since?” Ruby sounded half-mad now, but I knew she wouldn’t actually be mad at me. She was easygoing when it came to relationships. Too easygoing.

“I’m sorry.”

“I could tell something was going on between you two just now in the kitchen!” She was smiling again.

I huffed a nervous chuckle.

“And why do you have to define everything? Can’t you just enjoy the moment? Define it as sex.”

“I’m trying to. Mind-blowing sex, by the way.”

Ruby chuckled and smacked her hand against my thigh. “Atta girl!”

She was contagious. For absolutely no reason at all, I suddenly felt proud of myself.

“Simon found out.”

“Oh, no. I really like your brother and appreciate him, but he can be an ass sometimes.”

“No, it’s not like that—”

“Wait, I want to hear it all, but let’s get in first,” Ruby said, parking in front of Shore Thing.

“I don’t want to talk about it in front of Evangeline and Daphne.”

“Don’t be silly. Trust me, they have their own issues.

It’s lucky we even managed to get Daphne to come.

Being a cop, she doesn’t really have time for us, plus, she’s going through something, so .

..” Ruby said all of that while unbuckling, climbing out, locking the car, and hooking her arm through mine like I was a flight risk.

She’d met Daphne and Evangeline in Coral Bay, through the inn.

As part of the local police force, Daphne had answered a few calls from there, and since she and Ruby were about the same age, they went from professional acquaintances to friends.

Evangeline’s flower shop supplied the inn, and the road from there to Ruby’s heart was paved.

If only men could enter it as easily as friends did.

Ruby sailed across the floor to a table at the other end of the bar.

I liked Shore Thing, but sometimes, I dragged Ruby to meet me after work in Riviera View at Life’s A Beach—an equally great mix of bar, beach restaurant, and coffee shop.

“Hi, girls,” Ruby leaned down and kissed both Evangeline and Daphne on the cheek.

I just smiled and waved. “Hey.”

I liked them a lot, but our relationship was mostly through Ruby. It was just easier with her—my bestie since third grade, and with June, who I worked closely with and who was much more a friend than a boss.

“We already ordered a round of margaritas.” Evangeline pointed at the glasses that were waiting for us.

Ruby called her Eve, but I stuck with her full name.

She just didn’t feel like an Eve to me. Small, maybe five foot two, with a delicate build, straight auburn-chestnut hair, gentle features, freckled pale skin, and brown eyes—she looked years younger than her actual mid-thirties age.

She was kind, quiet, but something in her ran deep.

I’d just never had the opportunity to reach those depths .

Daphne could have passed as her older sister.

Same coloring, sort of, but taller, livelier—though sometimes she seemed lost in her own thoughts.

She didn’t look like a cop. At least not out of uniform.

With her full lips, round eyes, and “normal” looks, she could pass for a flower shop girl herself.

But there was something about her gaze—like it could see right through you.

Or maybe I was just projecting, knowing what her job required. Of all of us, she’d seen the most.

“Mmm ... good.” Ruby took a quick sip from her glass. “So, how’s everyone doing?”

“This is not a staff meeting, Ruby.” Evangeline scoffed.

“I know, but you’re all so damn quiet. Someone has to open.” She turned to me. “Rio here was telling me something very interesting on the way over. Would you care to share?”

I shot her an I can’t believe you’re doing this glare before smiling. “No, no. I don’t think everyone needs to know.”

“Oh, they already know who you’re living with.” She tapped my thigh again.

Daphne and Evangeline exchanged an uneasy look, like we all shared the same problem with Ruby. Because we did.

“I didn’t say anything major, relax,” Ruby said, flashing us a Don’t you start with that smile.

“She only said it’s Walter’s grandson, and we already know who that is, so ...” Evangeline explained.

“Oh, it’s okay. That’s not a state secret.” I sighed, giving up.

“They slept together,” Ruby blurted out like she couldn’t hold it back anymore.

“Ruby,” Evangeline scolded .

I put my face in my hands and laughed. Oh, Ruby ...

“You don’t have to tell us anything,” Daphne said.

“Yeah, you have the right to remain silent,” Ruby added, grinning.

“Ah, it’s okay. Now that it’s out, I could use a little venting and ... I don’t know if I’m looking for advice, but a different perspective maybe? Someone who isn’t in so deep like I am.”

A very brief update later—laughing off Ruby’s need for details—“Yes, Ruby, in both rooms. No, Ruby, not on the kitchen table. Walter lives there, remember?”—I finally got to my brother finding out.

“Just tell me if he’s—”

“Foam rolling guy level, Ruby. Okay?”

“Perfect! That’s all I need to know.” She looked both victorious and proud.

“That video you sent?” Evangeline asked.

Ruby nodded.

“Should be outlawed.” Daphne’s face was blank as she picked up her glass.

“Anyway,” I dragged the word to stop the direction this was taking. “I knew we’d get to the point where it’d be complicated, though I hoped it wouldn’t feel complicated. But it is. My brother isn’t happy about this, and I don’t want to be the wedge between them.”

“Why isn’t your brother happy about it?” Evangeline asked.

“The usual reasons—if it ends badly, even down the line, it could cloud their friendship, maybe even end it. And Owen doesn’t have a stellar track record when it comes to relationships.

” I found myself lowering my voice at that last part, as if admitting this fact was throwing shade at the man I loved.

They all nodded. Hearing myself saying it out loud—listing these reasons—made me hope that, somehow, one of them would prove me wrong, say that it didn’t have to be this way.

But then again, that wasn’t even the whole story.

“And Owen will probably go back to England at some point,” I added, dropping that little bomb on the table.

“There was an article about his recovery and seems he’s expected back.

I know he has feelings for me, but ... I will never put myself between him and his career.

It’s enough that I’ve put myself between him and my brother.

And ...” My throat dried. I almost stopped myself, almost pushed the thought back where I kept it locked up.

But it was already out. “... even if he wanted me, like, to go with him ...”

It chafed when I swallowed. “I can’t fit in his life there. It’s not for me. At all. That’s where we’re so different. Besides, I don’t think he’ll ask me.”

“So what are you planning on doing?” Evangeline looked as if she was looking for that same answer herself.

“Maybe I should be Ruby about it.” I smiled at Ruby and patted her shoulder. “Let it run its course and pick up the pieces later.”

“That’s where you’re not ‘Rubying’ it at all,” Ruby said. “I don’t have pieces to pick up.”

“Your heart is intact. Always,” Evangeline said. She sounded as jealous of Ruby’s ability as I felt .

Daphne lifted her glass, meeting my eyes. “And what if waiting to pick up the pieces just means you’re standing in the wreckage the whole time?”

The way a little elevator had just dropped in my stomach, I knew she hit a nail right on its head. “What do you mean?” I asked to make sure.

“What if you’re already in the painful part—feeling like this relationship has an expiration date, knowing Owen won’t stay or ask you to come, feeling like you don’t belong in his world. You’re already emotionally there —so what’s the point of waiting for the shoe drop?”

We were all silent for a moment.

Evangeline took a swig off her glass.

“She has a point, you know,” Ruby said, glancing at me. “Admittedly, she said it better than my ‘just enjoy the moment rather than define it’, but it means the same.”

Daphne took a slow sip of her drink. “I know it’s easier said than done, unless you’re Ruby.

But if you’re already in it—heart and all—maybe you should stop trying to protect yourself from something that hasn’t even happened yet.

Because you’re already feeling everything as if the worst has already happened, Rio. So maybe ... just feel it.”

Ruby waved her hand toward Daphne, as if to say True that!

Daphne’s words settled over me, threading into thoughts I’d already had but never quite knew how to hold rather than loop over and over. I knew the risks, knew what it would mean when it ended, and I went for it anyway. I still had no fucking idea what I was doing, but I was doing it anyway.

Going. Doing. Acting. Not overthinking, dammit! That’s what I should be doing.

Dealing with Simon, with the future, with my own heart—would have to wait. I should learn not just from Ruby, but from nineteen-year-old Rio: Let myself have this—without a plan, without a safety net. Just him. Just now.

After dinner with the girls and a few more drinks for those of us who didn’t drive, Ruby dropped me back home before going home herself to Coral Bay.

“Everyone’s life is complicated, Rio. Daph and Eve have their own brand of complicated.

Everyone, except me, maybe, because I choose not to complicate it.

The Inn and my family is enough complication.

I don’t need more. I know it’s easier to judge when you’re not in someone else’s shoes. That’s not what I’m trying to do.”

“I love you, Ruby. I know you just want the best for me.”

We hugged and I went inside.

It was late and the house was dark.

My room was empty, and on the other side of the hall no light came from under Owen’s door. After a short visit to the bathroom to empty all those margaritas, I entered his room quietly. With the light that came through the window, I saw him sleeping, lying on his side.

He looked like a dream.

I crawled under the light blanket that covered him up to his waist and settled in a spoon position against him. He draped an arm over my waist and breathed into my hair.

For the first time since we started sleeping together, we actually slept. His body was strong, comforting, the beating of his heart steady and calming, the warmth of his skin enveloping me into sleep.