? Have The Heart - Post Malone, Dolly Parton
Liam
The fever broke about an hour ago, and Aiden’s been sleeping peacefully ever since. I have my back propped against the small headboard in his room with the local gazette spread across my lap. I’ve read the same passage no less than eight times, but I keep getting distracted by thoughts of Ruby.
I haven’t seen her since I left her in bed, and my mind continues to replay the moment right before I left when she forced a smile and shifted away from me. I can’t help but feel like I missed something crucial in the exchange, though I don’t know what it could be.
I don’t have too long to dwell on it, though, as Aiden’s eyes slowly blink open. He groans and stretches his arms above his head, then snuggles into my side.
I glide my hand over his curls and kiss his forehead—still no fever. “Feeling better?”
“A little.”
“Yeah?Think you might want to eat something?”
Aiden nods. I start to extricate myself from the bed, but Ruby’s voice stops me.
“I’ll make him some toast.” I didn’t even hear her approach. She’s standing in the doorway in my fire department tee with her arms crossed over her chest. “I ran down to the store and got a few things. I’ll be right back.”
“Thanks, Ruby.”
She offers me another forced smile and disappears from view. When she returns, she has a lap tray loaded down with items. She places it on the dresser and holds out two bottles. “Do you like strawberry or grape?”
“Grape,” Aiden replies timidly.
She pours a generous amount of purple Pedialyte into the small plastic cup and sets the tray over his lap. “We have toast, white rice, applesauce, and my personal favorite, oatmeal.”
Aiden scrunches up his nose as he looks over his options. “I want Froot Loops.”
She takes a seat near his legs on the opposite side of the bed from me and offers him a genuine smile. “Sorry, little man. No sugar until you’re feeling better. I know this stuff doesn't look great, but I promise it’s not as bad as it seems. You just have to fill your belly for now. Once you can keep your food down, we can try other things, ok?”
If it were anybody else telling Aiden the same thing, he’d put up more of a fight, but it’s Ruby. He picks up the spoon and takes a bite of the oatmeal. Aiden finishes most of the bowl along with half a slice of toast and the entire glass of Pedialyte, then he shifts back onto his side and snuggles closer to me.
“All done?” I ask.
A quiet hum is all I get for an answer, and his eyes drift shut again.
Ruby leans over him and kisses his forehead. She’s so close,I can just make out the scent of her shampoo. My fingers itch to touch her, but she’s gone before I can give in to the impulse.
She takes the tray from his lap and heads toward the door.
“Thank you. I don’t know if I could’ve gotten him to eat if you hadn’t been here.”
“Anything for Aiden,” she says.
Ruby has been uncharacteristically subdued throughout the entire interaction, and I’m a little on edge. The feeling sticks with me the rest of the afternoon and into the evening.
Hours later, Ruby bounds downstairs wearing a pair of painted-on bell-bottom jeans and boots with some kind of ruffled crop top, her signature white cowboy hat in hand. She’s all done up with a shimmery lip gloss accentuating her perfect fucking mouth, and her eyes are smokey and lined in black, making her blue irises pop.
She looks like every guy’s wet dream, and fuck if it doesn’t make me want to throw her over my shoulder and carry her back up those stairs. I swear I can still taste her on my tongue—still feel her body trembling beneath my touch.
“I’m going out. Don’t wait up.” She snags the keys off the hook by the door and rushes outside.
Untamed possessiveness comes over me, and the screen door slams against the frame as I follow close behind her.
“Where are you going?”
“The Ridge.” Her footsteps crunch on the gravel drive as she strides around the hood of her old pickup.
