Falling for the Wrong Guy by Sara Hantz Page B

him see sense.
    “Enough,” he snapped, shoving a hand through his damp hair. “First of all, I shouldn’t have even been there. She was Blake’s girl, even if they were broken up. Everyone knew they were always off and on. Second of all, I was the one who didn’t blow out the candles that Reese had lit.” He folded his arms tightly across his chest, the expression on his face set hard.
    Ruby couldn’t leave it. She had to make one last-ditch attempt to get through to him. “Reese could’ve blown them out herself, you know. Why does it have to be your mistake?” She put a hand on his shoulder, feeling the tension thrumming from his body.
    “Because it was,” he ground out. “Because I’m here alive, and she’s… she’s….” His voice cracked, and tears filled his eyes.
    “It’s all right, Drew. I’m here.” She reached out and pulled him toward her, holding him tightly in her arms while he sobbed into her shoulder. “I’m here.”
    D rew pulled himself out of Ruby’s grasp. He couldn’t believe that he’d broken down in front of her. He felt like such a jerk. He’d spent the previous twelve months maintaining a hard exterior that no one could penetrate, and in the space of only a few minutes, Ruby Davis had got to the very heart of him and made him sob like a baby.
    “Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to lose it like that.”
    He looked directly into her deep brown eyes and immediately regretted it. He felt himself being drawn toward her, like he had no say in the matter. He couldn’t believe she could do this to him. She didn’t used to. In the past, he’d just liked her as Blake’s younger sister. And now…
    Now she should be off-limits. Even when they’d been friends, Blake might have not liked the idea of Drew with Ruby. He’d certainly warned other guys who’d shown any interest in her what would happen if they did anything to upset her. He’d even enlisted Drew’s help on several occasions. Ruby didn’t know. She’d have been really angry if she’d ever found out.
    “It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize. I get it.” Ruby reached out and touched him on the arm, and just that one small touch was enough to drive him crazy. It took him all his resolve to not pull her close and kiss her hard on the lips. He wanted to. A lot. But he couldn’t. He shouldn’t.
    Screw it.
    He grabbed Ruby, and they both fell onto the bed, legs and arms all over the place.

Chapter Ten
    B utterflies whizzed around Ruby’s stomach as she caught sight of Drew in the mirror watching her intently while she fixed her hair. It had surprised her that he even had a mirror in his bedroom. Her father had always refused to have one in the house, so there weren’t any, apart from the ones both she and Blake had inside the doors of their closets. And if, on the rare occasion that he went out, her dad caught sight of his reflection, he’d sink into a dark mood and demand they went home right away. It made family outings very difficult because you could see reflections in so many things, not just mirrors.
    Drew had his hands behind his head and was leaning against the headboard. He hadn’t got up from the bed since they’d finished their make-out session. If it wasn’t for the fact that they had to get back to school, they’d still be there. Though, it was for the best they weren’t, because she didn’t know how far it would have gone. And as much as she liked Drew, she wasn’t ready to go all the way. She wanted her first time to be special, and not somewhere they could be disturbed any minute by his mom arriving home.
    She shuddered at the thought of what his mother might say if she caught them together, especially if she had been drinking. Which was likely seeing as, according to Blake, there were very few days, if any, that she wasn’t wasted.
    “Are you okay?” Drew asked.
    Ruby loved that he sounded so concerned. “Yeah, why?” she asked as she turned to face him.
    Her heart did a