Wraiths of Winter (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 3) (33 page)

“So, Ru, are you joining us?” he asked as Zach and I
were about to get into the Neon. The fact that he didn’t invite
Zach didn’t escape me so I knew Zach picked up on it, too.

“All I want to do right now is be alone with Zach. I
don’t know what happened in there tonight but I could have
lost him. He’s all that matters to me now.”

Two things happened simultaneously.
Zach smiled
like he’d just won the lottery and Lucas sulked away without a
word. I wasn’t happy about hurting Lucas’s feelings but that
didn’t mean I wouldn’t do it if it was necessary. And right
now, it was necessary. I wanted to be alone with Zach and it
couldn’t happen fast enough.

“Where do you want to go?” Zach asked as we pulled
away from the theater. I watched as Lucas got into his car and
headed in the opposite direction of the diner. He wasn’t
heading
toward home either and
for a
brief moment
I
wondered where he
was
going. But I didn’t really care—I was
where I needed and wanted to be.

“Why don’t we just go to my house? Dad and Shelly
are at some hospital benefit party tonight so the place is ours
at least for a little while.”

“As long as we’re together, I’m happy,” Zach
responded. He pushed the gas pedal down a bit harder but I
didn’t complain. In fact, if I’d been driving, we would have
been going faster.

Zach
and
I
headed
upstairs
to
my
room
and
immediately began the hottest make out session we’d had in
months.
So hot, in fact, that we ended up in my bed just
minutes later.

“I love you, Ruby,” he whispered in my ear as he lifted
my sweater up over my stomach.

Dammit!
What rotten timing was this? This was the
perfect opportunity
for
us
to finally lose our virginity
together! The problem? My period! Once more, Fate stepped
in and shook its finger sarcastically in my face. “You didn’t
think it would be that easy, now did you?’ it mocked.

“Zach, I can’t!” I said floundering for a way to explain
my situation to him. We’d discussed a lot of things since we’d
started dating but my period was never one of them. I’d been
dreading the day when it became the topic of conversation
and now here it was.
He looked hurt, like my refusal had
something to do with misgivings about our relationship.
I
tried to hint at the real reason by nodding at my crotch.

Zach stared at me like I was crazy so I finally had to
pluck up the courage to say the words.
I may have to say
them but I didn’t have to shout them. So I whispered softly, “I
have my period.” Please let that be sufficient!

And it was, thank
goodness.
His
turned
to
sudden
recognition
and
hurt expression
eventually
to
embarrassment. “Ohh! Okay, I didn’t know—I’m sorry!”

“Don’t apologize—I’m pretty bummed about it myself.
I know it’s not what we really wanted but would you mind
just laying
here with
me for
a little
while?
After what
happened tonight, I just want to be close to you.”

“That’s all I really wanted in the first place, Ruby. Of
course I’ll stay here with you.”

He was always so understanding—would Lucas have
reacted the same way?
Or even Lee, for that matter?
Lee
basically died because he was anxious to get into my pants. I
couldn’t imagine Zach ever reacting that way.

It was still early but I dug out my prettiest pajamas—
the red satin ones I never got to wear for him because Lucas
showed up. They’d remained crammed in the back of my
dresser drawer since that day. They were ultra-wrinkled but
what boy would be looking at the wrinkles, right?

I changed in the bathroom and inspected myself in the
mirror.
Not usually being one to compliment myself, I was
surprised to realize that I looked
incredibly
hot.
Then
suddenly, I was self-conscious. If I was too shy to let him see
me like this, how was I ever going to let him see me naked?
Grr!
In frustration, I almost changed back into my jeans and
sweater but stopped myself. Zach wouldn’t just be drooling
over some exposed skin—I had nothing to worry about. And I
couldn’t have been more right.

“You look beautiful, Ruby,” he said as I snuck out of
the bathroom, his eyes concentrating on my face instead of
anything else. “As always.”

My bedroom was a bit chilly so I ducked under the
covers quickly. Holding up the edge of my comforter, I invited
him to join me. “Get in here,” I demanded.

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” Zach said as he slid
in beside me.

The once cold sheets heated up quickly, hot enough
that he started to sweat. He was uncomfortable—that much I
could see.
But he never once complained. So I offered him a
suggestion. “You can take your hoodie off. I don’t bite.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? You know, what if
your parents come home early? At least if they found us like
this, me being fully dressed would go in our favor.”

“They won’t be home for hours—trust me.” Once Dad
got going at functions like that, Shelly wouldn’t get him out of
there until at least midnight.

“Okay, but the jeans stay on! I’ll need a little bit of
protection if your dad decides he wants to castrate me.” Zach
hesitated but then removed his shirt.

No matter how many times I saw his perfect chest and
rippled stomach, it still took my breath away. He settled back
in beside me and I rested my head against him. And then we
talked. About everything—college, our future, and even about
Lucas.
Almost losing
him
tonight put everything
into
perspective for both of us. We simply didn’t want to live
without each other.

The last thing I remembered about our conversation
was Zach pleading with me not to go back to the Bantam and
me sleepily agreeing. Then, I drifted off into the most luscious
dream I’d ever had.

Details aside, I dreamed that Mother Nature hadn’t
come between us tonight. Suffice it to say, it definitely wasn’t
a nightmare. If the real thing was even a tenth as amazing as
what we did in that dream, I would never leave that bed again
and neither would he. The most memorable part, though, was
how he kept calling my name. Over and over again.

“Ruby Rose Matthews! Wake up, young lady!” I was
still half asleep but I was awake enough to know that it wasn’t
Zach’s voice calling my name anymore—it was my dad’s.

When I opened my eyes
and
saw him
and
Shelly
standing over us, I panicked.
Zach had to be an insanely
heavy sleeper because he didn’t even seem close to waking
up. “Zach!” I shouted, giving him an elbow to the ribs. “Wake
up!”

Shelly looked mortified—not because of what
it
looked like we’d done but because of my father’s reaction to
it.
His face was an unnatural shade of purplish red and he
wouldn’t stop screaming. She tugged at his arm furiously.
“Jason! Stop screaming at them! Let’s give them a few
minutes to get dressed. And for you to calm down.”

As Zach slowly began to wake, I took stock of the
situation.
The way the comforter was laying, they couldn’t
see that Zach’s jeans were still on. The thin straps of my
pajama top had slid down over my shoulders in such a way
that I looked naked, too. We hadn’t done anything but the
evidence said that we had.

“Oh, no!” I shouted back. “It’s not what it looks like!
We’re not…we didn’t!” Never in my entire life had I been
more embarrassed! Even Misty’s locker room cam hadn’t
been this bad! At least my dad never got to see it and Zach
was nowhere near me at the time. I was in so much trouble!

My denials fell on deaf ears. My father continued to
scream as Shelly attempted to drag him out of the room by
force. Now that he was fully awake, Zach jumped out of my
bed and threw his sweatshirt back on. It was inside out, but
still on. Then he made the mistake of trying to apologize to
my dad.

“I’m so sorry, Dr. Matthews, but you have to believe
me!
Nothing happened—we were just talking and then we
both must have fallen asleep!” Zach uttered a sincere apology,
minus the fact that something would have happened had it
not been the wrong week of the month.

Dad broke away from Shelly’s grasp and got right up
in Zach’s face. “I don’t have to believe a word you say! Get
out of this house now and don’t ever come back. And if I catch
you anywhere near my daughter again, next time you won’t
be so lucky.” The words shot out of his mouth with force and
anger far worse than I’d ever seen from my father before.

Zach looked to me for help so I jumped out of bed to
defend him. “Dad, no! We love each other! You can’t do this
to us!” I pleaded.

“I can and I will!” he spat. “And love isn’t just about
crawling into bed together, by the way. You’re too young to
know what love really is.”

No we weren’t! If he knew even half of what Zach and
I had tackled together, he would understand! “No, we’re not!”
I said in a dramatic outburst of tears. “If we can’t be together,
I’ll
die
of a broken heart and so will Zach! Is that what you
want?!”

“I can assure you, Ruby—no one on my operating
table has ever died of a broken heart! Trust me, you’ll be fine
without each other.”

“Is that what you said to Lee when he was sprawled
out on your table?” I knew those words would make a deep
cut but in the heat of the moment I didn’t care.

“Ruby, Jason! That’s enough!” Shelly shouted at us.
She
took a deep breath
and
calmly
gripped Zach by
the
shoulder. “I think it’s best if you go home now Zach. It’s
late—I’m sure your parents are wondering where you are
right now. Ruby, will call you tomorrow.”

Unsure of whether or not to obey her, Zach looked at
me helplessly. I gave him a nod to let him know that it was
okay to go so he did. But not without one last threat from my
father.

“And don’t think you’re off the hook either! First thing
in the morning, I’m calling your parents. You can’t just sleep
with my daughter and walk away with no consequences!
If
you got her pregnant, you can kiss your dreams of being a
veterinarian goodbye!” he hollered after him.

That’s when I lost it. I sank down into my bed and
began to cry hysterically.
What was I going to do without
him?
Dad was being so unfair!
There had to be a way to
change his mind!

Despite wanting to ream me out some more for being
so
irresponsible,
Shelly
finally
convinced
him
to
go
downstairs so that she and I could talk.

“He’s being so unfair, Shelly! Zach and I are in love—
you know we are! And we didn’t do anything no matter how
bad it looks!” I said through my tears. “There was an accident
at the theater tonight and Zach almost got killed!
All we
wanted was
to be together!
We
were just cuddling and
talking and I guess we both must have fallen asleep.”

“I believe you, Ruby,” she said with a hug. “But you
can imagine how this looked from our perspective.
I know
you’re almost eighteen but to your father, you’ll always be his
little girl. Give him some time—I’m sure once he calms down
he’ll be more rational about this whole thing.”

“But what if he doesn’t?” I sniffed back the tears and
wiped at my nose with a tissue. “What then?”

“Like I said—you’re almost eighteen. Come June, he
won’t be able to keep you apart.” She said it cheerily like it
was good news or something.

“June!? My birthday is over four months away! What
if Zach won’t wait that long?” Four whole months without
him seemed like a life sentence.

Shelly gave a little laugh. “I think that boy would wait
forty years if you asked him to—four months will be nothing.
But you’re only looking at the worst case scenario. I know
Jason. He’ll come around. Try to get yourself some sleep
now—I’m going downstairs to try to tame the beast.”

I lay down in bed but sleep was a luxury just out of my
reach.
Add one more thing to the list of what was keeping
Zach and me apart.
What if Shelly was wrong? What if my
Dad held his ground and chose to forbid me to see Zach?
I
hadn’t even broken the news about not getting into Pendleton
yet. He would blow an even bigger gasket if he found out I
wanted to take the fall semester off. How did things get to be
such a mess?

Was this just another hand dealt by fate to push me
closer to Lucas?
As I pondered the possibility, my phone
buzzed with a text from Rachel.

“I love you” was all it said. Apparently, Dad decided
not to wait until morning to break the news to the Masons.
When he was in trouble, the first thing his parents did was
take away his phone forcing him to message me from his
sister’s phone instead. I returned the sentiment then buried
my head in the pillows.

Another wonderful moment with Zach overshadowed
by something horrible. The breaking point was near—I could
feel it. How much more could our relationship withstand?

26. For Whom the Bell Tolls

I went to work on less than three hours of sleep and
spent the day festering over what happened the night before.
Dad was so mad—madder than I’d ever seen him before. I
wasn’t a child anymore. Most girls my age were already
sexually active—I waited for the right guy and got blasted for
something I didn’t even do. Did he expect me to wait forever
or what?
The hatred he felt for Lee was only a warm up for
the blazing animosity now aimed at Zach. Since I’d already
promised Zach that I wouldn’t go back to the Bantam, home
was the unfortunate next stop after work.