Page 131 of Show Me

“Hey, you good?” one of them asks.

“Yeah.” I shift on my feet as she gets further away from me.

“Hold on,” the brunette says, fingers catching my wrist.

Ruby is almost to the hallway when someone steps into her path. Blonde. Lindsey. Of course. She tilts her head, giving Ruby that half-smile she uses when she’s about to get under someone’s skin.

Ruby stills for half a second. Says something back. Glances over her shoulder, eyes traveling over me and the two women at my side, then darts away just as quickly. She steps around Lindsey and keeps going.

“Xavier, pay attention. We’re just getting to the good part,” the blonde’s whiny voice grates on my already taut nerves.

I shake her off. “Not now.”

I’m already moving. The door opens. And then she’s gone. My stomach drops.

“She just–” I stop. She left. Alone. My pulse kicks hard, fast. No. I move.

“Hey–” The brunette’s fingers tighten. “You’re leaving already?”

I don’t slow down. “Let go.” She doesn’t. I wrench free, sharper than I mean to, but my head pounds in time with the beat of the band’s drummer. Frantic and intense. “Not now.”

I’m already moving again. Through the crowd. Past the tables. Eyes tracking every exit point without meaning to. Greg. There’s no sign of Greg. He’s been staring at Ruby since we returned from the hallway, and now, he’s gone.

I push through the front door. Cold hits hard. The parking lot’s half full. Engines idling, headlights cutting through the dark. No Ruby. No sign of her. No sign of Greg either.

The street, the sidewalk, the shadowed edges past the lot. Nothing. My back teeth grind together.

She has no business going home alone. That wasn’t the promise. She was supposed to always stick with someone. I head for my truck. Fast. Keys out before I’m fully there, door open, engine turning over hard. I don’t think. Just drive.

Her house comes into view too slow. Lights on. Her silhouette in the kitchen window. Relief hits hard enough to make my grip loosen on the steering wheel. She's here. Safe. For about half a second. Then the irritation rolls in.

I pull into the driveway and kill the engine. There’s no movement in the yard. My gaze sweeps. Fence line. Gate. Side yard. The shadows beyond the motion lights. Nothing. Doesn't mean a damn thing.

I shove out of the truck and take the porch steps two at a time. The door opens before I knock. Ruby stands there. Jacket still on. Purse over one shoulder. Like she just walked inside.

Her brows lift. “You followed me?”

I laugh once. No humor in it. “Not exactly.”

After I brush past her, I check the windows. The locks. The back door. Every instinct screaming until I convince myself she's alone. Only then do I turn around. “What the hell were you thinking?”

Her eyes narrow. “Excuse me?”

“You left.”

“I went home.”

“Alone.”

“Not exactly. I wasn’t alone. I had a driver bring me home.” She folds her arms. "One that I’d never met before."

“And that’s so much fucking better.” The pounding in my head feels like it’s going to explode my eyes out of their sockets. She took a fucking Uber and thinks that’s better than if she’d driven herself.

“This is all ridiculous.” She drops her purse onto the kitchen table with a clunk.

“You’re being ridiculous.” My voice comes out sharper than I intend. “You walked out and disappeared.”

“I told everyone I was leaving.”