Three Sweet Nothings (Blindfold Club 5)

“Because there are right reasons to hate me?”

“Oh my God, right now there are.” She jabbed her finger in the center of my chest. “I said awful things. I’m sure I did. They were lies and I’m sorry.” Her voice carried weight. “I’m sorry. I was too torn up over you to even remember what I said, which is the fucking proof you want.” Her finger needled further into me. “It should have been obvious I was hurting. And drunk.”

Was her finger going to burrow into my skin? I moved backward to get away, but she charged forward, staying on me.

Her face twisted with a mixture of sorrow and rage. “You leaving like that wrecked me. I know I’m not easy, and I’m sorry I lied, but do you realize how much pain you could have spared us with a five-minute conversation when I was sober? Why didn’t you call me again?”

Who was being unfair now? “Are you serious? I called you. I tried, Ruby. What more do you want?”

She peered at me with disbelief. “You . . . gave up on me.”

Maybe that had a hint of truth, but her words then, whether they were lies or not, had hit too close to home. The sting from them was sharp and cut deep. My parents loved me and Payton in their own way, but it was detached and cold. Love to them was loyalty and financial support. It was constant criticism to help me improve and be the best I could be. I’d been left to figure emotions out on my own.

“It took me months to get over you. How could you think I’d go out and just fuck someone else?”

“Well, you thought I was the type of asshole who’d leave you, so I guess we’re even.”

She groaned loudly, her annoyance boiling over, and slapped her palms against my chest. I wasn’t surprised when she shoved me backward. She hardly put any force behind it, and it barely made me move. However, I was surprised when there wasn’t flooring under my foot, and I fell.

For a suspended moment, I hung in the air and clawed futilely for something to stop my descent. I only realized what was happening as the lukewarm water rushed all around me, filling my nose, mouth, and ears.

The pool wasn’t deep, and I got my feet under me, bursting from the surface of the water and wiping at my eyes. I reeled and found her staring at me like she couldn’t believe what had happened.

My mind went haywire, but focused first on the essentials.

My phone was still playing music on the tabletop, and my wallet was in my suitcoat pocket, so both were safe. My watch was water-resistant up to ten feet, but my pants were dry-clean only.

White-hot anger shot up my spine.

I trudged through the water to the side of the pool, set a slippery hand on the tile, and tried to climb out. When I faltered, Ruby pulled up the skirt of her dress, bent, and offered a hand.

“Shit, here,” she said.

I grabbed her wrist and tugged, sending her face-first into the water, but not before she let out a satisfying scream of surprise, which was followed by an equally satisfying splash.

Ruby emerged from the water sputtering and her shoulders tight to her ears, her expression pure shock. The water line was at my shoulders, and her dress billowed around her beneath the surface. Her mouth gaped open.

“I can’t believe you fell for that,” I said.

She snarled it. “I was trying to help you, you asshole!”

“Says the asshole who pushed me in first.”

“I wasn’t trying to push you in, it just happened.” She ran a finger under each eye, wiping away the faint streaks of mascara.

“Do you have any idea how much my shoes cost?” I asked. “Or my belt?”

But my annoyance stalled as I watched her arms moving furiously under the water. Ruby wasn’t as tall as I was, which meant she couldn’t stand. I had no idea how good of a swimmer she was, and the dress tangled in her legs.

“Goddamnit,” I groaned, sloshing over to her. She went rigid as I wrapped my arms around her waist and hauled her up against my soaked chest.

Her tone mirrored my annoyance, and she squirmed in my embrace. “What are you doing?”

I ignored the question and plodded toward the stairs at the far end of the pool.

I was halfway there when she spoke again. “This is all your fault.”

The water was shallower now and I dropped her like an anchor, moving to a safe distance. “No, this is your fault. You fucking kissed me.”