The Way It Works

Chapter NINETEEN

Ruby

"We've been walking for, like, an hour," I tell Jakoby, the next evening.

We are hand in hand and I'm wearing my long wool coat, a hat and a scarf, just in case. I get cold easily, even though it's not quite winter yet. He's just in jeans and a hoodie, but he looks so gorgeous as he grins down at me.

"We could walk another hour and still be on the trail," he tells me.

    "It's so pretty out here." My shoes crunch some dry leaves as I look around through the trees in front of us.

"You are, too. So pretty."

    "You called me gorgeous that first time we met,"  I remind him, then laugh when he sticks his tongue out at me.

"You're both." He grins and then pulls me close to him. "That was such a good day."

"The day you walked up to me directly after your date ended and called me gorgeous?" I ask, still teasing him.

He nods. "Everything changed that day."

His arms snake around my body and I rest my head on his chest as he pulls me into a hug. We haven't seen another person on the trail for awhile. There were a few people walking dogs at the start of the trail, but since then it's been pretty isolated. That doesn't mean no one will pass us, but I feel confident enough to look up at Jakoby and smile. He leans in and pressed his lips to mine right away.

He's warm and soft and my stomach flutters right away. I love how we melt into each other and how nothing else seems to matter when he kisses me. Feeling that sort of freedom is new and amazing.

When he pulls away, his eyes are darker and very serious. I'm not sure I've ever seen this look in his eyes.

"I'm so glad you gave me a chance," he says, before reaching for my hand again.

We start walking back to the lot where his roommate's car is parked - since it's at least an hour walk back to the where we started - and I stay quiet for a minute. I don't know what to say to that. I don't feel like I 'gave him a chance'. I feel like we just came together and things have worked out.

"I mean, I'm really happy we're here, together," he goes on, because I haven't said anything.

    "I am, too. Honestly. You took me by surprise, Jakoby, but you make me better. You brought me out of my darkness," I tell him, and I can tell right away that he's surprised by this.

Maybe he doesn't know how different I was before we met. I was basically a hermit, besides going to work. I haven't told him much about my life, expect that I was a foster kid, how Ryan and I were separated and that Garrett sort of saved me when I was eighteen. That's the gist of it, and that's all he knows. It's the stuff I can talk about easily. I can't talk about what happened to be before my family fell apart. I can't speak the words about what happened when I was in foster care, as a teenager. Only Garrett knows those truths. And sometimes I wish even he didn't know.

"So, sometimes I like to play this game with people.  You tell me one thing about yourself, and I tell you one thing about me," Jakoby says out of the blue, lightening the mood a bit.

I think he's figuring out that there's a lot about me he doesn't know. Maybe this is his way of trying to learn more. I'm really not sure this is a good idea, but I agree anyway.

"I'll start. I love pineapple on pizza," he goes on and then laughs at my expression.

"Ew. My cat is named Muffin," I say a moment later.