“As in Drew Scott?” her mother asked, arching her right eyebrow like Ruby always did when feeling skeptical or surprised.

“Yes.” Ruby nodded.

“I see.” She perched on the end of Ruby’s bed and leaned forward, resting her arms on her knees. Ruby leaned against the closet door, facing her.

“Why did you ask?”

“I heard you answer your cell.”

Ruby frowned. “But that was ages ago. Were you listening to our conversation the whole time?”

A guilty expression crossed her mom’s face. “I hadn’t intended to. But I heard you say ‘Drew,’ and I only know of one Drew in your life and Blake’s.”

“Mom. How could you? After all you’ve told us about respecting people’s privacy.” Ruby forgot about hiding her conversation with Drew because she was so shocked by her mom checking up on her like that.

“I’m sorry. It was an accident. I’d come upstairs to see if you’d be ready in twenty minutes to be with your dad, and just as I was about to knock on your door, your phone rang. I wanted to check to see if it was Tiffany because if it was, I didn’t think you’d mind me interrupting. Except it wasn’t.”

“And you listened to everything we said.”

Ruby quickly recalled her conversation with Drew to check if there was anything incriminating. She was pretty sure that she wouldn’t be able to convince her mom they were talking about the science project.

“Not really. I couldn’t hear everything.”

But she’d heard enough. Ruby drew in a long breath. “So now you know all about us.” Ruby tried to sound angry, but actually, she felt relieved because it meant she could talk to her mom about it. Especially what to do about Blake and how to break the news to him. Providing her mom understood, of course, and didn’t say she should stop seeing him because of what Blake might think.

“I do. I just don’t understand why.”

Ruby flipped a hand in the air, hoping so much that her mother wouldn’t be angry. “It just sort of happened. I felt sorry for him, coming back to school and being subjected to all the stares and grimaces. You know what that’s like with Dad. And none of his old friends wanted anything to do with him because of Blake.” Not to mention the whole deal with how thoughtless people could be with their offhand comments and perpetual staring.

“You can hardly blame them,” her mom said.

Ruby couldn’t argue with that. As usual, her mother had a knack for seeing things exactly as they were.

“What happened with Reese and Drew was just a one-off,” she said. “Reese was upset because Blake had broken up with her, they had a few beers, and it just led to…you know. No one could feel worse about it than Drew does. He hates himself for what happened.”

“Nothing’s ever clear cut, love.” Her mom got up and walked over to where Ruby stood. She rested her arm around Ruby’s shoulders. “But this is the boy who betrayed your brother. His best friend. You know what that’s done to Blake; you’ve seen it yourself. Blake should be your priority in all this.”

Ruby knew that. Blake was family. Of course they had to think of him. But maybe it didn’t have to be a case of Blake or Drew. Maybe there was some way of being with both of them.

“I know what you’re saying, Mom. I know. But don’t you think Drew has been through enough? His life will never be the same again. He’s always gonna be judged by his appearance. Yes, he hurt Blake. But Blake and Reese were never going to last.” Ruby hated bringing that up and was aware that it didn’t for one moment diminish the awfulness of Reese dying. But it was true, and for some reason, Blake now held Reese up as his one and only true love, which Ruby knew wasn’t the case. Whenever they’d broken up in the past, Reese had been the one to try to patch things up. And Blake had even admitted the last time that he’d only gotten back together with her because he couldn’t stand to see her cry.

“Yes, I know. We’d talked about it often enough. But Blake is my son, and while he’s going through this pain, I have to be there for him.” She frowned.

Ruby understood exactly why her mom was conflicted by all of this. Just like Ruby herself had been. And still was. “I get what you’re saying, Mom. But all I’m saying is that Drew has suffered, and probably more so than Blake. I really like Drew, and I don’t want to stop seeing him.” She slumped in defeat against the closet door. “Not that we see each other much. He wants us to keep our relationship a secret. He doesn’t want Blake to find out.”

Ruby saw from the softening of her mother’s face that she was beginning to understand. “He always was a considerate boy.” Her mom paused for a few seconds. “Why don’t you invite him over tomorrow? He can have some pizza with us. Blake won’t be here. I’d like to see him again.”

Well, that was a surprise. And she had no idea how exactly she would broach the subject with Drew. It certainly wouldn’t be easy. “I don’t know. He might not agree.”

“Well, it’s up to you. Try to persuade him.” Her mom smiled and then walked toward the door.

“Okay. I’ll ask him and see what he says.” To be honest, it didn’t feel right to her. Almost like a betrayal to Blake. Then again, if he didn’t know, it would be okay. If her mom wanted to check out Drew’s motivations first, then she ought to try to get the two of them together.

“Tell him I’ll bake his favorite chocolate cake.” She opened the door and left.

“You don’t have to do that,” Ruby called out just as her mom closed the door, so she didn’t know if she’d heard. If she was going to go to all that trouble, maybe her mother missed having Drew around. Just a little.

Chapter Twelve

As Drew pulled into the curb, where Ruby stood waiting for him on the sidewalk, his heartbeat quickened. Every time he caught sight of her it happened, with no let up. It didn’t matter where they were, it still hit him. He couldn’t get used to the depth of his feelings for her, and how he had gone from thinking of her just as his friend’s little sister, to someone he wanted to be with as much as possible.

He knew she didn’t like all the cloak-and-dagger stuff he insisted on, like them having to leave school separately, but he still couldn’t deal with the thought of them being seen together. As deep as his feelings were for her, it didn’t seem right for him to be in a relationship with anyone. Especially not Blake’s sister.

She opened the car door and hopped inside.

“Hey,” he said, leaning across to kiss her. Heaviness formed in the pit of his stomach as she briefly returned his kiss and then pulled back. It wasn’t like her. He knew instantly that something was wrong.

“I’ve got something to tell you and something to ask you.” Ruby bit down on her bottom lip and seemed very uneasy.

He knew it. He could read her like a book. Reasons for her behavior raced through his head, but all he could think of was that she’d finally realized she couldn’t carry on and was giving him an ultimatum. Bring their relationship out in the open or forget it. He had no idea how he would respond. “What?” He forced his voice to sound light and not betray his worry that they would soon be over.

“Don’t answer right away. Well, I need your answer now; just think before you decide, that’s all.”

Drew ran his fingers through his hair, wondering what the hell she wanted him to do. He probably wasn’t making a huge leap by thinking it would be something he wouldn’t be thrilled about. He shook his head in frustration. “I don’t like the sound of this.” He paused a moment. “Come on then, get it over with.”

“Don’t be mad, but my mom knows about us.”

He hadn’t expected that. “What? How?” He really didn’t need this.

Ruby cleared her throat, clearly uncomfortable. “She overheard me talking to you yesterday. Anyway, I told her about us, and she wants you to come back with me for pizza today.”