Phantoms of Fall (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 2) (38 page)

Thank goodness I took the time to straighten my hair
today—wig or no wig. There was no way in
hell
I was losing
my virginity with curly hair.

“The second thing is that I have to explain to you why
I rejected you that night in the car.”

Anticipation of that answer suddenly overshadowed
my anxiety over what we were about to do.
What could his
reason be and was I ready to hear it?

“Honestly, Ruby, it was partially because I was scared
and partially because of what I imagined it should be like for
you.”

His answer made me want him even more. “How so?”

“I was afraid of a million different things—hurting
you, getting you pregnant, disappointing you. But the biggest
thing I worried about was losing myself so completely in you
that I panicked. I’m not afraid of that anymore.”

Really, was
there anyone on this
planet who was
closer to perfection than Zach Mason? Every single word that
came out of his mouth made me feel special.

“The other reason is because you deserve something
better than the backseat of my car and you deserve someone
who will give you that. I wish I had roses for you and candles
to light, but all I have is my love—and this.”

He fished around in his pocket and produced a small
box. He slid down onto the floor and got on one knee. Oh no.
Was he going to ask me to marry him? What would I say if he
did? I knew he was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my
life with but we were too young for that, weren’t we? Would I
break his heart permanently if I said no, that I thought we
should wait? What should I do? As soon as I got rid of one set
of problems, I ended up with a whole new one. FML.

Zach opened the box and pulled out a silver band with
a cluster of rubies in the shape of a rose. “I couldn’t afford
much but I wanted to give you something to symbolize my
love. It’s kind of like a promise, I guess. By giving you this
ring, I promise to love only you. If you accept it, that means
you swear to love only me.”

Whew. A promise ring, I could handle. “I definitely
accept!” I held out my hand and let him slide the ring onto my
finger.

Zach stood up and pulled me up along with him. “As
long as you’re wearing that ring, I’ll always know you’re still
mine.”

“I love you, Zach—this ring will
never
leave my finger!
Never, ever,
ever
!” I held out my hand to admire it. It was
beautiful, fit me perfectly,
and
I was
impressed that he
remembered that silver was my favorite.

“That’s all I needed to hear.” Zach hit the switches so
the bedroom was dark except for a soft glow coming from the
bathroom light. He raised his hands to my neck and tugged
on the tie that held my cape in place.
He fumbled for a
moment with his left hand but it finally came undone and
floated to the floor at my feet.

As I untied his cape for him, he lifted the crown off of
his head and flung it to the side. “I love you, Ruby,” he said as
he slid his right hand under my legs and lifted me off of the
floor.

When his lips met mine, a spark ignited. He kissed me
slow and deep as he carried me to the bed and lowered me
gently down. I’d waited so long for this moment and it
couldn’t have been more perfect. The party was still raging
below us—the
pounding
bass
vibrating
the bed ever so
slightly.

No one would see us, no one would hear us.
Zach
settled in beside me and began to trail his kisses down my
neck. He slid his leg over mine until he was on top of me. He
was trembling just as much as I was—it was nice to know that
I wasn’t the only one with unsteady nerves. When he got to
the neckline of my dress, he stopped and stroked my cheek.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” he whispered.
“Don’t be afraid to ask me to stop.”

“I’m ready Zach—are you?” Most boys would have
laughed at me for asking such a stupid question but not
Zach—he was different.

“I am, Ruby. Just promise me you’ll tell me if I hurt
you at all.”

“I promise. Do you have…protection?” I asked. Yes, I
was on birth control but with my recent bouts with nausea
very few of those pills actually stayed in my stomach.
And
besides, there was no such thing as being too cautious even if
they had.

“I do—reach into the left pocket of my pants. Rachel
jokingly gave me a condom earlier—I guess the joke’s on her.”

Rachel.
She was the one who set this whole thing up
for him tonight—I should have guessed.
She was a great
friend and an even better sister. I dug into his pocket until my
fingertips hit something that made a crinkly sound. With the
condom in my grasp, the reality of it all hit me.
We were
actually about to lose our virginity together.

I handed the condom to him and he slipped it under
my pillow until he was ready for it.
Satisfied that he was
getting nothing but green lights, he pressed his lips to mine. I
unbuttoned his shirt and he awkwardly pulled it over his cast
to get it off.
and urgent.
Our kisses went from slow and deep to feverish
With his good hand, he undid the satin ribbon

that held the bodice of my dress together and slid his hand
under the fabric.

Bang! Bang! Bang! His heart was thumping so loud it
sounded like a drum beating in my ear. I was so distracted by
what he was about to do, that it barely registered in my brain.

Then I heard it again. Wait a second. That wasn’t
Zach’s heartbeat—that was a knock at the door.
31. Now You See Me, Now I Don’t

“Zach!” I hissed, “Someone’s at the door!” It took him
a few seconds to come back down to earth and comprehend
what I said.

“Oh shit!” he blurted out as he rolled off of me.
Frantically, he bolted out of bed and flicked on the lights. The
knock sounded at the door again, louder and more urgent this
time.

“Put your shirt back on!” I commanded as I clumsily
tried to lace up the bodice of my dress. I smoothed my hair
down
with
my hand and took in
a deep breath.
Thank
goodness I locked that door.

“Coming!” I yelled as I waited for Zach to button his
shirt and sit down on the futon in an attempt to pretend
nothing was going on. He turned on the TV and tried to look
casual as I opened the door. I started to believe in the power
of prayer when I found Rachel on the other side of it and not
my parents.

“Sorry to interrupt, but all hell’s breaking loose and
Shelly and Jason were about to come looking for you,” Rachel
said with a serious look on her face. “I figured if someone was
going to catch you in the act you’d rather it be me.”

“What’s going on?” It was only now that my head was
slightly clearer and it felt like someone doused my nether
regions with a bucket of ice water that I could hear the
skirmish brewing below us.
The pounding bass was now
gone, replaced instead by angry shouts.

“The fine line between Crimson and Ivy finally
snapped—there’s a full on catfight going on down there!
Boone and Drake can’t decide whether to break it up or film it,
and
your parents and
the chaperones are trying to clear
everyone else out. The party’s definitely over.” Rachel
peeked around the door to get a better look at Zach. “Sorry,
little brother, but it looks like your private party is over, too.”

Zach’s face was already fifty shades of red but he
somehow managed to blush just a hint brighter with her
comment. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he
stammered. “We were just watching TV—that’s all.”

“You better work on your excuses, Zach. And if you
guys want to have sex and keep it a secret there are a few
other things you need to work on, too,” Rachel replied with a
tone of satisfaction in her voice.

I didn’t want to full out admit she was right but I
definitely needed her advice on this. Casually, I asked, “Oh, so
what makes you think we were doing anything?
Not that we
were—just wondering.”

“Three things guys,” she said as she held up three
fingers. “First, you both look guilty as hell. Second, you need
to hone your quick dressing skills.”

I interrupted her tutorial there. “What do mean by
that?” We were both fully dressed—it’s not like we even got
very far or anything.

She gave me a smug smile. “Your dress is half unlaced
and Zach missed a button on his shirt. I’ll give you partial
credit for the fact that you did it with one broken arm but I’m
pretty sure Ruby’s parents wouldn’t be interested in partial
credit.”

I looked first at my dress and then at his shirt. She
was right on both counts.

“I’ll stall your parents for a few minutes while you pull
yourselves together.” Rachel started to leave but I stopped
her.

“Just for future reference, what’s number three?”

She wrinkled her nose and pointed to Zach’s crotch.
“Do something with that thing will you? This isn’t the IMAX—
your pants shouldn’t be in 3D!”

Zach glanced down to see what she was talking about
and quickly grabbed a throw pillow to hide himself.

“I can buy you five minutes—no more. By the looks of
it, Zach, you should have enough time to finish and have four
and a half minutes to spare!”

He grabbed another pillow and flung it at the door just
missing her head as she bounded down the steps giggling.

I closed the door and ran straight to the mirror to fix
my dress while Zach fumbled with the buttons on his shirt.
Once I was satisfied that I had wiped away all traces of our
rendezvous from my appearance, I went to help him.
As I
buttoned his shirt for him, I couldn’t help myself—I gave him
a soft kiss on the chest.

“Whoa, you have to stop—I can’t go downstairs
looking like this, Ruby,” he said pointing in the direction of his
pants.

“Sorry, Zach. I just wish we’d had enough time
to…well, to…you know.”

“Trust me, I know. But we didn’t so…I have to calm
down, so to speak.” His face started to slowly return to
normal after Rachel left but inch by inch the redness was
returning. “I need to, um, use the restroom.”

“Oh,” I said innocently. Then I finally got it. “OH!
Okay, I’ll wait out here,” I said pointing to the living room.
“Far away and I’ll do something loud.”

He gave me an odd look and disappeared into the
bathroom.
I plopped down onto the futon and turned the
volume up on the TV. “I’ll do something loud”—why was I
such an idiot? I always assumed there were noises of some
sort that accompanied such an activity—I guess I was wrong.
While I considered my complete lack of knowledge in that
area, Zach resurfaced looking much calmer—thirty seconds
later. Rachel nailed that one on the head, no pun intended. I
definitely
needed to tap into her wealth of
information
regarding boys.

Zach sat down beside me on the futon. Things were a
little awkward at first and I feared that maybe he changed his
mind about everything.
So I decided to make small talk to
ease the tension.

“So, I guess we have a lot of catching up to do—about
normal stuff, that is. We haven’t talked to each other in a
month. And now that I think about it, we kind of didn’t talk
much before that either.”

“Thank you!” he exhaled triumphantly. “I was hoping
it wasn’t just me who noticed that. I got so caught up in loving
you that I almost forgot that I liked you too, you know, as a
friend and all.”

Finally, we seemed to be getting our relationship in
sync. He already felt more like the boy I fell in love with over
the summer. “I agree. There’s so much I need to fill you in on.
So much has
happened
with
Garnet—she’s the one who
pushed you
down
the stairs, by
the way—my
new job,
school—we need to take some time to reconnect.”

Zach squeezed my hand. “Can I take you out
tomorrow night?
I have things to tell you, too, and I want to
know all about your new haunting.”

“Yes, I’ve missed you.” I leaned against him and he put
his arm around me.

 

“I’ve missed you too, sweetie,” he said and kissed the
top of my head.

We
snuggled there for
a few minutes
before
we
reluctantly went back downstairs. The ballroom was cleared
out except for the other members of NeverMore who were
busy packing up their gear. When we got to the bottom of the
grand staircase Rachel and Boone were there to meet us.

Boone greeted Zach with a knowing wink and a pat on
the back. Rachel was
such
a blabbermouth.

“You look much better than you did when I last saw
you, Ruby!” She made obvious eye contact with Zach’s zipper
area and added, “You, too, little brother!”

“Smart ass,” Zach mumbled under his breath just loud
enough for me to hear.

“It was a great party, Rachel—what I saw of it.” I
threw open my arms for a hug. “And thanks for everything
else, too.”

When Rachel and I embraced, Boone let out a wolf
whistle. “Now
that’s
hot!”

My breath caught in my throat as I waited for Zach to
overreact and haul off and hit him. But he didn’t. All he did
was punch Boone lightly on the arm and call him a perv. The
old Zach was back—
my
Zach was back.
Nothing—and no
one—could come between us now.

After Rachel and Boone left, I walked Zach out to his
car. I just couldn’t believe it when I saw where it was parked.
The
plan
to get us
back together stretched far beyond
Rachel—my
parents
actually helped.
Even after everything
that happened—after everything he’d done—Dad and Shelly
still
supported
our
relationship.
There
was
definitely
something special about Zach and I wasn’t the only one who
could see it.