SWNOVELS In Ruins: Chapter 29
“Come on, pick up, Jamie,” I whispered into my phone later that night.
Nothing. Straight to voicemail.
“Jamie, it’s me. Please talk to me. I miss you. I-I need to tell you something about Ian. Call me back.”
I hung up the phone and sighed. Without thinking it through, I sent Fox a text.
Rosalie: Hey. Can we talk?
I stared at my phone for a full ten minutes before letting out a growl and dropping it onto my mattress. I was just about to say to hell with it and call it a night when there was a soft knock on my bedroom door. My heart jolted in my chest. My parents were out for the evening. There was no one in our house but me.
I got to my feet and crept to my door, snagging the only weapon I could find. A ruler.
“W-who is it?” I called out, clutching the ruler.
“It’s me, Fox,” Fox’s voice called out.
I breathed out a sigh of relief and pulled open my bedroom door to find him standing in there in his basketball shorts and no shirt. My heart kicked to life in my chest at the sight of all his rippling muscles, those baby blue eyes, and dark, windswept hair.
“Were you going to measure me?” he asked, stepping into my room, a tiny smirk on his lips as he eyed the ruled I was still clutching.
“I thought you were an intruder,” I muttered, tossing the ruler onto my desk.
“Do intruders usually knock on your bedroom door?”
I stuck my tongue out at him and flopped onto my bed, still acutely aware he was half-naked in my room.
He sat beside me.
“Are you OK?”
“I-yeah. No. I don’t know,” I mumbled.
“Talk to me,” he said. “What’s wrong?”
I couldn’t tell him about Ian even though I really wanted to. Instead, I shook my head.
“Guess I was lonely. I was worried when I didn’t see you at school or talk to you that maybe you were regretting what we did.”
He shook his head and stared down at his hands.
“I’d never regret what we did. I made you feel good, right?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“You made me feel good too, Rosie.”
“But I didn’t even do anything—”
“Trust me, you did.” He chuckled. We grew quiet for a moment before he continued, “It’s just… I don’t know. It’s a lot for me to deal with. I’m trying though. Promise me you’ll give me some time to work through it all?”
“I don’t even know what you need to work through, Fox. You’ve never told me.” I watched him to see if he had any sort of reaction. The only thing noticeable was his shoulders hunching forward slightly.
“I will someday. I just need to get to the place where I can. I’m almost there.”
I nodded and squeezed his hand. He was trying. Just like Ethan had said. It was better than how things had been a few weeks ago. I could accept that. For now. “OK.”
“You looked beautiful today. It’s all I could think about.”
I bit my bottom lip. “You’ve been thinking of me?”
“Yes.” He reached out and twirled his finger around one of my long curls. “In fact, you’re all I’ve been able to think about lately.”
My heart raced at his words, so it took me a few beats to get my next words out of my mouth. “I’ve been thinking about you too, Fox. But, um, what about Juliet?”
He scoffed and moved to cradle my face. “No Juliet. Just you.”
“I-I thought you two were dating.”
“No,” he answered softly.
“Is that why you guys were fighting this morning?”
He smirked. “You ask a lot of questions.”
“She hates me, Fox. If you’re with her, and you and I, um, you know—”
“She won’t touch you, Rosie. I’ll lose my shit if she even thinks about bothering you. I made you that promise before, and I’m keeping it.”
“You didn’t always keep it,” I murmured.
His eyes darkened as his gaze flicked to my lips then back to my eyes.
“That was before,” he answered, leaning in.
“Before what?”
“I kissed you.” He planted a soft kiss on my lips, his mouth trailing hot kisses along my jaw before he whispered in my ear, “Before I tasted you.”
A thrill of excitement raced through me as he let out a husky laugh.
“You like me, Rosie.” It was a statement. A cocky one that embodied all the confident swagger Fox possessed.
“You like me right back, Fox,” I said breathlessly as he moved his hand to the small of my back and pulled me close. He planted another kiss on my lips.
“I do,” he answered. “And I’d show you just how much if I didn’t have to go meet someone.”
He liked me. He admitted it. It took all I had to play it cool.
“Where are you going?”
He pulled away and gave my hand a squeeze.
“We’ve lost something important. Just going to go get it back is all. Hopefully.”
“Oh—”
“I’ll tell you about it later, OK? I’m meeting the guys. Cole has this OCD thing about punctuality.” He pressed another kiss to my lips before getting to his feet. I escorted him downstairs.
“Fox?”
“Hmm?” He pulled open the door and turned to me.
Is it true about the other girls? Am I just another conquest? I stopped myself before the words slipped from my mouth. I knew they’d been looking for what they’d lost for a while now. Something about the subject made my tummy twist into uncomfortable knots.
“Be careful tonight.”
A quick smile turned his lips up. “I will, Rosie.”
He reached out and thumbed my bottom lip, a storm brewing behind his blue eyes.
“I’m going to make it up to you.”
“Make what up?”
“All the wrongs. I promise. I just need a little time.” Worry crowded his handsome features. He looked so vulnerable as he stared back at me.
“OK. I’ll wait a little longer.”
He pressed a tender kiss to my lips. “I’ll text you later, baby.”
Baby. He called me baby.
“Can’t wait,” I managed to whisper in a hoarse voice.
He let out a low chuckle as he walked out my door, turning as he reached the bottom step and giving me that sweet smile he’d been hiding for so long.
But the most important thing was he looked back.