Falling for the Wrong Guy by Sara Hantz Read Free Book Online

marred the wood paneling, a reminder of the awful damage that had been done all those months ago. She sucked in a breath, then jogged toward him.
    “Drew,” she said softly as she approached him.
    He didn’t respond, so she tapped him gently on the shoulder, and immediately wished she hadn’t because he jumped back in shock. When he tried to regain his balance, one of his black Chucks came down on her foot.
    “Ouch!” Ruby yelped, as pain shot through her foot. She sat down on the stone steps on the walkway in front of the ruined house and yanked off her Skecher, rubbing until the throbbing began to ease. She hated that she sounded like a big baby, but who wouldn’t holler when someone of Drew’s size came down squarely on their first two toes?
    “Sorry. Are you okay?” Drew reached out and placed a palm on her arm, rubbing it up and down like you might to soothe a child. It was the first time she’d seen him touch anyone since he’d returned, and she could only blink stupidly at him.
    He looked down at his hand and then pulled it back with a small hiss, like she’d burned him. “Sorry,” he repeated.
    She slipped her sneaker back on, the pain forgotten. “I’ll survive.” She waved her hand dismissively, not wanting to make him feel any worse than he clearly did, and pretending that he hadn’t just touched her or that it had affected her so much.
    “I didn’t see you. What are you doing here?” He frowned, looking like he wanted to sit next to her. She scooted over to make room for him, but he just backed a few steps away from her.
    She didn’t want him to go, so she tried the truth. “I was worried about you after the way Blake went off on us, so I followed you.” Okay, that had probably made her sound like some kind of stalker. It didn’t help that they always seemed to be in the same place at the same time—through no fault of his.
    He gazed at a spot above her head, his green eyes going slightly unfocused. “You don’t need to worry about me. I’m happy to be left alone. It’s best that way.”
    Ruby’s breath hitched in the back of her throat. Her dad’s favorite saying ever since his accident was “I just want to be left alone.” Always said in a self-absorbed, I’m-a-victim sort of way. It was disturbing to hear those same words coming from Drew’s lips. But it was yet another reminder that this kind-of crush she was developing really had to die. “Don’t think that. Of course we should worry about you,” Ruby said briskly, hoping to snap him out of his mood.
    “Whatever.” He shrugged.
    She should probably just leave him, but she couldn’t bring herself to move. Maybe it was the fact that his cold dismissal didn’t sound completely convincing. Or maybe it was that she knew she was the closest thing he had to a friend at school. If only she could get him to open up and talk, it would likely do him good.
    “Do you often come here?” She hoped he would say no because stalking the house of his dead…whatever Reese had been to him…would indicate that he was further gone than she’d thought.
    “No,” he said, without defensiveness and with enough sincerity that she believed him. “This is the first time. I don’t even think it was a conscious decision. I just started walking and ended up here.” He swallowed and shifted his weight, clearly uncomfortable.
    He seemed so sad and broken that all Ruby wanted to do was to fling her arms around him. But how could she? First of all, she was Blake’s sister, and she owed it to her brother not to throw herself bodily at the guy who had betrayed him. And second, the gesture would probably make Drew jump out of his skin. He seemed so intent on punishing himself that an overload of kindness could send him over the edge. “Sometimes we do things without knowing why.” Wow. That sounded like a horrible Hallmark card. Or, at least, something her mother would say. She paused for a moment, wondering what to say next. “Is being here