The One That Got Away by Karina Halle

Author:Karina Halle [Halle, Karina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-09-19T16:00:00+00:00

Thirteen

Ruby

“Nervous?” Elena asks me, sipping on a bottle of cider.

I’m standing in front of the full-length mirror in our hotel room, trying to figure out what to wear tonight. Luciano is meeting me at a restaurant and I’m already running a little late.

“I don’t think I’ve had time to feel nervous,” I say, turning to the side and trying to suck in my stomach. “Are you sure this dress looks okay?”

I glance at Elena’s reflection in the mirror, the little smirk on her lips. I glare at her. “What?”

“Nothing,” she says. “Just, this is the third outfit you’ve put on, so I think you might be nervous whether you want to be or not. The Ruby I know doesn’t fret. You’re fretting.”

I make a face and smooth my hands over my hips. I swear they’ve gotten bigger and the black dress I’m wearing clings a little tight.

But it does have a flattering neckline.

And I am running late.

“Are you wearing matching underwear?”

I turn around and march past her to pick up my purse. “None of your business.”

“Do you need a condom?”

Shit. Do I?

Just because the last time I saw Luciano I slept with him, doesn’t mean that will happen again. It’s been two years. This date doesn’t mean that we’ll pick up right where we left off.

Even though where we left off was a night that’s imprinted on my mind, seared into my memory. When I walked away from Luciano’s that morning, heading to the hostel, I felt like I was leaving another life. You know that movie Sliding Doors? I keep thinking that my life split into two at that moment, and I chose to leave. I would have had another life had I stayed.

Maybe I would have fallen in love.

Maybe I would have been happy.

Maybe I would have stopped being so fucking scared all the time.

But the reason I left was because I was scared. Scared that being with him would fuck things up with his own family, that I’d further ruin the relationship between him and his brother and his stepfather.

Scared that I might get hurt.

“Here,” Elena says, holding a condom out for me. “Take it just in case. I know you don’t talk about Luciano much, but I saw the way you looked at each other last night. That man wants you. Two years doesn’t mean anything in his mind.”

I gulp, squeezing the condom in my palm.

I know she’s right. I saw the way he was looking at me too. I’d almost forgotten what it was like to be the subject of his gaze, to see the way lust glimmered in his eyes. It stirred up feelings that I had buried deep inside, only resurfacing when I was using my vibrator, or sometimes when I was sleeping with someone else. Hell, there had been a few times when I was having sex with Marco that I was fantasizing about Luciano, but there’s no way I’ll ever tell him that.

“You’re allowed to have fun, Ruby,” she says, giving my shoulder a squeeze.

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