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If a little distance is all that it takes to tear a relationship apart, that should tell you something.
“You could’ve told me your mom and sister are the ugly ones in the family.”
I’d remember how Aaron Hall leaned forward and wrapped those long, tan arms around my back and pulled me into his chest.
My friend had come. This man whose beauty had nothing to do with what was on the outside.
“You smile a lot more than I thought you would,” I kept going. “You said you never really smiled while you were over there.” “I don’t usually smile so much,”
“I’m really damn happy to see you, Ruby.” His voice was quiet, not hesitant but more cautious. “I look at you and I can’t stop smiling. That’s all. You’re adorable.”
Looking back on it, it’s weird thinking about the moments you don’t realize are important. The sentences, the touches, the actions that seem so innocent in that second, you take them for granted. The words that make water into wine in the course of your life. But I would never forget the way his words made me feel. The way he made me feel right then.
“I think I want to wake up every day and watch this,” I whispered to him, pulling my knees into my chest so I could settle my chin on top of them. “It would be worth waking up early for.”
“Any morning you want, Rube. I’ll watch it with you.”
“You’re beautiful, Ru. And you’re sweet and kind. You’re all those things you don’t think you are… all those things you think everyone else in your family is, and more. I didn’t understand why you couldn’t see that in yourself, but I get it now.”
“I was a goner from the first time you gave me hell.” Aaron smiled. “Maybe even before then.”
“You are so goddamn special, Ruby. I’ll tell you every day if I have to.”
“Because you make me happy, Ruby. Because there’s no one else I want to be around more.”
“You’re not crazy. You’re the best, and you deserve better than me, but I hope you don’t care.”
that, but…” His Adam’s apple bobbed. “The idea of you being with somebody else… even just texting them… him… even before I saw your face or heard your voice, Rube… I don’t want you with anybody else. You’re my Ruby, and you have been for a long time.”
