Chapter 29

I looked out to the ocean and sighed. This would be amazing.

It was crystal clear blue, and the sun was up above us in all its glory.

Ruby's mom had let her go, and I was glad that Brenda trusted me enough to let her daughter fly down to Florida with me.

On the flight here, I was brimming with excitement, and so was Ruby. The best part of the trip would be having her come with me.

Wherever I went now, I felt like I had to have Ruby there with me or else I would feel a little lonely.

Jeez, I sound like a pussy.

The sand beneath my feet was hot, but I didn't care. It was so much better than the cold February weather that could occur sometimes in Pittsburgh.

I looked back over my shoulder to see Ruby coming out of the small bathrooms and heading my way. She had on a sundress, but I couldn't wait until I saw her in her bathing suit.

Shut up brain.

"Hey!" she skipped over to me, constantly switching feet. "This sand is hot as hell!" she said and I laughed while she tried to lay down her beach towel while hopping in the sand.

"Are your feet not burnt off right now?" she asked me?

I chuckled. "Eh, I just kind of ignore it."

"Ooh, macho man." She teased and sat on the towel. I placed mine by her and looked at the ocean. We were lying about fifty meters in front of it.

I looked over to see Ruby pulling off her sundress. My eyes traveled over her body and down to her legs. Damn.

The tops of her breasts were peeping out a little, making me get a hard on right there in front of her. Thank God that she didn't see.

"Will you put some on my back please?" Ruby broke me out of my thought and handed me the sunscreen bottle. I said yes and she turned around, her back facing me.

I squirted some in my hand and rubbed it together. Her skin was smooth and soft under my touch, and I trailed them down to the tops of her bathing suit bottoms.

Forcing myself to not go further, I rubbed in a little by her shoulder and let go. "There you go."

She turned and thanked me, but all I was paying attention to were her lips speaking.

Focus.

"Ryder?" she asked and I saw her standing up. "Did you hear what I said?"

I shook my head.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, yeah. Definitely." I stuttered and stood up, towering a good several inches over her.

"Sucks that you're so short." I joked.

She scoffed. "I'm five eight, Ryder. I think you're just abnormally tall."

I laughed and we walked down to the beach. Well, I walked, Ruby ran quickly so the sand didn't burn her sensitive feet. I watched her when she stepped in the ocean and turned to smile at me, waving.

I waved back and reached her, feeling refreshed when I stepped into the cool waters.

"This is so pretty." Ruby said and I agreed. "I could stay here forever."

I could stay here forever with you. I thought, instantly blushing and face palming.

"You okay?" Ruby asked.

I looked up at her. "Uh, yeah. Sorry."

She giggled and went farther into the water with me trailing behind her.

A boy came swimming to us to get his beach ball that had bounced over here. "Here you go." I said and he thanked me shyly.

Ruby and I were waist deep now, and she began to pull her hair up into a bun. I then saw some bronze highlights and streaks in her hair that I had never noticed before.

"Look!" She said and pointed into the water. There was a small, tropical fish with green and blue stripes swimming around us.

After an hour of swimming and floating on our backs, we headed up to a beach restaurant by the ocean called Sandy's Surf Shack.

When we walked in, the smell of coconut and pineapples hit me. There were surfboards hanging on walls. We chose a table outside where we could see the ocean.

"Hi, welcome to Sandy's, what can I get you to drink?" A woman came to take out order.

"Iced tea, please." Ruby said.

"I'll have a Piña Colada." I said.

"Alright! I'll have your drinks back in a few. My names Kelly and I'll be here if you need anything." She said with a grin and walked off.

I looked over at Ruby. "You go to Florida and order iced tea. Huh."

"I've actually never had a Piña Colada before." she said, shyly.

"What!? Never?"

She shook her head. "Nope."

"You can have a drink of mine if you want." I offered.

She smiled. "Okay."

Our drinks came and we ordered some crab legs, shrimp, and some other seafood. I was glad Ruby liked seafood like me, since everyone else I knew hated it.

Ruby took a drink of my Piña Colada and I watched her eyes nearly bug out of her head. "This is the best drink I've ever had in my life!" she exclaimed and took another.

I laughed and ordered another one for her. She thanked me and drank the whole thing in less than thirty seconds.

"Ah, brain freeze." She clenched her teeth and I chuckled.

"Studies prove that if you kiss amazingly hot and sexy guys, your brain freeze will go away." I said.

Ruby purposely looked around, frowned, and shrugged. "Aw, too bad there aren't any here..."

Chuckling, I sipped my drink.

We chatted during the rest of dinner and then I paid the bill. Our towels were already wrapped up and in Ruby's beach bag, so all we had to do was go back to the car we had rented.

The sun was setting and red and orange hues were shimmering above the ocean.

"This is beautiful." I heard Ruby say and I looked over at her.

You're beautiful. I thought.

The sunset was lighting up her face and I saw her brown eyes in amazement while she watched the view.

"Ruby," I said and stopped, looking at her.

She stopped in front of me and looked up, her face so pure and innocent.

"Yeah?" she said, softly.

I paused. "I'm in...I'm in love with..." I started.

Her eyes widened a tiny bit and she gazed back at me, her mouth opening slightly.

"...the coco."

Her face turned into shock and I started to laugh hysterically. She punched me on the arm hard, but I was still laughing.

"God, you're such an asshole." She said, but I saw a hint of a smile on her face.

I laughed the whole walk back to the car, glancing over sometimes to see Ruby's blushing and angry face that still seemed to have a smile on it.

Oh, Ruby. What have you gotten into with me?

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