22: Dangling Carrot

It had been three days since Tucker's unexpected sleepover at Ruby's apartment and he still wasn't sure what to make of it all. He had woken up on a pullout bed, in a living room that wasn't his, with a crick in his back that would undoubtedly take a few days to get rid of. He was fully dressed, disheveled, sure, with his shirt completely unbuttoned and his belt in his hand, but dressed nonetheless.

He had heard the shower running and James Brown's voice over a speaker, Ruby singing along to it.

It was sweet, and Tucker lingered for a moment before suddenly becoming aware that this was an intimate, private moment and that he should leave.

Which is what he did.

Tucker pieced together what had happened the previous night, not that he had been so plastered to forget it; there were just a few moments he didn't recall, like how his shirt got undone. But after a few days of mulling it over, he decided he'd have to ask, depending on how Ruby reacted when she saw him next.

"You must really have it bad to stay up all night long for her," Ben said instead of giving Tucker a simple hello on his way in. It was the first night of the overnight shifts. "Though I'm sure that's what you want, huh?"

He laughed at his own joke. Tucker looked at Ben blankly.

"Aw, c'mon man. No big deal. I tried it with her already. She's a tough nut to crack. Good luck, if that's really what you want."

Tucker squinted. "What do you mean, 'tried it?'"

Ben rolled his eyes. "You know, same thing I always do. She wasn't buying. Made me kind of nervous, even. Why do you think I switched a whole bunch of shifts all of a sudden? I made myself look like an asshole. That's why I said good luck. Hey... Speaking of which."

Ben nodded towards the door and Tucker turned to see Ruby.

"Oh. Hey. Why are you both looking at me that way? Weird." She set her bags down and backed away from the desk towards the bathroom, her face twisted in confusion.

"See? It's like she knows everything. Whatever man, all yours. I'm outta here." Ben clocked out and disappeared through the front door, leaving Tucker in silent confusion.

He should have suspected Ben would try something. He always did, with every girl he laid his eyes on. Why would Ruby be any different?

And was she really so tough to crack, as Ben said, that she'd turn him down? Ben had far better game than Tucker.

Still, Tucker couldn't doubt the flicker of interest in Ruby's eyes and the way she leaned into him at the restaurant. And besides, what kind of girl just lets a man sleep in her home?

"Hey," Ruby said, clocking in, "Ready to spend the night with me?"

Tucker noticed a little smirk form on her lips.

"I kind of already have, haven't I?" Tucker quickly countered. Ruby ran a hand through her hair and turned to look at him. She looked down and away for a fleeting moment, then back up at Tucker, their eyes meeting before she spoke.

"Not quite, but we can talk about that if you like."

"Oh, I'd like to talk about it."

Ruby bit her lip at his response. "Yeah? Shoot."

Tucker felt the electricity through his body, reacting to her small gesture. Instinctively, he scoped out the rest of the gym to see if they could have a private moment.

There was still quite a few people working out, the after-work crowd not yet gone. They'd thin out around 1, then pick back up again around 4, when the before work crowd started to filter in.

"Can I get a bed please?"

The voice sent chills down Tucker's spine. "Or am I interrupting something?"

It's starting to pick up yall ;) If you enjoyed, please drop a vote and comment.