Ruby's POV
I avoided him the entire next morning.
Well,“avoided” might be too generous a word.
There wasn’t much to avoid in a one-room cabin with creaky floorboards and two pairs of boots to choose from.
But I tried.
I made a show of tidying up the bedding. Of folding the blankets slower than necessary. Of brushing my hair with shaking fingers like it mattered how it looked out here.
It didn’t.
Carter, to his credit, didn’t push. He didn’t try to bring up the kiss. Didn’t try to catch my eye. Didn’t even try to sit too close.
Which made it worse somehow.
The way he kept giving me space like he knew I needed it. Like he was doing the respectful thing and waiting. But with Carter, space still came with presence. It wasn’t absence. It was gravity.
I could still feel him.
Every ti
