nimo ⭐️ > Recent Status Updates

If I divided my afternoon up by colors, it would look like this:
Purple—Cry my eyes out with Ember
Purple—Cry my eyes out with Mum
Purple—Avoid Dad so he can’t ask me too many questions
Orange—Go for a run with Ember to clear my head
Green—Give James Beaufort the bag back and inform him exactly how far he can take a jump off a cliff.
A good list, in my opinion.

J: “This has nothing to do with my friends or my family. This is me… Horrible and twisted and wrong. It’s time you faced up to that idea.”
R: “You are not horrible or twisted or wrong. I don’t want to lose you,”
J: “You can’t lose a thing that isn’t yours in the first place, Ruby Bell.”

I hold out my hand to James.
“It’s been really nice working with you,”
James looks surprised. Then his turquoise eyes fill with an emotion I’ve seen before but couldn’t place.
Now I know what it is: yearning.
He takes my hand and holds it gently but firmly. “That sounds as though you’re saying goodbye to me.”

J: “Some days I feel like it’s crushing me so that I can’t breathe.”
R: “I wish I was with you.”
J: “What would you do if you were?”
R: “I’d give you a hug.”
J: “I think I’d like that.”

J: “I’m sorry,”
R: “What for?”
J: “For never having given you any reason to look at me the way you just looked at Kieran.”
R: “James…”
J: “I’m going to change that,” he goes on, looking me deep in the eyes.

“I don’t want that guy getting the wrong idea.”
“What idea?”
“That sucking up to you is all it takes to make you smile. That’s pathetic.”
“Excuse me? I can smile perfectly well without anyone sucking up to me!”
“Really? You never smiled at me like that.”
“You’ve never given me much reason to smile.”

R: “What’s your problem, James? Jealous?” he doesn’t answer, and when I glance at him, I see that he’s dug his hands in his trouser pockets and is frowning, staring straight ahead.
J: “If you need anyone to give you dancing lessons… I’m your man.”
R: “You can’t be serious,” I exclaim in disbelief. “Are you really jealous of Kieran?”
J: “No.” He’s still not looking at me.

J: “Why aren’t I invited?”
R: “Because you don’t know how to behave,”
J: “I’ll show you exactly how well I can behave,” He was looking at me exactly like this, with a shameless glitter in his eyes.
R: “You’re not invited, James.”
J: “OK.” Again, it sounds more like he’s saying We’ll see about that.

J: “Hey, easy there,”
R: “What am I meant to do? If she stares, I’m going to stare back.”
J: “You’re letting it get to you too much. It doesn’t have to matter. Let them say whatever they like.”
R: “But it does matter.”
J: “So? They don’t have to know that. You just have to look like none of it interests you. Then they’ll leave you alone.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, feeling like an idiot.
“It’s OK. You’re not like your friends.” Her hand emerges from the sleeve and cautiously reaches for mine. I link fingers with her and hesitantly stroke the back of her hand with my thumb.
“That’s not true, I’m just like my friends. Worse, even.”
“Not right now, you’re not.”

-It’s surprisingly painful to see someone as strong as her crying, and I have no idea what to do.
-It’s horrible seeing her like this.
-she’s starting to get herself under control again. She looks like Ruby again. The stubborn, combative Ruby who won’t take anything from anyone.
-Now I do reach for her hand and hold it. It feels small and vulnerable, but I’m sure that Ruby is anything but fragile.

It’s surprisingly painful to see someone as strong as her crying, and I have no idea what to do.

I want to go to James and ask him to take me home.
James crosses the two steps that separate us. I’d never have imagined he’d ever be the person I felt safest with at a party, but that’s how it is today. He’s become my anchor, and I have to stop myself from grabbing his hand.

“If it had been up to you, I wouldn’t be here now.”
“It’s not that.”
“What then?”
“You just don’t belong here, Ruby.
I…I didn’t mean it like that,”
“Right.”
“Hey, come on. I only meant that I get a bad feeling about you being around certain people. They’ll end up messing with you. I feel responsible for you.”
“I’m quite capable of looking after myself, thank you very much,”

"Are you abandoned by all good spirits?"
"Don't pretend you don't know how things are going here."
“Who do you think you are, you pompous bastard?"
He blinks several times in a row. Open the mouth and close it again.
"Everyone has a price, Robyn. What is yours?"
"My name is Ruby, damn it! You should just leave me alone from now on, that's my price. I really can't afford to be seen with you."

“You don’t know a damn thing about me yet, and I don’t know much about you. I want to change that,” I say, putting it all out there.
“And I’m supposed to care about what you want?”
I nod. “I’d prefer that, yeah.”

“Well, how old are you? Twenty-three?” I ask slyly, shifting the smallest bit closer to her, just enough to face her more fully. Her cheeks pinken up at my question, and my chest lurches.
“Not even close.”
“It doesn’t matter either way. Twenty-three or thirty-three, my interest stands where it is,”

“It’s a big deal to me that you’re here.”
“What’s your play?”
“My play?”
“Yeah. The reason for the flirting and interest. Is it a bet or something?”
“I’m not a teenager, darlin’. I don’t make bets where women are involved.”
“How old are you?”
“22.”
“You’re a baby.”
“How does the saying go? Age isn’t anything but a number?”
“Yeah, and 22 is a very low number.”

“It’s a big deal to me that you’re here.”
“What’s your play?”
“My play?”
“Yeah. The reason for the flirting and interest. Is it a bet or something?”
“I’m not a teenager, darlin’. I don’t make bets where women are involved.”
“How old are you?” I wrangle back a smirk at her interest. “Twenty-two.” Her lips part, a quick inhale following closely after. “You’re a baby.”

I’m rolling my lips, struggling to keep my laugh inside, when I see her. Suddenly, laughing isn’t a concern for me. Breathing is. 😩
I wasn’t expecting her to come tonight. But I was hoping she would. I’m already desperate to dance with her again. On the dance floor or in the aisle between tables again, it doesn’t matter. I’d even settle for a single song out back behind the bar.

“Guess you’ll have to give me a try. Let me prove that I’m serious.”
“Do you know anything about cars?”
“Enough to know where the door hinges are so I can oil ’em for you.”
“You’re such a smartass,” she blurts out before clamping her lips shut and glancing guiltily at everyone watching on the porch.
Poppy’s the one to reply.“Don’t look so guilty. You’re not wrong. He is a smartass.”

“Do you like coffee?”
“What?“
“I’m wonderin’ if I should have brought you some.”
“I don’t need coffee. I don’t need anything.”
“That your coffee on the desk there?”
“Don’t touch that! God, you are relentless,”
It’s already in his hand, he reads the printed white label stuck to the side of it.
“A caramel macchiato with extra caramel, you got a sweet tooth just like me.”

“…managed to push my start time at the ranch this morning just in time to make my appointment.”
“Appointment?”
“My hair appointment, Rory,”
“You’re here to get your hair cut?”
“Course I am. Did you think I came here just to see you?”
“No.” 🙄
“Well, I won’t lie. It was actually a bit of both.”
“You weren’t on the schedule.”
“Were you looking for me on there?”

Hhhmmmmm 🧐🧐🧐
Did he get his memory back in ch17??? 🤨🤨
Idk.. im hyper suspicious of everything he does now.

I think- no i do for sure love this new version of luka… the “post accident version” is much better tbh 😗

“Rosa’s waiting for us inside.”
“How… how do I call her? Do I have a pet name for her?”
“You call her ‘piccola,’” I choke out and take his hand in mine.
“And you?”
“Me?”
“Yes,” he says and passes his free hand through my hair. “Do I have a pet name for you as well?”
“You sometimes called me ‘tesoro.’”

I am done.
Fucking done with pushing Isabella away, every time I see her, I want to envelop her in my arms and never let her leave my side.
I’m calling my mission of waiting for her to turn twenty-one a failure.
I can’t keep her at arms length anymore.
And I fucking don’t want to.
Tonight, when I get home, everything will change.

Am I falling in love with my wife?

“Dad? Can I pierce my eyebrow?”
“What? No, you cannot pierce your anything. Are you watching that TikTik again?” I’m going to uninstall that shit from her phone. It’s a bad influence.
“It’s TikTok, Dad.”

“Damian will show you around the house before dinner.” “Your brother?”
“Yes. I have work to do.”
“Oh? I don’t remember marrying your brother, Luca.”“What does that mean?”
“It means that you will be the one to show me the house and introduce me to your staff,”
I say in a cold voice and enjoy the way his eyes widen in disbelief. Didn’t expect me to have a backbone, did he? Well, surprise.