46 They Were NOT Dating

Ruby was so shocked that she nearly fell out of the air. Dating Ash? Skye was crazy! They were allies. Business partners. Sort of friends but nothing more than that!

"Why on earth would you think that?!" she demanded.

Skye gave her a blank look. "You aren't then? The two of you seemed really close when you were here before. I guess I was wrong."

Ember cut in as she was finishing up the steaks and moving to preparing a salad. "That's a good thing though! Interracial dating is so weird; I don't know how the elves and witches even stand it. We're all too different from each other for relationships like that to ever work out.

"Are you single then? Cyrus and Kenny both don't have girlfriends right now and I'm sure I could set you up with one of them. You aren't likely to find any earth fairies out here in the desert…"

She went on about a few other of the fire fairies who were single but Ruby was zoning out, still having a hard time believing this conversation was even happening. She and Ash really weren't that close so how had they come to that conclusion?

They had hugged exactly once and that was only because it was an emotionally charged moment! There was occasional bed sharing if their sleep times overlapped too but that was really the extent of it.

These guys hadn't seen any of that so why did they think the two of them were close? They had only known each other for a month! A lot had happened in that month but in the long lifespan of the fae a month was the blink of an eye.

As Ruby floated there in a state of disbelief, her phone buzzed in her pocket.

Ash had sent her a selfie where he held up the end of the braid with a skeptical expression. A text followed soon after that said 'Did you do this?'

She recovered her wits enough to respond normally. 'That depends on whether or not you're mad'

He replied immediately. 'I think I look like a wannabe elf but I'm not mad. I might even keep it for a while'

Ruby laughed at the unexpected reaction. And here she thought he would be furious at having his hair touched. Before she could respond, Ash sent another text. 'Where are you and when will you be back?'

She glanced at Ember and Skye, who were now engaged in a heated debate about who they should try to set her up with. She would rather be anywhere but here right now but it would be rude to leave before dinner was served.

'I'm about to have dinner at Cole's place. I'll be back as soon as I'm done. You go ahead and look up potential things to do while I'm gone'

Ash sent her a thumbs up emoji, effectively killing the conversation. Now she had to figure out what to do about the arguing fairies in front of her without being too rude.

"Hey, guys? I need to get going as soon as we're done eating. Ash woke up and we have business to discuss," Ruby lied.

They stopped arguing immediately and turned to face her with disappointed expressions. "Aw, really? Darn! I guess we'll have to continue this discussion later. You did say you'd be in Vegas for a while, right?"

"…yeah."

Ruby found that she didn't like it here as much as she thought she would. The sooner she could leave the better. It wasn't like these people would ever see her again anyway so it wouldn't matter if she disappeared.

She had yet to decide where she wanted to go next though. She didn't have enough money to buy a lot of land in Alaska yet because she had been putting all of her efforts into making money for Ash the past couple of days.

She had already decided she would help him first before she did anything for herself. And if she wanted to get the most money for her jewels she would have to stay in a big city for a while.

Any big city Ruby went to would likely have the same problem of there being a distinct lack of nature. At least here she had the mountains nearby to get her gems from. She might be stuck for the time being.

"Mom, I finished the salad you were too busy to finish because you were trying to get Uncle Cyrus a date," Hestia said bluntly. "We can eat now."

Everyone listened to the little fairy—including Sampson from the other room—and sat down, murmuring their thanks before digging in. The food was the best she had tasted since coming to Las Vegas; Hestia would make an excellent chef when she grew up.

Even so, Ruby was ready to get out of there by the end of the meal. She thanked everyone for the food and letting her hang out with them.

"Anytime!" Skye said with a smile. "We're always happy to have you!"

"Say hi to your vampire for me," Hestia said seriously. Ember merely sighed and rolled her eyes, not even bothering to correct her daughter about Ash being Ruby's vampire.

By the time Ruby made it back to the hotel room she was ready to keel over. That whole thing had been so embarrassing; even more so than all the weird looks she got the first time when she went over with Ash.

They were NOT dating. She could never date anyone unless she was positive they wouldn't abuse her powers. If her own family could do it, anyone could.

Plus what Ember said about interracial dating being weird was completely true. Even from the perspective of their current friendship/partnership, their sleep schedules and diets were completely different.

Ruby wasn't even capable of dating a fairy so how could she date a vampire? Skye severely misunderstood the situation because she was surprised at seeing a vampire hanging out with any other race.

Most importantly of all, she didn't think of Ash in a romantic light. She had barely started thinking of him as a friend after a month of sharing a living space.