Page 4 of Ruby’s Outback Love

“Why the fuck you insist on being a wipearse cop is beyond me. Catch ya later.”

I watched as Rod looked up at the grandstand and swaggered away in an effort to impress the girls seated there.

Phil glanced my way and I pulled back behind the fence, out of sight. I don’t know why we didn’t talk at school, why Phil chose to ignore me.

His parents were good friends with mine. While our family had nine kids, Phil was an only child and his parents insisted being around us was good for his social skills. Often, the two families got together by the river for a picnic and all us kids would go swimming – swinging into the water from an old tyre someone had tied to the end of a rope.

Other times, we’d gather at one house or the other, where we lived in a settlement on the edge of the north side of town, for a barbecue. While my brothers and sisters raced around barefooted, laughing and squealing, being chased by local dogs, Phil was always happy to sit and talk with me in the shade of a huge gum tree.

His love of books and reading equalled mine, but where he read crime and mystery stories, I loved American western and outback Australia romances.

Phil hated injustice no matter who it concerned. He often said a human could be pink with purple spots and he would still want them treated with respect and consideration. Given the Aussie ‘fair go.’

He loved being outdoors and anything athletic. He’d represented our high school in running, for which he’d been district champion three years in a row and in cricket, he was a feared fast bowler.

His thick muscular thighs, lean frame, broad shoulders and bulging biceps which were on show thanks to the singlet top he wore, were a testament to his fitness. Made him very easy on the eyes also.

He was blessed with hair so black it shone blue in the sunlight and had deep brown eyes. His skin was a delicious light coffee colour, partly due to his Aboriginal ancestry and partly due to being constantly kissed by the sun.

I dreamed about the man at night, thoughts of him filled my mind by day. Yes, I had a crush the size of NSW on the boy.

I hated the way Francine Young hung off him like a leech, her arm threaded through his as she stood far too close to him, chatting and laughing with his friends. Occasionally even placing a kiss to his cheek. I wanted nothing more than to grab her by her perfect long silky hair and poke her eyeballs out. Not that it would have made any difference. I couldn’t really blame him for liking her when I compared the two of us…..

Francine was tall at around one hundred and seventy-eight centimetres – a good fit for Phil’s one hundred and ninety-one centimetres. Me? I was all of one hundred and fifty-two and barely reached his shoulders.

Francine was slender, long blonde hair floated down to her waist; her eyes were blue – the colour of the sky on a clear day. Her skin was as white as the milk in our fridge. Me? I was as wide as I was high with short, unruly curly black hair, almost black eyes and chocolate coloured skin – it was one of my best features, a permanent suntan with not a blemish in sight.

While Francine wore the latest fashions, I wore hand me downs from my older three sisters.

I sighed as I watched her make her way to the grandstand with her two friends – Willa Park and Geraldine Base and climb to the top before turning and sitting.

All three women were stunning and when Francine blew Phil a kiss to where he stood on one leg stretching the other behind him, he blew one back.

My young heart broke, I wanted to be the girl Phil blew kisses to. I took one last glance at his sexy arse, picked up my backpack and headed home.

***

“Has Phil asked you to be his date for his formal?” Briony Wood, my best friend, was chewing on a blade of grass as we sat on towels by the river after having a swim.

“Nah, he would have asked Francine. Those two are as thick as thieves.”

“I don’t think so. I can’t figure out why he likes her, she only cares about herself. Haven’t you noticed how she’s been batting her eyes at Brian Cameron since he said he was going to Uni up in Brisbane to study politics? A cop would never be good enough for someone as shallow as Francine. She’s toying with Phil because he’s so popular, is the school captain and has a body to die for. He’s as sexy as sin and has an arse that just begs to be licked.”

“Briony!”

“What? Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed how smokin’ hot he is, I’ve seen the drool at the corner of your mouth when you stare at him.”

We both erupted in laughter. I didn’t even attempt to deny what she’d said because she was right. I loved the time I spent with Briony, we could talk about anything and trusted each other to have one another’s backs.

“Why didn’t you ask him to our formal?”

“I did. He said it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to attend so I let it go. I don’t care, parties and crowds of people make me uncomfortable anyway.”

“I know but I still wish you’d go with me and Max.”

“You don’t want me tagging along, you’ll have fun and never even give me a second thought.”

“You’re wrong. I mean we will have fun, but I will be thinking about you.”