“Fine.” I waited again. “Oh, fuck off, you know I’m trying to be nice. You didn’t have to help me, you did, I’ve said thanks, again, now please, we don’t ever need to speak again, okay?”
I hastily walked past him, and when I heard him say, “No problem,” I didn’t even falter.Nowthe last few days could finally be over.
Chapter 8: Jett
“You know her?” Gray asked me as I approached him and Ben, our backup quarterback.
“Met her twice, happy to never meet her again.” I took the ball off Ben. “Your aim was on point.”
“Didn’t mean to knock her down,” he admitted with a grin. “She dropped like a stone.”
“Yeah, when I said aim for her, I didn’t mean knock her out,” I told him with my own grin. “Thank fuck she’s too prickly to realize she could probably sue us.”
“You want to tap that?” Gray asked me as he turned to watch Uptight and Angry march into the cafeteria.
“No, even horizontal, that girl would still have a giant stick up her ass, and it wouldn’t be mine, know what I mean?”
Gray snorted as he tossed the ball in his hands. “She does have a point; we probably shouldn’t be doing this in the quad.”
“She irritates me,” I told my brother. “I wanted to see her knocked on her ass. Mission accomplished.” With a grin at Ben, we started to head to the stadium. “Thanks to our fine quarterback, I got my wish.”
“It sucks you’re out for two games,” Ben said casually as the three of us walked along the campus. “I really didn’t think Ash landed on you that hard.”
“He’s two hundred and forty pounds. Trust me, him landing on you, hurts,” I told him easily.
Gray walked beside me quietly, his eyes on his phone, and then his head was up and he was looking behind him. “She’s going for lunch,” he told me. Turning back the way we had just come, I saw the familiar long-legged, black-haired girl head into the cafeteria.
“Where’s Ash?”
“Stadium.”
“Let’s go.” Turning back to Ben, I tossed him the ball. “See you in a bit.”
Gray and I headed to the cafeteria. I needed to enlist help for what happened on Friday.
Quinn was already at a table when we got there, two plastic containers in front of her. Her long hair gathered over one shoulder as she settled down to eat her homemade lunch. We’d known Quinn since we were ten. She was the girl next door. Awkward. Shy. Braces. Hideous hair. She was also wild. Her parents lamented that we led her astray. If they only knew what their beautiful daughter was capable of, they would owe Gray and me a thousand apologies.
“Queeny,” I greeted her as I took the seat opposite her, and Gray pulled a chair from the neighboring table, ignoring the cry of protest from its intended occupant.
“I hate that,” Quinn said without raising her head from her food. “What do you want?”
“What’s up your ass?” Gray asked her as he leaned over, plucking one of her carrot sticks out of her container and popping it in his mouth.
“Your brother,” Quinn snapped as she glared at him. “Maybe it was your dad? I can’t remember, all the Santo dicks merge into one giant pain in my ass.”
“Jesus fuck, what’s your ’tude for?” Gray glared at her, and I knew I had to intervene before they ended up killing each other.
“Quinn.” I leaned forward to get her attention. “Can I have a chance to speak?”
“What’s happened this time?” Dark brown eyes met mine, and for the first time since we sat down, a small smile graced her face.
“It’s like you expect there to be a problem,” I joked lightly.
“I have the Santo twins interrupting my lunch when their cousin is nowhere near them, which means you’ve been lookingfor me. Or waiting for me. Which usually means . . . you need me for something.” Quinn took a small bite of her chicken salad. “Who is she? How much do I need to know? How bad do you need it resolved?”
I started to tell her, keeping my voice low. “I was at a party on Friday—”
“Before a game?” Quinn frowned at me, and I hurried on to avoid the lecture.
