I expect her to wave me off and say this is the way it has to be so that I can slink to my room and forget I ever pretended to be someone else. Is that what happens? No. Of course not. My last name is still Slade, after all.
“I really like you too, but I can’t sneak around. That’s not who I am.” Quinn covers her face and groans. “This was supposed to be the fucking solution. Why is it just more complicated now?”
I place my hand on her arm, but voices in the distance snag her attention, and our heads turn toward them.
“Shit, I have to get back to my room before the others see me.” She presses the top of her dress to her chest as she gathers her clutch with the other. “I’ll text you,” she shouts over her shoulder. “Either way, I’ll see you again!”
“Aye, lass. You will,” I whisper into the mask. But she might not want to. Tomorrow, I’m ending this, once and for all.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Quinn
The next morning, I skip breakfast and the activities afterward. My nerves are shot, and I don’t want to see anyone at the moment. Not even Aven or Green Guy. Maybe them least of all.
Neither of them seems to be struggling with this. Aven knows I’ve fooled around with Green Guy, and Green Guy knows I have feelings for Aven in spite of trying to deny them. Everyone is copacetic. Everyone but me.
What is wrong with me? Why are loyalty and monogamy so important? It’s not like I’m trying to marry either of these men. Shit, in a few days, I’ll still be crying over them while they’re off on the next adventure. Is this really the life I want to live? It certainly wouldn’t make my mother very proud.
Nowtherewas a woman who never chased a man. She always said,“Quinn, if you have to chase him, he probably doesn’t have anything worth catching.”And then she’d go down the long list of STDs and their symptoms, which was meant to deter me frompromiscuity. It didn’t work, but I’d give anything to sit through another one of her lectures.
I’ve never missed her more than I do right now. What I would give to ask her advice.
The decision certainly isn’t easy, and I can’t keep straddling the fence. Last night with Green Guy was incredible. The sex was something I’ve never experienced, and it only made me question my decision more. Sex isn’t everything in a relationship, but it matters to me. I couldn’t attach myself to a man who wasn’t good in bed, regardless of how much I enjoy everything else about him. Which is why I can’t just strap a saddle on Aven and ride into the sunset.
Maybe that’s the solution to all of my problems. If I can fuck Aven, I’ll have all the input I need to make a decision.
I hurry to dress and get my face to a more presentable state. The messy hair can’t be helped, but I run a brush through the loose waves anyway. When I’ve done what I can, I take a steeling breath and step into the hallway.
Aven’s door is just across the way, but it feels like a journey as I step closer and raise my fist to knock. He’s been trying to get me out of my room all morning, and I wouldn’t even talk to him. Now I’m about to sexually assault him.
As soon as his door opens, I leap into his arms before I can change my mind again. He catches me and kisses me as he closes the door behind us with his back. He tries to say something, but I’m sick of talking. I need the other thing.
I lower my legs to the floor, then start unfastening his khaki shorts before he can argue. His massive hands block my fingers at every turn.
“Just let it happen,” I squeal as I swat his hands away.
“Ach, what’s going on? You won’t talk to me all day, and now you’re trying to jimmy your way into my giblets?” He turns and plasters his front half to the wall. “Unhand me, woman!”
I won’t be deterred. I slam my chest against his back and worm my hands toward his waistband. But like a fucking snake, he slithers away, leaps over the bed, and holds his hands out as he stares at me with wild eyes.
“Stay back, witch!” He forms a ward against evil with his fingers. “You have no power here.”
I grumble and step closer to the bed. “I don’t want tohurtyou. I just want tofuckyou. Now give me your cock!”
I leap over the bed and grab his shorts, bringing them with me to the ground. You’d think he’s hiding a fucking bomb in those things with the way he hops over me and dashes for the closet. By the time I’ve pulled myself from the floor, he’s already dressed again.
“Did you buy an entire Target worth of khaki shorts? How many pairs do you have in there?”
“What’s gotten into you, lass?” He runs his hands through his hair and tries to catch his breath.
I sit on the edge of the bed and pull a pillow into my lap. “Aven, I’m losing my mind.”
“Aye, that much is clear.” The bed sinks when he sits beside me. “Not sure how my dick will help you find it, but maybe we can seek another solution.”
“Is it me?”
“Is what you?”
