But not in the snow, and not in the dark.
“Driving is a skill,” I explain. “The more skills you have, the stronger you are. Right?”
And I don’t want her bumming rides from horny little pricks with arms and abs and stamina and shit.
“It’s dark. Let’s go.” I shift into Drive. “Or I can call Jared or Jax to take you home, if you prefer.”
She scowls at me, and I almost laugh. “Your threats are vicious,” she says.
I press the gas, smiling. “Seatbelt.”
Quinn
Dylan was right.
Lucas was only friendly after Noah and Farrow left the gym last night. Was he annoyed? Why would he be? He didn’t know them. And if he’s leaving, severing his last tie by selling the house and not planning to visit, just like he didn’t for the past eight years, then he shouldn’t have really cared about not being able to talk to me. What would be the point, right?
He didn’t even know for sure if I was going to be there last night…
Unless…
I lie in bed, looking up, the soft glow of my parents’ lanterns around the driveway outside dancing on the ceiling of my dark bedroom. It’s a little before four, but I’ve been up for half an hour, replaying in my head the moments at the gym last night.
Could he…have been jealous?
I entwine my fingers where they lay on my stomach. I could barely resist looking at him constantly last night.When Noah and I ran together. When the guys helped with my machine.
When I laid on Noah’s back.
I hope Lucas didn’t notice how I was stealing glances at him.
At first, it felt like we were strangers, because I didn’t say hi and he didn’t say it, and the longer neither of us talked, the more awkward it felt, but damn, I loved it. My heart beat so fast. I always wondered if I would still have my crush if I saw him again. Now I know. Steam had covered my skin and fire had filled my chest, and he was all I was aware of.
And even more, as the minutes went by, because he stayed close. He didn’t leave to go play racquetball or bench press with his friend.
I release a breath, a light layer of sweat coating the back of my neck.
A fantasy flashes in my head of Lucas in a suit, like the one from two nights ago, picking me up at the gym andnottaking me home.
I blink slow, clearing my head.No. To him, I’m like his kid sister. He’d never forget all the years and see me as any other woman.
He wasn’t jealous. He was protective. Like my brothers.
But two things are certain. When we were alone in the bakery yesterday morning, and at the gym last night, it felt like it used to in all the best ways. I’m easy with him like I’m not with anyone else. I thrive in his presence.
And…I still want him.
As much as I did when I was sixteen and thought about him and missed him. And when I was eighteen and twenty and ready for it all and remembered him shirtless in his car after a day at the lake.
He gave me his number when he dropped me off last night, in case I needed a ride home again.
Maybe tonight…
My T-shirt sticks to my chest, and I breathe shallow. Sliding my hands down, I rub between my legs, over the sheet, the sudden urge to strip off everything almost scorching. I’m throbbing so hard.
I sigh. “I need to get my own apartment.”
I’d lived in the dorms my entire three years at Notre Dame, but I opted not to have a roommate. Plenty of privacy. Not that I’d never touched myself with my parents in the house, but maybe I don’t want to be quiet anymore. Or have to stick to my bedroom.
