“With Quinn, you fucking ass.”
My smile faded as I regarded him steadily. “You think I don’t know the consequences?”
Jett scratched his nose as his feet shifted. “I know, I just don’t want her to go through something like this again.”
“She won’t,” I told him firmly. “And if she does, ifwedo, I’ll be there every step of the way.”
Finally, Jett nodded and tossed the box onto the bed, and opened the bedroom door as he turned back to face me. “Just wrap it up, okay? I don’t want to be an uncle at twenty.” I started to laugh, but it died in my throat as I saw her standing there.
“Seriously?” Quinn’s face was pale as she stood there.
“Queeny,” Jett gasped as she looked between the two of us before she took a step backward.
“Fuck you, Jett.” Dark chocolate eyes met mine, brimming with accusation. “Fuck you too.”
I leaped forward to chase her as she ran down the stairs.
“Quinn!” I yelled as my brother hauled me back. “What?” I snarled at him.
“Shoes.” He pointed at my bare feet, and cursing, I pushed past him to grab my sneakers before I ran after her.
Chapter 26: Quinn
Striding angrily down the sidewalk, I had to stop myself from running, but there were students out, heading to classes, and I would have brought too much attention to myself.
When I heard his desperate cry behind me, I put power into my pace and speed walked so fast that I probably would have been less noticeable had I run.
A strong hand wrapped around my right arm, and I was being pulled into Gray’s embrace. Despite my inner monologue about not wanting to cause a scene, I punched his arm to get away from him. Gray cursed but merely held on tighter, his splint an immovable force on my back, pinning me to him.
“Quinn, you need to listen,” he began as he ducked the hand that went to slap him. “Baby, calm down. You heard that all out of context, let me explain.”
“Fuck you!”
“That can be later. Right now, calm down.” His voice was soothing as he walked me backward, and I glanced around, realizing he had maneuvered us behind a tree. We could still be seen, but we weren’t right in front of everyone.
“Fine. Explain.” If he had given me room, I would have been able to cross my arms, but he didn’t. Gray pressed into me, his splint still at my back, his other hand cupping my face.
“Look at me,” he ordered, his voice low and gentle. I refused and kept my eyes trained on the point of his shoulder, focusing on his black T-shirt and hoodie, his standard attire when he wasn’t in his jersey. “Babe, look at me.” His nose trailed along my jawline, and I felt the press of a soft kiss below my ear.
Gray pulled back to look at me, and my eyes involuntarily darted to his. “What?” I demanded.
“Eyes, Quinn, on me.” His hand slid to cup the back of my neck as he tilted my head to look at him. “You know I like to look into your eyes,” he whispered as he dropped a chaste kiss on the corner of my mouth.
“I thought that was only when you were physically fucking me, not verbally.”
Gray whistled through his teeth as his fingers tightened minutely on the back of my neck. “I love your fire,” he breathed into my ear. “Don’t fight me, listen to me. Jett was being a dick. I embarrassed him in front of Ash this morning over Ava blowing him on the drive home yesterday. Jett thought he was being smart, reminding me to use a condom with you.” He felt me stiffen, and he continued as he looked at me because I had jerked my head in surprise when he said Ava gave Jett a blow job in the car. “He actually was thinking of you. He reminded me about my box and told me he didn’t ever want you to go through what you went through again. That last remark that you heard was just shit, he’s a shit, we’re both shits. He was messing around.”
“I don’t think it’s a laughing matter,” I snipped at him as I tried once again to push free of him.
“It isn’t, and if you’d heard all of it, we weren’t laughing. We lost something too. Fuck, baby, I almost lostyou. Don’t do this. You know Jett would never let anyone, especially himself, hurt you.”
I did know that, but it wasn’t that easy. The words had hurt, and yes, maybe I was overly sensitive or maybe I was overly defensive, but either way, I wasn’t ready to kiss and make up. “Let me go.”
“Quinn.” Gray’s hand tightened on my neck, and his lips hovered over mine. “No. Not like this.”
“Let me go. I’m going to be late for class, and I don’t want to be the girl that gets manhandled by a Devil up against a tree on a Tuesday morning,” I snarked at him.
His eyes narrowed slightly before he took a step back. “Better?”
