“You scare her,” Quinn told me as she gathered her hair over her shoulder. The faint smell of lavender and vanilla drifted over to me as she ran her hands through her hair, patting it in place.
“Scare her? Bit dramatic, no?”
“You’re a scary ass prick, and you know it.”
I grimaced as I held my hand up to the bartender. “Six Cokes.” Imet Quinn’s look. “I assume you’re here to help me carry them?” I mocked her gently.
A rueful smile skimmed her lips quickly. “You know me so well,” she said softly.
The bartender put six sodas in front of me, and I gave her a twenty. Grabbing a tray, I placed some on it and put two into Quinn’s hands as I gave her the same look I gave Ava. “Don’t ever forget it, Queeny.” Moving past her, I stopped when I heard her quiet rebuke.
“As if you would let me.”
Quinn maneuvered past me and headed back to the others, and I watched her go. Why did I come here? She was fine. I was a fool to think she would be out of her depth. I was ready to leave.
Twenty minutes later, the band was playing again, and both Ash and I had heard enough country rock to last a lifetime. “We need to go,” I reminded my brother. With a tap on my arm to let me know he heard me, he pulled his girl into him and told her goodbye.
“I need to piss.” Ash clapped my shoulder as he headed to the back of the bar.
With a nudge to Jett, I gestured to the door and made my way out of the bar. The cool air was a welcome reprieve, and I walked around the back of the bar to the car.
I heard her approach before she knew that I knew she was there. “Stalking?” I asked as I opened the car door.
“You’re going to do something stupid.”
In the dark of the evening, I watched the streetlight illuminate her face. She was so fucking beautiful; I felt a surge of anger as I looked her over. Her legs were long and slender, her stomach flat because she kept herself fit and toned. Her tits were shown off nicely under that sweater, but the scarf covered the slender column of her throat, which was a pity. I remembered only too well how good my hand looked wrapped around it. Her straightwhite teeth pulled at her lower lip in uncertainty as she looked at me with wide eyes. Eyes the color of dark chocolate, the expensive kind that ruined you for all other chocolate.
“Am I?”
“I told Jett to tell you all to stop. I toldyouto stop.” Her eyes dropped to her boots. “Why do you never listen to me?”
“It’s not all about you, Queeny.”
“I hate that fucking nickname.”
My smirk let her know I knew that, and I didn’t give a shit. Jett called her that all the time, why couldn’t I? “Go back inside,” I told her instead.
“Tell me where you’re going.”
“Home.”
“Liar.”
“Then why ask?” Crossing my arms, I watched her closely, reading the body language, knowing she was unsure.
“You used to be honest with me,” Quinn told me as she wrapped her arms around her waist. “Brutally so.”
I heard Jett and Ash approach, and I dipped my head at her as I got in the car, closing the door, keeping her out. As she spoke to Jett, I watched her try to plead her case to him. He gave her a kiss on the side of her head, effectively ignoring her, and then he and Ash were in the car with me.
“Ready?” Jett asked me, and I nodded as I put my phone in my pocket, the text sent.
As I slowly drove past her, I saw her reach into her back pocket and pull her phone out, and as I turned onto the road, one final glance in the rearview showed me her standing staring at the car, her face showing her anguish.
Clenching my jaw, I thought about the text I just sent her. Fuck it. I had no regrets. Not anymore.
Chapter 4: Quinn
Standing, watching the car drive away, I looked down at his text.
