“Or, you could let me go back to Harry’s and kick the shit out of him until he tells me what I need to know.”
Jett hesitated. “Work on your assignment. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
Fifteen minutes later, I was dressed for bed, knowing if I passed out at my desk, I would at least be comfortable. Checking my alarm on my phone, I realized I had a text.
Quinn:Why did you come tonight?
Me:Jett
Quinn:He ask you to walk me home too?
I struggled with my answer because if I said yes, she would know it was a lie. Grunting, I put the phone down. I wasn’t getting into it with her over text message. With a wide yawn, I picked up my notes. I needed to concentrate, and she was the biggest distraction I’d ever met. I was deep into my notes when the phone went off again a while later.
Quinn:Why do you keep doing this? It’s giving me whiplash
Ignore her.Leaning back in my chair, I stared at the ceiling as I thought about it. She was probably right, but I couldn’t afford to let her under my skin. Not again. Jett had kept his friendship with her after the showdown with Ash, and I hadn’t exactly been distant either. I knew I should have taken some of the blame that day in school, but I hadn’t done anything. Ihadwalked away the night she crawled onto my lap in only her underwear.
Quinn had never wanted Ash. Sure, she cared about him — a blind man could see that — but she didn’tlikehim. Not like he thought. Not like she pretended.
That was my fault, too. I knew she had been trying to make me jealous. It had amused me. Using my cousin to get a reaction out of me? Stupid. I genuinely thought Ash would let it go, but he didn’t. It turned out he’d been interested. More than interested.
I’d been so sure of him turning her down, I’d said nothing. Until it was too late. He made a move, and she let him. She let him kiss her, and then she ran to Jett and told him, and he hadn’t done what he should have done, which was to tell her not to be rash.
When he told me later that same day, I thought I was going to punch him. It wouldn’t be the first time I hit my brother, but it would be the first time I hit him over a girl. Then Ash told me he’d fingered her, and my rage had been so real I envisioned murdering him right there and then.
She let him touch her? Had I been wrong? Had I read her wrong, the whole situation wrong, was it Ash she actually wanted?
So, I had cornered her, and I kissed her. A dick move, I knew. He was my cousin, and I loved him as much as I loved my brother, but Quinn had always been mine. I needed to know I was right, that it wasn’t Ash she wanted, and Ihadbeen right. The eagerness with which she kissed me back soothed all my worries. I’d even put my hand on her pussy — he had, why shouldn’t I? Quinn hadn’t pushed me away, she’d moaned, and that moan had brought me back to earth.
Certain I had stopped them both from making a mistake, I’d walked away from her after telling her to stop being a liar. It wasn’thimshe wanted; it wasme. I knew it, and she just proved it.
I was so confident in myself that I’d been speechless a few days later when Ash told us all that they were now officially dating. I’d watched her as he told us, and she hadn’t been able to look me in the eyes.Chicken. She was a chicken when she was ten, and she wasa chicken when she was seventeen. I’d had enough of her and her stupid indecision.
Their relationship was a rocky one, which I knew it would be. They didn’t fit well. As friends, they were perfect, and it probably shouldn’t have brought me as much amusement as it did when I watched them try to be a couple and fail. Quinn needed someone to challenge her, and Ash needed someone toneedhim. Instead, he let her do what she wanted, and she was so goddamn independent she never asked him for anything.
Months later, when she crawled half-naked onto my lap and begged me to touch her, I had almost given in and fucked her right then, but I couldn’t. She was with Ash, and I couldn’t do that to him, even though he did it to me. He’d taken what was mine and tried to make it his own, and every time they were in front of me, I wanted to scream in fury.
Jett said nothing, just observed silently as he always did. I think he suspected, but he never raised it with me, and I never volunteered.
The day she broke it off with Ash, the whole time she spoke to him, she looked to me for reassurance, and I gave her none. I could see she was in pain; I could see she was scared, and I didn’t care. I wanted her tofeelit, feel it as I had felt it for five months. Five fucking months of seeing them together. Five months of watching him touch what was mine and watching her try to ignore the fact that she was with the wrong Devil.
When she ran from the room, Jett told me to check on her while he calmed Ash down. And I did, I followed her and saw her run to the bathrooms, and that had pissed me off even more. She was open and vulnerable — had she forgotten who she was in this school? How many people were there who wouldwantto watchher break? My temper was riding high, and when I saw her look so wrecked, my inner turmoil was warring with itself. Comfort her or rebuke her? I never meant to kiss her. I never meant to losecontrol. I certainly had no intention of fucking her in the girls’ bathroom. But that was how much Quinn affected me. She made me impulsive, and that made me act without thought of consequences.
Rereading her text, I threw the phone behind me onto my bed. I needed to concentrate on my classes and my career; there was no room in my life anymore for Quinn. We’d right the wrong that was done to her, to those other girls, and it would be over. I’d given her chances, and at every opportunity, she’d fucked me over.
Picking up my pen, I concentrated on my assignment. My focus was on school and on the draft. Playing ball professionally was all that mattered, and there was no room in my life for distractions.
The days of looking back were over.
Chapter 6: Quinn
He never answered. I didn’t expect him to. He was about as communicative as roadkill. Despite the late night and the restless sleep, the fact that I ate two slices of pizza just before midnight had me tightening the laces on my sneakers for my morning run.
Doing my stretches and warm-up, I left my dorm room and set off at a reasonable pace, keeping to the main walkways. I passed a few people, either like-minded running enthusiasts or students eager to get to the library.
As I approached the stadium, I was focused on my pace and the music playing in my ears. That didn’t stop me from being aware of him as he drew alongside me, and with a quick glance, I took in his side profile. His hair was damp from practice, strands clung to his forehead, and he was still in his practice jersey and loose shorts. Gray didn’t acknowledge me, just ran alongside me, keeping pace and not pushing for me to go faster until the last stretch as we came full circle, and my dorm was ahead of me. Gray caught my eye, and with a smirk, he ran in front of me, my own smile forming as I dug my heels in and took off after him. We raced to the stairs, and I finished just behind him.
“You cheated,” I said as I bent over with my hands resting on my knees while I caught my breath.
