“And thank fuck she never did, else where would we be now?” I grunted out a laugh. “Jail. Goodbye, college.”
“You want to back out?” Ash looked at me in surprise.
“Never.” I just knew it wasn’t going to be an easy conversation. Some wounds were better left to heal on their own without picking at the scabs.
“Maybe we should get her drunk,” Ash mused as we resumed walking to the showers.
“She’s meeting us outside.” Jett told us both.
Even I glared at him as I heard Ash curse. “Seriously? No warning?”
“I’m telling you now,” he said as he shrugged carelessly. “What more do you want, a written invitation?”
“God, you’re a dick.” Pushing past my brother, I headed into the locker room. When I got into the shower, I used my tired body as an excuse to stand there longer than necessary. Not the fact that we were about to force her to tell us her worst nightmare. No, not a nightmare for Quinn, to her it was real. MaybeIneeded a drink for this.
It was with a small measure of appreciation that I noted that Ash was as reluctant to leave the locker room as I was. However, as usual, my brother wasn’t one for waiting when he got an idea in his head.
Finally, when we left the locker room, she was standing outside the stadium, laughing at something Ava was saying.
Ava.
Well, that complicated things. Or did it? I saw the smile she gave us all in greeting, and I saw the small triumph in her eyes as she met Jett’s inquiring look.
Well played, Queeny. She knew Jett wanted to push, and this was her fuck you, telling him she would open up when she was ready. I hid my smile behind my hand as I pretended to scratch my jaw.
“Hey, this is a nice surprise,” Jett greeted Ava, pulling her into a hug as his hard stare met Quinn’s. She held her hands up in supplication as if she were innocent.
“Mia had practice until late, Quinn said you would all be tired, so I thought we may want to grab some food?” Ava looked around at the three of us expectantly.
“What about our meal plans for your assignment,” I asked, watching in satisfaction as Quinn’s look of smugness was replaced by one of irritation.
“Yeah, thought you had our food all planned out?” Jett slung his arm around Ava’s shoulders as he watched Quinn falter for a response.
“Oh, we thought of that,” Ava told him cheerfully as she tilted her head back to look at him. “Quinn can tell you what to order and what to leave off.” Ava smiled up at him, and I looked at Quinn, who was failing to hide her victory. “It can be our first real dinner date,” Ava added softly to him.
And for the winner of most conniving bitch of the year, ladies and gentlemen, I present Quinn Lawrence.
“You okay with all of us being on your first dinner date with my brother?” I asked Ava skeptically.
She always looked nervous when she spoke to me, and I still remembered her punching me on the jaw. “You’re Jett’s family; it would be nice to eat together.”
My eyes flew to Quinn as she pretended to look at her nails. “Wow,” I muttered as I shook my head and saw Quinn’s small, triumphant smile.
“Don’t you want to?” Ava looked confused as she finally picked up on the tension, and my response was about to shatter her illusions until I saw my brother’s glare at me over her head.
“Sounds like a great idea, I’m starving,” I growled as I walked past them and hooked my favorite trainer’s arm as I passed. “Want to talk to you about a deep tissue massage.” Looking over my shoulder, I saw Ash and Ava engaged in conversation and met my brother’s curious look. Ignoring him, I turned back around. “What are you playing at?” I asked her as she walked beside me, head held high and back straight.
“I thought you may be hungry after a hard day of training.”
“You used to be more convincing when you lied,” I grunted.
“You used to be gentler when you touched me,” she countered quietly.
I almost let her go, but instead, my grip tightened on her arm. “Really? I didn’t hear any complaints when my hand was wrapped around your throat and your pussy was sucking my dick dry.”
“You’re such an asshole.”
“Never pretended otherwise.”
