Quinn had brought the bucket and set it on the floor within reach, but August didn’t think he would need it. His stomach was no longer clenching anxiously now that Quinn was with him, and once he tasted the food, it was game over.
“Jeez, slow down before I take it from you,” Quinn said, brushing his fingers along August’s jaw with a laugh. “You’re going to make yourself sick if you inhale it like that.”
August stopped with the spoon halfway to his mouth, his mind pondering a thought as he slowly lowered it back into the bowl.
“I can’t believe you’re still here,” said August.
Warm lips pressed to his cheek, and August stared into Quinn’s green eyes. He wished he could tell the man beside him how pretty he looked, even with worry lines etched into his features and tension stiffening his posture.
“Listen, this situation is ten kinds of fucked up,” said Quinn. He stopped to pry August’s lip out from between his teeth, and August kissed his thumb in thanks before he continued. “I’m not innocent in all this either, since I had ulterior motives for wanting to sleep with you. But I’m glad I failed my lousy attempt to become a villain, because it got me to where I am now. With you.”
Yes, because somehow, against all odds, Quinn hadn’t found a match in anyone else. To August, it seemed impossible, but if this was their second chance, then he was going to fight for it.
“Has there been anyone else for you?” August asked.
He had no idea he’d said anything until Quinn answered him with a soft smile.
“Have I had boyfriends? Sure.” Quinn moved August’s bowl from his lap to the side table and motioned for him to lie down.
August did what he was told and shifted onto his side to get comfortable. He wanted to look at Quinn a little longer, but a hand gently covered his eyes, and August was forced to close them.
“Has there ever been anyone else?” August echoed.
Quinn’s voice became echoey as August’s exhausted mind tugged him closer to the edge of unconsciousness. He reached for Quinn, scared that he was falling too fast, and felt the heat from his thigh solid under his shaking fingers.
“No one that mattered,” said Quinn. “I was never able to get past what we had, even though I tried my best to forget you. Isn’t that ironic?”
It was. It was so fucking ironic that August couldn’t help but carry his smile into his dreams. And now that he had memories to pull those dreams from, it made the experience seem more like a cute romcom movie instead of a blank spot or patchy imagery.
High school Quinn had been cute, if a little feral. His sarcastic sense of humour had baffled August at every turn, which only made him more intriguing at the time.
“What’s up, Chuckles? Why are you always frowning? Did one of your hockey buddies refuse to give you skiing lessons again?”
August jerked his gaze from the pavement under the picnic table to meet Quinn Harlow’s glittering green eyes. He had no idea what the guy was talking about, but Esme’s stifled laughter didn’t bode well.
When the silence continued for longer than Quinn was willing to put up with, he let out an exasperated groan and dropped his hands to his sides.
August watched, with horrified fascination, as Quinn moved his hands like he could have been pushing himself with ski poles, but it really looked like—
“You think I’m grumpy because I didn’t ask two of my teammates for a circle jerk?” August asked. “Is that what we’re doing right now?”
Quinn rolled his eyes, but Esme’s laughter bubbled between them before her brother could think of any rude comeback.
“Quinn, don’t torment August. His face always looks like that.”
It did?
“I don’t know what we’re doing, actually,” said Quinn, bypassing Esme’s attempt to soften Quinn’s edges. “I’ve been trying to be a rebel and smoke weed on my lunch break for the last week, but he keeps showing up with his mopey frown and pouting at me until I put my joint away.”
Well, August couldn’t risk accidentally inhaling any of the smoke and getting high, if that was possible. If his coach did a random drug test, he would be—
“Why is he hanging out with us?” Quinn continued, pointing a finger at August so aggressively that he had to lean away to avoid having his eye poked.
“Doesn’t he have a wall to crash into or something? Why are you bringing your boyfriend to our hangouts?”
Esme and August locked eyes, but looking at her didn’t give him the weird tingling sensation he had been chasing all week. Her expression was too gentle and serene—nothing like the venomous viper sitting beside her, holding a lighter up like he was threatening to throw it at August’s head.
“Having a jock around us all the time is ruining our street cred, Esme. I asked Steven to come over today so we could play video games and chill, and he said he couldn’t be seen with me now that I had gone ‘to the dark side’.”
