Logan’s smile fell, and he looked to Quinn for help, but Quinn was stayingthe fuck out of this.
“You guys go breed somewhere else,” said Quinn. “I’m going the fuck home.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets, chuckling when Logan immediately started questioning what he was talking about.
“I’ll text you tomorrow, Quinn!” Bea called after him.
Quinn waved his hand. “Keep it PG, Beatrice.”
“Son of a—”
Bea must have earned another hand over her mouth because Quinn never heard the end of her sentence.
Quinn’s smile lasted the short walk to his car, and he was still snickering when he pulled his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the doors. He was about to get in to escape the damn cold when his gaze snagged on a familiar sports car parked a few spaces over.
It wasn’t the car that made him pause, because whywouldn’tAugust leave his vehicle somewhere safe while he went drinking with his teammates? But realizing that the car wasn’t empty was what made him stop.
Had there been vehicles parked between them, Quinn may not have noticed the man sitting in the front seat. A man with striking white hair, who was slumped over his steering wheel like he was taking a nap.
There was no reason to approach August. Quinn had to stay strong and stick to rule one, which meant he shouldn’t shut his car door. It meant he shouldn’t walk past his own car to stop outside the passenger side door of August’s car. It meant heshouldn’tknock on the window to get August’s attention.
But he did.
“August?”
Vancouver had mild winters, but January was the snowiest time of the year. It was currently colder than normal, and the windows of the car were fogged up, which told him that August was breathing, but still—
Quinn knocked again, harder this time.
August didn’t move. He was only wearing a white dress shirt that was so thin, Quinn could clearly see the black ink of his tattoos through it. It looked damp, like August had either gotten dressed without drying offafter his shower, or he was sweating so much that it had soaked through his clothes.
“August!” Quinn slammed his fist against the window one more time before he saidfuck itand tried the door handle.
The door swung open, and Quinn had his hands on August’sfreezingbody in the next second, shaking him by the shoulders hard enough to make him sway.
The first thought running through his head was that this was an overdose scenario he was dealing with, and he was panicking because he didn’t know what he was supposed to do. But then August sucked in a ragged breath and lurched upright with glassy eyes filled with tears, and his body unsteady, like a drunken man trying to find his footing.
And there was a steady stream of blood dripping from his nose, staining his chin, his shirt, and the blue carpet of his expensive sports car.
“Quinn.” A croak left August’s throat, pitching to a whine as a sob shook his shoulders. He swiped his arm across his face, staining his sleeve with blood. “You found me. I’m sorry—I’m sorry. I can’t look at you, even in my dreams; it’s too much.”
Oh god. What the fuck was happening right now?
“August,” Quinn said, keeping his voice barely above a whisper. “What did you take?”
August blinked. “Take?” He blinked again. “I took your virginity—and half your heart. I’m a horrible person, Quinn. Just leave me here and live your life.”
Quinn needed to call an ambulance and get August checked out because this wasn’t something he could handle. August was looking at him like he was something divine, which was a dramatic shift from their last conversation.
“I’m calling for help,” Quinn said, pressing a hand to August’s shoulder while fishing for his phone.
“Help?” August blinked, shuddering hard. The dazed fog in his eyes vanished, and Quinn was suddenly face to face with him—the August from that night. The one who’d lookedthroughhim and spit out denial like poison.
“What are you doing here?” August asked, his voice stripped of the trembling vulnerability it had carried moments before.
The standoffish tone punched the air from Quinn’s lungs, leaving fury in its wake.
“Are you seriously giving me attitude right now?” Quinn ripped his hand away and held onto the door so he could lean closer—to make sure thatAugust could see how pissed he was. “You were sitting in your car looking like a corpse, crying and bleeding all over yourself, so I decided to be nice and make sure you weren’t overdosing on some fancy, rich-boy drug. And now you’re looking at me like you hate me, and I want to punch you in your stupid face and give your nose arealreason to bleed.”
