My alpha called bullshit, insisted something else was wrong, but I ignored him and stepped outside into the fresh, morning air.
“Isn’t it great?” Quincy asked, a broad smile on his face. “I don’t usually get out this way, but I know the views from this side of the mountains are spectacular.”
I studied Quincy instead of the landscape. He seemed alright. He was smiling, and the light was back in his eyes. Maybe he looked a little disheveled, but heat did that to omegas. It was still only his first day. He had a lot of energy left to expend.
“It’s beautiful,” I said, looking at him, his bright, sassy hair, his lip ring, his lithe body, the edges of tattoos that were still visible.
Quincy breathed in deeply, closing his eyes, then let out his breath. “Sometimes I think that everything could be okay again.In a place like this, everything is so fresh and new. Nothing’s been ruined yet.”
He kept his eyes closed, and I frowned. The story was right there, written all over him, but I couldn’t quite figure out what it was. It was already obvious to me that someone had hurt Quincy, but who and how?
After about a minute of silence, Quincy blew out the breath he’d been holding and opened his eyes. “I’m starving,” he said, turning back to me, grinning. “Let’s go find something to eat.”
“I saw a sign for another rest stop a few minutes before we stopped,” I said as we walked back to the RV. I wanted to take his hand and hold it in mine, hold him steady, forever. “We could try the whole fueling up and getting supplies thing again.”
“I bet they have a great bathroom,” he said, eyes flashing with mischief, as we climbed back into the RV.
“No more sex in rest stop bathrooms!” I said playfully, slipping into the driver’s seat.
Quincy just laughed as I turned the RV on and maneuvered back out onto the highway.
The rest stop was farther away than I’d thought, but I didn’t mind. Quincy seemed to be in a great mood again and chattered away about his younger siblings and some of the things they’d gotten up to over the years.
“You come from a big family?” I asked once I finally saw the off-ramp for the rest stop.
“Yeah,” Quincy said, just a hint of…something in his voice and expression. “Dad and Papa married young and loved the shit out of each other. They always wanted a lot of kids, and they got them.”
“Sounds wonderful,” I said with a sigh. “Like I said, I’m an only child,” I added.
“Yeah, you totally are,” Quincy said as I drove toward the RV parking area.
I couldn’t stop there and said, “Which means I’ve never been able to do anything I want to do. I’ve always had a legacy to live out. I guess that’s what happens when you’re the only child and everything is piled on your shoulders.”
“What did you want to do?” Quincy asked.
I shrugged, then had to focus on pulling into the parking space while leaving enough space on either side. “I don’t know if I would have gone into corporate law, for one thing,” I said. “I like the law. It makes sense to me. I like things that are orderly.”
“Oh,” Quincy said, sounding a little nervous.
I shot him a sideways look, then turned off the engine. “I like weird and interesting things, too,” I said. Immediately, I worried that I’d offend him by saying that. “I mean, like board games and musical theater.”
“Musical theater?” Quincy’s smile came back.
Good. Theater was a topic I was passionate about that wouldn’t offend Quincy or hurt his feelings.
“Absolutely,” I said, throwing all my enthusiasm into my explanation. “I was in a show in college,Annie, and I loved it. I wanted to major in musical theater and try to make a career of it, but Dad threatened to disown me and cut off my money.”
“That sucks,” Quincy said, a burst of fury in his expression. He blinked, then asked, “Are you any good?”
I don’t know why that question made my heart flutter and my cock fill a little, but I answered by soaring right into the opening lines of “Stars” fromLes Miserable. “There, out in the darkness, a fugitive running, fallen from God, fallen from grace.”
Quincy caught his breath, his eyes going wide with…adoration?
“I’m really out of practice,” I said, too bashful to go on.
“Jack!” he said, reaching across and grabbing my arm. “You’re amazing! Your voice is like heaven.”
I blushed and glanced down. “I love singing,” I said with a shrug. “Not that I get to do much of it.”
