Chapter One
Quinton
Quinton Wilaby kicked his feet up on the table in front of him and hit play on his phone. The music trickled softly through his earbuds, blocking out the silence and the heavy feeling that accompanied stacks of books.
He’d graduated from Stanford, walked that very afternoon wearing ropes that denoted his great academic achievements. And yet, he had no idea what was in the heavy tomes lining the opposite wall. Shouldn’t a man know what was in those books before he was let loose on the world?
A tap on his shoulder had him jerking his feet to the floor and whipping his head around. Fear of the elderly librarian who “accidentally” bruised a shin with his cane lived inside every student. Instead of the craggy snarl of Mr. Geezer, he was met by an impish smile on the most beautiful face on campus. Virginia Lockwood. His best friend and the love of his life. Though she didn’t know that last part—yet.
She tugged on the wire dangling down his chest, and his earbuds popped out. “What are you doing in here?” Her dark golden-brown hair hung over one shoulder and smelled like mint.
He wound the wire around his fingers and tucked it into his front pocket. “I didn’t feel like a party.”
She sat next to him and propped her feet up on the table, copying his stance from before. “You’d better not let Old Man Geezer catch you with your feet on a table.”
He joined her, feeling stupid and rebellious with a dash of recklessness thrown in. Graduation night was full of a special kind of magic that came from checking off a to-do that was also a bucket list item. He and Virginia had exceeded their parents’ expectations, and it felt good. So good that he might do something really dumb—like tell Virginia he loved her. “What can he do?”
She leaned over so their shoulders were touching and whispered behind her cupped hand, “Ban you from the library.”
He cupped his hand and said, “He can’t; my name’s on the building.”
She giggled. “The ink isn’t dry on your diploma, and you’re already throwing around your billionaire status.”
He chuckled, taking her teasing. She was one of the few people who could joke about his family’s wealth. She’d earned the right by sticking with him as his father grabbed a hold of his secretary—who was younger than Quinton—and headed for warmer waters in his yacht the year before. She was the one who stayed up late at night and listened to him rage against the injustice, and she heard every name he called the man who had raised him to love the family business. A business Quinton was required to step into next Monday.
Virginia sighed, her body softening into his a little more. Quinton lifted his arm, inviting her to lay her head on his chest. She did, playing with the shark tooth on a leather string she’d bought him on their group trip to Hawaii over spring break. He knew the physical closeness didn’t mean anything to her, but it meant everything to him. He had to breathe deeply and think of those books he hadn’t read to keep his pulse from thundering in her ear.
She breathed in, her back lifting under his arm. “It feels like time ran away on us. I thought school would last forever.”
“Me too.” He’d thought he’d have enough time to tell her how he felt. But the right time never came. Maybe the fact that she’d searched him out was a sign.
“I’m scared of tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow never comes.” He should just ask her to stay. Stay with him.
“Your philosophy class is showing,” she joked. Readjusting so her shoulder was tucked into him, she said, “My plane will leave in the morning, and I have to be on it.”
The conviction in her voice gave him pause—made him think about what would happenafterhe professed his undying love. He could see it all play out. She would shake her head sadly, her eyes clouding over as she told him she would wither and die if she stayed in corporate America—that she was exploring the world to find herself. That she needed to breathe outside of her father’s expectations and her mother’s insistence. “You’re going to do great things out there. I know it.”
“Yeah, I’m the next Mother Teresa.” Her cheek bunched up against his chest as she smiled. Part of her trip was dedicated to volunteering with children.
“Don’t do that. Don’t sell yourself short. If you love one child, one person, you’re making a difference in their life.”Like you’ve made in mine.
Virginia sat up, her legs dropping to the ground and her eyes brimming with tears. “How am I ever going to do this without my best friend?” She sniffed and dabbed under her eyes.
Quinten felt the wordsbest friendlike a knife to the gut. He sat up slower than she had, careful of the raw wounds she’d unintentionally inflicted. “I’ll be here when you get back.” That was his last hope. “And you can call anytime you need a pep talk.”
She laughed through the sorrow. “Thanks. And I will be back. My dad made sure I understood that this was temporary. At some point I have to earn my keep, and frittering away my trust fund doesn’t count as contributing to society.”
He smiled sadly. “It’s a date. Ten years from now, we’ll share a dance.”
She shook her head. “I can’t leave it like that—not between us. We’ve been through too much.”
He lifted his empty hands. “What do you want from me?”
She grabbed his hands, sending his heart soaring. “I want to make a pact.”
“If you draw blood, I’m going to hazmat you.” He joked, but the truth was that he’d do whatever he could to keep a part of her with him.
