“Gabby alert, five o’clock.”
I turn toward the door, which is positioned behind me and just off to the right, and exhale when I see her. She’s already making a beeline straight for me, a seductive little grin on her face, and her tits practically falling out of her tank top.
“Quinn!” she bellows, pushing her way between me and Camden and plastering herself to my side. “I was hoping I’d run into you tonight.”
“Hi, Gabby,” I mutter, catching Camden’s snicker beside me.
“Wanna buy me a drink?” she asks in her typical flirty way.
No.
I know buying her a drink will lead her on. It always does. But I can handle Gabby. I’m too polite to say no, and she knows that. I just have to keep her at arm’s length and my feet firmly planted on the ground.
I nod to Collin and hold up my index finger, signaling one drink.
“Hey, Gabby, what can I get ya?” Collin asks, his face stone and his back straight. No one in the family likes her, not after what she did with Richard, Charli’s ex.
“My bestie Quinn is buying me drinks,” she replies, setting her tits on my arm.
“One drink,” I confirm to Collin a second time.
“Rum and Coke, please,” she coos, turning her attention to me as she waits.
“How was your day?” she asks brightly, her blinding white teeth on full display and framed by painted red lips.
“Fine,” I mumble, taking a drink of my Coke.
“Oh my gosh, are we drinking the same thing?” she asks, leaning over to get a better look at my glass.
I pull it back so she can’t stick her face in my glass or her mouth on my straw. “No.” My tone is flat, my annoyance high.
She doesn’t seem to notice, though, or she looks at me as a challenge, and starts droning on and on about her day. Honestly, I’m tuning her out, my eyes just over her shoulder to where I have a direct line of sight to the woman who monopolizes my every thought and dream.
Charli looks up and starts to smile, but then it quickly falls flat. Her blue eyes skirt to the left and stare down the woman practically plastered on my arm. I pull back, trying to create a little distance, but it doesn’t seem to work.
“Here ya go,” Collin states, setting the glass in front of Gabby.
She reaches for it, blocking my view of Charli, and brings it to her mouth. She swirls her tongue around the tip of the straw before drawing it into her mouth like she’s starring in a porno. “Thanks, Quinny.”
“Have a nice night,” I reply, hoping that’ll be the end of it.
Of course, what I was hoping for and what I get are two very different things.
“I was hoping we can hang out, you know…alone,” she replies boldly, batting her fake eyelashes at me.
“Sorry, I have plans tonight.”
“Plans with me?” she asks, placing her hand on my thigh and slowly drawing it up my leg. Her nails dig into my jeans, going dangerously close to my crotch.
“Oh, look. It must be skank night.”
The corner of my mouth twitches, but I don’t react.
Gabby huffs but seems to double down on her efforts. “Go away, Charli. Quinny and I are enjoying a drink. You’re ruining it.”
Charli snorts, crossing her arms over her chest. “Good.”
Gabby rolls her eyes. “Grow up.”
