meeting with
Colorado and see what
they have to say.
Make sure no one knows
I’m involved.
Once the texts were sent, I deleted them. Quinn didn’t seem like the kind of girl to go through my phone, but I didn’t want her stumbling across them, regardless. I slipped my phone back into my pocket just as Quinn called me over, and the pair of us along with Amelia and Ben left the paintball arena and headed to an outdoor cafe about ten minutes away. We found a table, ordered lunch, and immediately settled into some delightful conversation with our new friends.
We learned that Amelia and Ben were sports-heads, too—though soccer, not football—and they related to our love for athletics. I wasn’t sure quite what it was, but Quinn and I were on fire, making jokes about each other, mentioning different things we’d known about one another, and even finishing each other’s sentences. For the fact that Amelia and Ben were married, we were about neck and neck with them in terms of looking like a seasoned couple.
“You guys are so freaking cute,” Amelia said finally. “How long have you been together, and when is the wedding? I know it’s weird for me to invite myself because we literally just met, but I’m inviting myself.”
I looked at Quinn, and she gave me a coquettish smile and nodded. I looked back at Amelia. “This is actually our first date.”
Ben was taking a sip of his water at the time and choked on it. “What?”
Quinn nodded. “True story. I mean, we’ve known each other for about three weeks, and we do have a drunken night under our belts, but yeah, first date.”
Amelia’s jaw was wide open. “I’m shocked. Seriously. I would have given you guys, like, three years, minimum.” She chuckled. “Well then, when’s the wedding, because this”—she flicked her finger between us—“is fate. You two are meant to be together. For real.”
I side-eyed Quinn for any sign of nerves at the statement, but she just smiled back at me, blushing lightly. It set my heart on fire. I let my mind briefly travel down the road of being together with her forever and was terrified that it didn’t terrify me. No one had ever lit my emotions up the way Quinn did. That kind of thing didn’t just happen to people.
We finished lunch and exchanged numbers with Amelia and Ben, made plans to double-date again soon, and went our separate ways. When Quinn and I were both seated in my car, I started the ignition but didn’t move the car. Paintball and lunch were all I planned for the day, but the thought of bringing her home made me the saddest I ever felt. I didn’t want to be away from her yet.
As if reading my mind, Quinn said, “I don’t want to go home.”
I looked over at her with a grin. “What if I went with you?”
She frowned, and I was temporarily frightened that I’d overstepped. “Alec’s home,” she responded, and relief shot through me. She looked back at me, and a sly smile found her face. “Your place?”
I didn’t respond. I simply started my home navigation, and Quinn sat back with a satisfied, if not slightly seductive, smile.
21
Quinn
I adored my brother, but I’d long forgotten what it was like to live in a place where he wasn’t always there. I was barely inside Zeke’s door, and he had me dragged off to the side and pressed up against the wall. His hands slunk into my hair to pull my face to his, and he knocked his knee forward to press teasingly against me below. I moaned into him, allowing the wild winds he whipped up inside of me take over. I grabbed the base of his t-shirt, peeled it up over his torso, and tossed it aside, and then my hands fled back to the hem of his jeans to fiddle with the button. He reached down and took my wrists into one of his wide hands, pinning them above my head.
He set his forehead to mine and bore into me with his dark, heavy eyes. “Not so fast. I barely remember last time, so I’m taking my time with this one.”
He was demanding control, and I was perfectly fine to give it to him. “Very well.”
His lips took mine in again, this time more forceful, with his tongue sneaking out to curl into mine. With the hand that wasn’t pinning my wrists to the wall, he started to journey across all the crevices