Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 176012 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 880(@200wpm)___ 704(@250wpm)___ 587(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176012 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 880(@200wpm)___ 704(@250wpm)___ 587(@300wpm)
And we’re both older, a little more jaded and willing to take an hour of escapism for what it is. She doesn’t care if I love her or not.
I could never use Quinn for an escape.
Oh, Quinn…
My Quinn.
I shoot up, swallowing, but I bump into someone.
“Excuse me,” I say.
“Don’t mind me.”
I rear back, taking in the same dude from last night. What was his name? Deacon?
But he doesn’t go for the drinking fountain, just leans back on the wall, gazing at me. I start to walk away, but I only make it two steps when I realize he’s staring.
Is he following me?
“What do you want?” I ask.
“To keep watching.”
I face him, straightening my spine. “Who the hell are you?”
But he turns his eyes to Quinn, looking lost in thought for a moment, and I don’t like it. I move to block his line of sight, but he speaks up. “She looks like someone I used to know,” he murmurs. “Someone who’s not here anymore.”
I glance at Quinn as she sets down a barbell and refastens her ponytail.
“You’re going to need to binge her,” he tells me.
I narrow my gaze, looking at him.
“No matter where you go,” he says, “or who you meet or the time that passes, you will want her when she’s with someone else. When she’s thirty. When you’re in the same room with her… You will want her until you’ve had your fill of her.”
What the fuck?
But my gaze shifts to Quinn again, just for a moment.
Is that true?
She starts jump roping, her ponytail bouncing, and the years ahead of us start piling up. Her career expanding. Mine in Dubai becoming more and more like a prison. Someone climbing into bed next to her at night. Me getting her wedding announcement in the mail.
Standing next to her in a room and watching other people make her happy.
I don’t notice when the guy leaves, but when I come back to myself, he’s gone.
I look around, seeing him disappear through a door that I don’t think is for customers.
Who the fuck is he?
Glancing at the clock, I see it’s almost nine. I need to talk to her, and I can’t do that here. No one is getting into the car with us when I take her home. No one’s dragging me out for a drink. I need to deal with this.
Heading downstairs, I slip into the locker room, grab a towel, and strip, climbing into a shower. Luckily the place is emptying, and I’m alone. I just hope that creep isn’t in here. He’s weird, and I prefer not to be bothered.
I smooth my hand over the top of my head, rinsing the suds.
He’s weird, but he knows. And if a stranger can tell, then Madoc, Jax, and Jared don’t know yet simply because they don’t want to. One of them should take her home tonight. Bingeing her isn’t the answer. I need to purge her.
Finishing washing, I shut off the water and rake the towel over my body and head before wrapping it around my waist. I exit the shower and stalk back into the locker room.
As soon as I get to my row, though, I see Quinn digging into my locker.
I start for her. “What are you doing?”
“Taking my brother’s car,” she snaps. “You can find another ride home.”
I charge over and take her wrists, pulling them out of my shit.
But when she fires her eyes up at me, I see the flush in her cheeks and the tension in her jaw.
She’s mad.
I draw in a breath, struggling to contain all the shit swelling in my chest. “You saw me with Sarah.”
I wasn’t trying to make her jealous…
Pinching her brow together, she spits out, “Saw you with who?” And then grabs something out of my locker, flinging the business card at me. “Oh, you mean, that? I don’t care.”
Sarah’s card falls to the floor, and I close my eyes for a moment. Should I piss her off some more and tell her I memorized the address off one glance? I don’t need the fucking card.
But, no.
I’m almost elated, unfortunately.
She watches me just as much as I watch her, and we’re both fucked.
She searches for Jared’s Mustang keys. “I don’t want to think about you anymore.”
I know.
“I’m done.” Her voice is thick with tears she won’t let go. “I just want to be free.”
And I move. I don’t know if I’m thinking with my head or acting from my gut, but I take her in my hands and pull her into my chest.
Gazing down into her dark brown eyes and her pink lips that are puffy from chewing on them, I whisper, “You’re all I think about.”
I crash down on her mouth, kissing little Quinn for the first time and unable to slow down as I move over her lips. Skin soft enough to eat… Oh, God. She moans, and I wrap one arm around her waist, pressing her to my body as my other hand holds her face. I go at her, kissing her again and again before tilting my head to the other side and sinking deeper. Fuck. I dig my fingers into the flesh of her hip and bear down on her, tasting her tongue.