AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Okay,” I answer because I don’t know what else to say.
The way she says it makes me feel like I’ve done something right. Something good even. It’s been a long fucking time since I’d heard anything approaching praise out of anyone. I eat it up like I’m starved.
Anything that makes this girl feel good, I want to do more of. Anything that makes her think I’m good is the only thing I want to be doing with my life right now.
“Okay,” she repeats and then leans forward and kisses my cheek. “I’ll let you sleep. Don’t forget to drink some more water though. You don’t want a hangover.”
“Yes boss,” I grin at her as she climbs the ladder.
10
Quentin
The jealousy swirlsin my gut as I watch her flirt with Xander while we play against each other out on the lawn. She tosses another bag to him and from here I can’t hear their conversation. I can only see the way she laughs and the way his hand lingers a little too long on hers for my liking.
I shake my head. It’s ridiculous. I’m ridiculous. She’s not mine, and she was never going to be. She wanted Xander from the start. I was a steppingstone to help her get him, and acting like a jealous fool now is just going to make everyone wonder what the fuck is wrong with me. A thing they’ve been wondering enough lately.
“All right. You make this one, and we win.” The girl from the grocery store whose name I’ve already forgotten is handing me a bag with one hand and rubbing her other over my forearm. She grins at me, and I can’t tell if it’s genuine interest on her part, or if she’s seeing the same thing play out across the way that I am, and I’m her plan to make him jealous too.
I look at Xander as he lets out another laugh at whatever Madison’s just said to him, another giggle following from her, and I think I might be fucking pissed at him. Want to slam my fist into his jaw for being such a fucking dreamboat that every woman we know seems to fall for him these days. I don’t remember it being like this the last few years. We seemed to get our own fair share of interest. I never felt like it was a competition. But watching him with Madison? I feel like I might be sick.
“Right.” I take the bag from Grocery Girl, and I chuck it hard. I swear I’m aiming for the board, but it lands square on the real target.
“Fuck!” Xander curses and looks up at me. His attention is torn away from Madison, and she looks up too.
“Oh shit!” I play stupid. “Guess that’s one too many beers for me tonight.” I force a laugh and Grocery Girl laughs with me, seemingly also happy that Xander and Madison’s giggle-fest has been interrupted.
“Yeah, aim’s a little off buddy. Maybe a water next?”
“Or another beer.” I chuck my empty one in the makeshift wastebasket we have out here. “Good game though. I’m heading inside.”
He could win the game and win the girl. I glance over at Madison and then back at him. They’d be the perfect couple.
Xander gives me a questioning look but doesn’t move to stop me, and I’m more than happy to let him stay out here with his fan club. I can be happy for Madison without watching it unfold. When I get inside, I have to duck around Tobias and his date making out and leaning against the kitchen counter to get my beer. I notice Shelby and her boyfriend are conspicuously absent too. I just hope they’re not too loud tonight because I think it’s just me, my bed, and my beer at this point while everyone else in this house fucks it out to their hearts’ content. I can stare at the ceiling and imagine how great it’ll be to see the first girl I can remember wanting this way at breakfast tomorrow morning after my best friend’s had his way with her. It’s perfect.
At least untiltwenty minutes later when I’m finished with my beer and the door swings open and then immediately closes. I see Madison’s form as she tiptoes toward the beds like she’s not sure if I’m awake or not. I don’t even know what she’s doing in here. Maybe hunting for lingerie or the condoms she picked up at the grocery store the other day. I don’t move. I don’t want to be asked for any last-minute tips or words of encouragement. It’ll kill me.
“Quentin?” she whispers.
Fuck.
“Yep.” I don’t move, just close my eyes.
“You didn’t come back out.”
“I was tired.”
“Oh.” She sits down on the edge of the bed, and I can smell the perfume she put on earlier in the night. It mixes with her shampoo and that combination will haunt me for the rest of my life.
“Do you need something?” I crack my eyes open just enough to see her face. I’m silently begging her to have mercy on me.
She rolls her lower lip between her teeth and her eyes fall over me. I haven’t changed for bed yet.
“I just thought… I don’t know. Maybe you’d be up for something. But if you’re tired...”
“Up for something?” I give her a look.
“Yeah. I mean… I thought maybe we could try another step.”
