I knew who she was. Sarah Jenkins had been the bane of my existence when we were in junior high; Leo had dated her for a little while, and the entire time, I’d been horribly jealous. What made the situation especially difficult was that Sarah seemed like a really nice girl. She was always friendly to me, and she tried to include Nate and me whenever we were all together. Her only real fault was that Leo liked her.
Seeing them together now felt like a slap in the face. Leo ignoring me was bad enough. Even watching him flirt with cheerleaders was tough, but knowing the connection he’d always had with Sarah made their cozy little scene excruciating. It was almost as if he was trying to hurt me ... sending me a message that the kiss we’d shared, the one that had meant everything to me, had been utterly forgettable to him.
I pushed myself up to stand. “I’m sorry, I need to—the ladies room.” I choked out the words and pushed through the people standing between tables, desperate to get out of the diner. I heard Gia calling me, but I didn’t turn around.
The bathrooms at the Starlight were down a long hallway, and I groaned inwardly when I saw the length of the line for the women’s room. At least ten girls stood leaning against the wall, waiting, chattering with each other. And at least three of those girls were cheerleaders.
I didn’t relish the idea of spending quality time with this group just now, so I kept walking down the hall, passing them with my head down and my eyes on the floor. I knew there was an exit in the back; when I’d done volunteer work with a local food pantry, we’d come to that door to pick up the diner’s unsold baked goods every other day. If I could get there and then get out, at least I’d be able to breathe. I’d just tell Gia on Monday ... well, I’d come up with something plausible by then.
Pushing open the door, I stepped outside into the cold and sucked in a deep breath. The silence in the alley was a welcome relief after the noise level inside, and I leaned against the brick wall, taking a minute to soak it in and let my ears recover.
But my respite was short-lived. The door to the alley opened again, and Leo stepped out. His eyes zeroed in on me right away as the door slammed behind him.
“Quinn, what’re you doing out here?” He stood with his hands on his hips, brows drawn together as he stared me down.
“It was too loud in there. Too many people. I needed to get out.”
“But why did you—”
“Leo, go back inside. Go back to your celebration. I don’t know why you’re even out here. You’ve made it abundantly clear that you don’t care about me. Don’t worry, I got the message tonight.”
I couldn’t miss the shadow of guilt and regret that passed over his face before he got himself under control again. “Mia, I—”
“Don’t call me that.” I spit out the words. “Don’t you dare fucking call me that, pretending that it means anything. It doesn’t. Not when you treat me like—like you did. Do you think I’m an idiot, Leo? Do you think I’m not smart enough to know when I’m being used?”
He stepped back as though I’d struck him. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Yesterday. At the hospital.” My mouth was moving faster than my brain, but I didn’t stop speaking. “How long do you think it took me to figure out that you—you did what you did just so I’d go along with your stupid plan to protect your precious football players? Did you get a good laugh at my expense, Leo? Poor, pathetic Quinn, too busy mooning over you to realize that it didn’t mean a fucking thing. Kiss her, make her feel like you care, and she’ll go along with anything. Right? I bet you couldn’t wait to tell your good buddies how easy it was to manipulate me.”
“I never—” Leo started and then bit off the words, pressing his lips shut. “You know what, Quinn? Fine. Have it your way. You’re going to believe the worst about me anyway, aren’t you? So go right ahead.”
To my absolute disgust, tears had sprung up in my eyes. I wiped them away furiously. “I wouldn’t have to believe the worst if you ever did anything to prove me wrong. You’re saying you have another excuse for why you—you kissed me? Please. Enlighten me.” I crossed my arms over my chest and waited.
Leo glared at me, but he didn’t reply.
“Oh, come on, Leo. You’re disappointing me. Can’t come up with any plausible explanation? You’re not going to claim that you were overcome with passion for me?” I stepped closer to him, until we were nearly touching. “You’re not going to say you couldn’t help yourself?”
“Quinn.” Leo grabbed me by the shoulders, and for a heady moment, I thought he was going to pull me against him again. And damn my weak will, I probably would’ve let him.
But in the end, he carefully set me away from him. “Think whatever you want, but I wasn’t trying to manipulate you to go along with me. I was—it was just the heat of the moment. We were both emotional, and things got out of hand.” His gaze skittered away from mine. “I felt bad for you. And I let that feeling go too far. It didn’t mean anything.”
I stared up at him. “It did mean something, actually. It meant you’re selfish and—” I couldn’t think of a word to describe the way I felt.A pity kiss.That was what he was calling it. “Just leave me alone, Leo. Stay away from me. Stay away from Nate. Don’t pretend to be our friend.” I swiveled on my heel and rounded the corner of the diner, half-running and half-walking toward my car, praying Leo wouldn’t follow me and wishing like hell he would.
Blinded with tears, I didn’t notice the person in front of me until I’d slammed into him.
“God, I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.” I made to move around him before I realized it was Jake.
“Q? What’s up?” He frowned down at me. “You okay? What happened?”
I shook my head. “Nothing. I don’t want to talk about it, if that’s okay.” I swiped my hand over my face and tried for a watery smile. “I’m so sorry, Jake. I know I said I’d meet you here, but something kind of came up. Gia and the others are inside, though, and you’re welcome to take my seat there.”
He smiled. “No offense to any of them, but I was coming to be withyou.”
Of course he was, because now was the perfect time for Jake to begin showing real interest in me. A week ago, I might’ve been flattered. Hell, I might’ve even been tempted, since a week ago, it had felt like there wasn’t any chance for me with Leo. But all of that had changed yesterday when he’d kissed me, and despite his words moments before, now that I knew what kissing Leo was like ... I wasn’t sure I could accept second-best.
“I’m sorry,” I repeated. “But I need to go. It’s so crowded in there and ...” I shrugged. “You know. Football players.”
“Oh. Yeah.” Jake nodded as though I’d said something that had made sense, which of course I hadn’t. “Well, are you all right to drive? You seem kind of shaken up.”
