I shake my head, trying to wrap my head around what she’s saying. Yes, I’ve known Quinn has had a crush on me, but that doesn’t mean we should have acted on it. “It shouldn’t have happened.”
“But it did,” she singsongs.
“It won’t happen again.”
That brings a grin to my friend’s face. “You’re looking at this all wrong.”
“I’m not,” I insist, vowing to stay away from Quinn Garrison and his Big Dick Energy.
Laughing, Sommer just shrugs her shoulders and leans back. “If you say so, but I give it a week, and you’ll be right back to banging the younger, hot, best friend of your brother.”
I open my mouth to argue, ready to take the bet, because I know she’ll lose.
But I can’t do it.
My vagina tells me I’m a liar.
I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
That’s the problem.
CHAPTER
ELEVEN
Quinn
“…Charli and Quinn, Happy Birthday to you!”
Everyone claps as Linda Miller proclaims, “Blowout the candles.”
I bend down over my yellow cake with chocolate fudge icing and gently blow on the pair of candles that announce my age. Movement beside me shows Charli doing the same thing with hers, exhaling to extinguish the candles on her red velvet cake.
“What’d you wish for?” Sommer asks, a blinding grin on her face. The two friends share a look. I can’t decipher it, but I’m certain they’re having some sort of unspoken conversation.
“I’m not telling,” Charli replies, narrowing her eyes at her friend.
“That’s right, because then it won’t come true,” Oaklee announces.
“See?” Charli sasses, sticking her tongue out at Sommer, who just laughs.
“I’ll cut them,” Linda states, turning toward her husband. “Tyson, will you get the ice cream?”
He nods, placing a tender kiss on her cheek before he scoots past the group to retrieve the ice cream from the freezer. One thing I’ve noticed in the last year, family gatherings have grown at the Miller house. I’ve attended almost every one I’ve been invited to, and I know Sommer joins us often too. But since last spring, we’ve added Lizzie and Oaklee, and the table that seats eight is bursting at the seams with ten of us scrunched around it.
But no one complains about the tight fit. In fact, Linda and Tyson seem to smile more now that two of their children have significant others they’re bringing to family gatherings. Reflecting in their eyes, you can practically see the wedding bells and baby carriages.
I risk a quick glance at Charli, but only after I feel her gaze on me. She offers a polite smile, just like she’s done since I arrived at her parents’ house for dinner and cake to celebrate our birthdays.
I haven’t seen her since I drove away last Sunday. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve wanted to, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from kissing those damn lips of hers. I mean, I would be able to stop myself, but if she gave me the slightest inkling she was game for a repeat, I’d been all-in.
To completely avoid temptation, I’ve worked a lot of extra hours this week. It helps spring planting is right around the corner and prep work for the farmers is going strong. But I also took on a few extra jobs with other repairs, including a car hauler and a sign on a business that had seen better days.
Of course, drowning myself in work has also kept me from hanging with Camden. That’s not a bad thing either, because when something big happens in my life, he’s my person to share it with. Even if Charli wouldn’t have asked me not to tell him, this isn’t exactly something I’d share. Not only because it’s her, but simply for the fact it felt pretty fucking big in the moment, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.
“You all right?” Camden asks from my right, a look of concern on his face.
“Yeah, of course.” I flash him a big grin as Linda returns with the knife to cut the cakes.
