“This is not a thing,” I tell him, knowing that of all people, Eli gets it. He’s like me, having no desire to be tied down to one person.
“Sure it isn’t,” he says with a grin. “But it’s still a nice, friendly thing to do.”
I roll my eyes at him before turning to where Quinn stands, clearly saying goodnight to Sage as Nate patiently waits for them.
“Jesus, fuck,” I mutter to myself as I walk over to them, saying my goodbyes to Nate and Sage before I turn to Quinn. “Hey,” I say to her.
“Hi.”
Chuckling, I wave my beer around as I say, “You look like you were having fun tonight.”
“I was,” Quinn says with a nod. “Your friends are really nice.”
I finish off my beer, dropping the empty bottle on a small table. “They’re your friends too, Quinn.”
She shrugs, tucking her hair behind her ears. “Yeah, I guess,” she says, eyes wandering around the nearly empty backyard. “I guess I should probably go.”
“You don’t have to,” I quickly say. “I mean, you can stay if you want. Crash here or...” I trail off as Quinn looks at me, her eyes so dark in the low light of the festoon lights decorating the backyard.
“I should probably go,” she says, her words quiet.
“Yeah, okay,” I say with a nod. “Come on, I’ll walk you home.”
“You don’t have to?—”
Laughing, I take her hand in mine as I turn us toward the side of the house. “Yeah, I do.”
I can feel Eli’s eyes on me the whole time Quinn and I cross the yard to walk back out onto the street. Just as we disappear around the side of the house, I flip him off, not missing the chuckle he gives in response. I swear, I am never going to live this, whatever it is, down.
“So what are you up to tomorrow?” Quinn asks as we make our way toward the street.
I blow out a breath, running my free hand through my hair as I say, “Surfing in the morning and then working with my dad. You?”
Quinn shrugs. “I don’t know, not much. I don’t start work until next week, so I’ll probably just do some more exploring.”
I glance over at her. “Wanna come for a surf in the morning, maybe test out that new board of yours?”
She looks up at me, her dark eyes shining. “You wouldn’t mind?”
“Hell no,” I say, the words coming out far quicker than I expected. “I like hanging out with you, Quinn. And I know you like surfing with me. Especially when I give you a glimpse of my bare ass.”
This makes her laugh as she swings our joined hands between us. “It is a very nice ass.”
The words are said so softly that, for a second, I think I imagined them. But when I risk another glance in her direction, I can see she’s smiling, her bottom lip caught between her teeth as she stares straight ahead.
Leaning in, I put my mouth close to her ear as I say, “You can have a feel of it if you want to.”
She snorts out a laugh now, immediately covering her mouth with her other hand. “Oh my god, Kai,” she murmurs, shaking her head.
“What?” I say with a grin. “I’m just saying, you can both look and touch if you want.”
She looks over at me, shaking her head a little. “You really are a huge flirt, aren’t you?” she asks, smiling to let me know this isn’t a jab.
“I mean, maybe a little,” I admit with a wink.
She laughs again, turning away as she says, “So Daisy maybe sort of warned me about you.”
“Oh, and what did Daisy say exactly?” I ask, wondering if my future sister-in-law has completely thrown me under the bus here.
