Page 111 of Clinically Awkward

“He called you boring.”

I blinked. “What?”

“He called you boring,” Quinton repeated, his jaw tight. “And a cold fish. And I couldn’t just let him⁠—”

“You got arrested,” I said slowly, “because Colton insulted me.”

“Yes.”

“And you couldn’t let that slide.”

“No.” He looked back, defiant and exhausted, and covered in what looked like dried beer. And despite everything, despite the arrest, the bail money, the absolute chaos, I felt something warm bloom in my chest. “You’re an idiot,” I said.

“I know.”

“A complete idiot.”

“I know.”

“I love you anyway.”

His face softened. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

He kissed me. Right there in the police station lobby. In front of Winnie, Fitz, Gabriel, Nathan, Hayden, and at least three police officers. When we pulled apart, Fitz was grinning.

“See?” he said to Winnie. “Love conquers all. Even jail.”

“Fitz,” Winnie said. “Get in the car before I leave you here.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

We all walked out into the parking lot. It was past midnight now. The air was cool and quiet. “So,” Gabriel said carefully. “We’re never speaking of this again, right?”

“Absolutely not,” Nathan agreed.

“This goes to our graves,” Hayden added.

“I’m telling everyone,” Fitz announced cheerfully.

“FITZ!”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Quinton

I woke up feeling like I had been hit by a truck.

Or more accurately, like I had been punched in the face by my girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend, tackled him in a sports bar, gotten arrested, spent three hours in a holding cell listening to Fitz lecture a homeless man about personal hygiene, and then driven home at 1 AM after Vivian bailed me out for fifteen hundred dollars.

Because that was exactly what happened.

My head was pounding. My mouth tasted like something had died in it. And my jaw... I touched my jaw and immediately regretted it. “Fuck,” I muttered, wincing.

Right. Colton’s fist. My face. The beginning of what would probably be a spectacular bruise.

I opened my eyes as sunlight streamed through the windows of my living room, which was confusing because I was pretty sure I had gone to bed in my bedroom last night.