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No. Lonely.
“You complaining?” she said.
“Not at all.” He started the ignition on his bike and revved the engine. The vibration rolled through her body and she held on, thriving on the adrenaline.
They went to Sandy Point, driving around the barriers and down to the beach. Clear trespassing. They didn’t care, and she sure didn’t give a crap. She learned her driver’s name was Matt, he was twenty, and just like her brother, he was home from college for a few days.
She didn’t like thinking of Jake, or of Nick for that matter, so when they asked if she had a boyfriend, she said no and took another long drink from their flask. A fleece blanket appeared from a compartment on Matt’s bike, and she lay back to look at the stars while her head spun from the liquor.
This was probably the stupidest thing she’d ever done.
But hey, she wasn’t lonely now, and they weren’t trying to get in her pants or anything. And what if they did want her for sex? At least someone wanted her for something.
Dancing with Adam, the warmth and security and self-confidence, all felt a bazillion miles away.
A new bottle appeared. She recognized the label and held a hand out.
“You have any salt?” she joked.
o;Or is this like a favor for Becca? Did Chris tell you to give me a little attention—”
“Are we seriously having this conversation?”
“No. Forget it—no.” Then she was out of the truck.
He was behind her in a heartbeat, trailing her up the steps. “Quinn. Stop. I don’t—”
“Go away, Nick.”
She was crying; the air told him that much. Crying because he hadn’t tried to have sex with her in the cab of his brother’s truck.
Irony was like a devil on his shoulder, thinking this was a grand ol’ knee slapper.
He stopped her on the top landing. Her face was flushed and damp, her blond hair wild and full of moonlight. She looked like an angel of vengeance, ready to kick his ass.
“Let me go,” she snapped.
“I know this isn’t all about me,” he said carefully.
That made fresh tears well, and she pressed fingers to her eyes. “You’re right. It’s about like fourteen different people. So why don’t you go away and let me deal with it?”
“Quinn.” He moved closer and spoke low. “Quinn. Please talk to me.”
She swiped the tears free and looked up at him. “Why do you even give a crap, Nick?”
Because she was a hot mess, every emotion on her sleeve, and he admired that—no, he envied that. Because he could feel her intensity when she danced, and he craved that kind of passion in his life. Because she was trapped by circumstance, and so was he.
Because, until tonight, she’d never expected anything from him, and that was damn refreshing.
He studied her face, her eyes that had turned so furious. Every breath that came out of her lungs whispered to him about her tension, her fluttering heartbeat, her anger.
“No one wants me,” she said fiercely.
“Quinn—that’s not true.”
She got right up close to him, putting her chest against his. “It’s not? Do you want me, Nick?”
If it had been any other girl, or any other tone, he could have played along. He probably could have thrown her up against the wall and kissed her silly. But it felt like she was throwing all her cards on the table. Lying to Quinn now would be like the worst kind of cruelty.
