AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Then the irony of her own words smacked her in the face.
Nick would probably be saying the same thing about her problems, if he knew.
She glanced across at where Nick and Tyler were sitting.
They didn’t seem to be speaking. Had Tyler moved closer? She couldn’t tell. Nick almost vibrated with angry tension.
“I think I saw the last text you sent him,” said Adam, his voice easy, his words not. “I’m pretty sure it said f**k off.”
Quinn flushed as guilt punched her in the back. “Yeah—I’m not—I didn’t—”
New stretch, hands overhead, then lowering to reach for outstretched toes. “You don’t have to explain it to me.”
She didn’t follow this stretch. “I was jealous,” she said quietly.
Adam straightened and looked at her. “Of what?”
She looked away. “Of you. I guess.” She swallowed and felt tears gathering behind her eyes. “And then Nick was telling me to stay away from Tyler, and I thought it was so unfair, how he got everything and I had to just sit there and pretend to be his girlfriend, and—”
“Quinn.” Adam’s voice was low, quiet. He moved close.
“Quinn, he shouldn’t have asked you to—”
“He didn’t! That’s the pathetic thing. He never asked me to.
He even encouraged me to find someone else. But I didn’t want someone else. I wanted . . .”
“Him.”
Quinn nodded and looked up. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.” He gave her half a smile. “I mean, I kinda get it.”
“Are you mad at me?”
“No.” He paused. “I wish you’d told me. Is that why you didn’t come to dance?”
She bit her lip. “That’s part of it.”
“What’s the other part?”
She took a deep breath until she was sure her voice wouldn’t shake. “My mother—she threw me out.”
His face fell. “I wish you’d told me that, too. You could have stayed with me.”
She wagged her eyebrows at him. “Sounds like your apartment is kind of crowded.”
“Don’t do that. Don’t joke. Are you okay? Do you have a place to stay?”
She hedged, worrying that if the wrong person overheard her, they’d call social services or something. This paranoia was ridiculous, but she’d rather sleep on a street corner than be forced into a group home or wherever they’d shove her. “I’m staying with Tyler right now. I’m just waiting out my mother.”
She made her voice casual, easy. “She needs a few days to dry out is all, and she’ll forget what happened.”
Or maybe she’d throw out Jake’s trophies.
Adam was still studying her.
Quinn moved into another stretch, hoping he’d take this as a cue to change the subject. “I’m fine,” she said. “Really. I’m fine.” Motion in the mirror caught her eye. Tyler had definitely moved closer to Nick.
