Quinn

by Doyle, Dawn

  “Me and Quinn!” I replied, over happy about it, but I didn’t care I was going a little over the top. “He’s special, right?”

  Colby just grunted. “You’re making a mistake, trust me.”

  Not as far as I could throw you, Colby,

  I started the car, and smiled, throwing a little extra cheddar on top. “I’ll take my chances.”

  Colby’s hazel eyes remained on me, not blinking. I had the urge to swing open the door and hit him with it so I could leave, but I just kept my hands tight around the wheel.

  “He’s no good for you.”

  “Neither’s chocolate, but I love the stuff.” I raised my brows, shifted my car into reverse, and backed up out of the bay.

  I checked my rearview mirror and saw him standing there, watching me leave.

  “There’s always at least one,” I said to myself. “And he must be Broken Hollow’s.”

  Quinn

  “It looked pretty hot, that’s all I’m saying," Josh said, his hands up. “And when you said you were in love with her, ahh,” He dropped his head back. “I wish you could’ve seen those girls’ faces at the back. Pure horror.” He cackled again. “Genius, Quinn.”

  “I thought so,” I retorted, unscrewing the cap off a bottle of water. “Kinsley looked offended.” I laughed, but it was mostly forced. It seemed so hard for her to play pretend like it didn’t matter Colby was trying to get in her fucking pants at every chance he got. If he so much as touched her—

  “So, when you next see her, try to be a little nicer, okay?”

  “Sorry, what?”

  He huffed out. “Not listening again? Jeez, Quinn, pull your head out of your ass. I said that you were a bit of a dick to her at lunch, considering you said you were in love with her in class not long after. Just, rein it the fuck in—she’s doing you a favor.”

  “And I’m not doing her a favor in return?” I asked, wondering what the hell was his problem. “I don’t like people staring, and she was staring.”

  He lifted his hands again. “Maybe because you didn’t acknowledge her there?”

  “I was eating.” He was right, though. I had my head in something else and barely gave it a second thought until I realized she hadn’t looked away. My natural reaction would be to tell her to get out of my face, but even that didn’t cross my mind. I thought I’d been soft, but obviously not. And when she walked away and fucking disappeared, Jojo and Rachel sitting down a second later, I’d gotten up, about to go after her. But, she was fucking gone, and Colby had disappeared too. God, I’d searched that fucking place high and low, only to find Colby in the art room fucking about with colorful shit on his computer. Still, Kinsley was nowhere to be seen. I’d only relaxed when I found her in class, already sitting, with a pissed-off expression still darkening her features.

  Her lips were pouted, pink, and slightly shiny as though she’d just ran her tongue over them. When I’d pulled her close, her freckle fucking stood out when her lips parted. Her long, curled lashes reached almost to her brows with surprise, and when she leaned away from me, her thin, blue jacket parted, giving me an eyeful of the low neckline, the swells of her tits pushing forward, I damn near lost it. Her familiar perfume surrounded me, and I couldn’t help but breathe it in, and even leaned in for more.

  “Yeah, a huge slice of humble pie when she publicly dumps your ass, real or not.”

  “Then I’ll be so heartbroken”—I placed my hand on my chest—“I couldn’t possibly be interested in another girl after the one I loved left me.” I snickered.

  Josh did too. “You’re sick, you know? Only you could’ve thought about this from both angles.”

  I clicked my tongue and winked while throwing shooter fingers. “This isn’t just a pretty face, Josh.”

  “No, it’s a fucking mess” He circled his finger toward me. “Quasimodo. Fucking hilarious.” He walked out, and I threw the bottle at him, hitting the living room door as he closed it.

  “Dick!”

  I grinned, remembering how I’d added myself in her phone, then it dropped from my face like a fucking stone.

  What if she deleted me?

  I took out my phone, seeing she still hadn’t replied to the texts I’d sent. I opened my messages and typed on the screen.

  ‘We need to be seen together. In public.’

  My shoulders dropped when my phone pinged right back with her name, Kinny baby, on the screen. She’d have my balls for that, but I didn’t care.

  ‘Oh, is that right? Well, see this in public!’

  A photo of her hand followed, giving me the middle finger.

  ‘Aw, I’m touched.’

  I chuckled to myself and watched the three dots on the screen.

  “What’s funny?” Josh asked, poking his head around the door.

  “I think Kinsley’s in love with me,” I replied, clicking on the picture and turning my phone around.

  “Dude, she’s about ready to tie the knot… Around your feet with a slab of concrete.”

  I sighed long and hard. “I know. It’s meant to be, Josh.”

  “Totally nuts,” he said, shaking his head, then disappearing again.

  I turned back to the photo when her message popped up on the screen. Another image of the note I”d left.

  ‘What the fuck was this?’

  My blood that was coursing steadily through my veins, chilled.

  ‘He’s trying to take you away from me, Kinsley. I can’t let that happen.’

  Making light of it didn’t help. I still tensed up every part of my body just thinking about him at her house, ready to take her to campus.

  ‘Fuck you, Quinn. Your threats are meaningless because we’re not dating.’

  I pressed the call button, and she answered right away.

  “To everybody else, we are,” I ground out. “I wasn’t kidding, Kinsley. Stay away from Colby.”

  “Or what?” she snapped. “You know, I might decide I want to date people, Quinn. I’ll break up with you first, don’t worry. I wouldn’t want people to think you get cheated on.”

  “Like hell, you will.” I bunched my fist at my side while trying not to crush my phone with the other.

  “You don’t get to decide that.”

  “Come on,” I barked. “You and I both know that you won’t give any of those assholes the time of day.” I’d seen it with my own eyes for fuck’s sake. She’d gone on the defensive whenever any guy at the beach, and on campus, approached her. And why wouldn’t they? They’d be fucking morons not to want to try their luck with a girl like her.

  “Oh, really?” she yelled. “Because I seem to recall giving you the time of day, and you’re the biggest asshole there!”

  “While that may be true, I wouldn’t do anything to you that you weren’t comfortable with.” Unlike the fucker trying to muscle in on her.

  “Says the guy who told me to get on his bike, the guy who dragged my desk and me toward him, the guy who ordered me to stay away from Colby, and the guy who’s a complete and utter cock.”

  “Cock?” I blurted out, then threw my head back and howled laughing. “Wow, that’s, uh, that’s some insult.”

  “Oh, I have more, don’t fucking worry,” she growled. A moment passed, then the phone crackled as she blew into it. “Thank you for getting me a new tire. And moving my car.”

  I waited for her to say something else, and when she didn’t, I spoke instead. “You’re welcome.”

  “I’m gonna pay you back, though. I don’t want to you owe you any more than I already do.”

  Fuck, my insides plummeted, hearing her talk like that. “You don’t own me anything, Kinny,” I muttered. “That shouldn’t have happened, so I fixed it.”

  “Well, I appreciate it all the same.”

  “Kinny?”

  “What?”

  “I’m sorry I was a dick at lunch. I, uh… Just sorry.”

  “Is this your way of getting me to not fake break up with you?” she asked, and I heard the
hesitation in her voice.

  I smiled. “Maybe.”

  “Jesus, Quinn, you’re a piece of work.”

  I swallowed hard, knowing just how fucking true that was. “Yeah? Sue me,” I said, my tone sharp.

  “Aaand there you go again.”

  The phone clicked and then three beeps, telling me she’d hung up.

  “Fuck.”

  ***

  Sweat dripped down my back, steam swirled up from my skin, but I didn’t stop hitting the bag. I pounded my fists into the blue covering, hitting the sand harder and harder, the impact radiating through my hands, my wrists, and up my arms, my muscles pumping with aggression.

  I’d been in the basement for four days, coming down here right after school, every day, and the weekend, while Kinsley avoided me like the fucking plague. She hadn’t returned any of my texts, wouldn’t take my calls… She hadn’t said a word to me in class, and even when I’d tried to catch sight of her, I’d fucking missed her every time. It didn’t help that people were getting onto the fact that there was something up, and had started to creep into my space again.

  I grunted with each punch, ramming my hand forward with my elbow bent like I was trying to break through a stomach area, breaking bones and rupturing organs as I continued my attack on the bag.

  Colby seemed to be looking for her, too. I hated that guy. The second I knew he was setting his sight on Kinsley, I had to act fast. He had a bad rep when it came to girls, and with Kinsley not knowing who the fuck he was or the kind of person he was, I had to keep her out of the potential danger. He enjoyed putting his hands on her, and I had to stand by and watch like I had no fucking clue what kind of person he was.

  I held the bag with both hands and raised my knee, crashing the bone into the underneath and the side, imaging Colby’s head there instead.

  “Fucker!” I roared, sending my knee into the bag over and over, my side burning with exertion. “I’ll fucking kill him.”

  “Whoa, whoa,” Josh said, coming around the bag and holding it. He swayed with the movement, unable to steady it against my onslaught. “Quinn, quit it.” When I hit it harder and harder, he yelled, “Dexter, time out!”

  Still, I ignored him.

  I dropped my knee and stepped back, lifted my foot and snapped out, sending a roundhouse next to his head.

  “Quinn, fucking stop!”

  He released the bag and rushed behind me, gripping my shoulders and pulled me back. I shrugged him off, his hands slipping off my sweaty skin with ease.

  “Fuck off!” I yelled back.

  Before I could throw another kick, my head snapped to the side as Josh’s fist connected with my jaw.

  I dropped my leg, my entire body tensed, every muscle bunched and every fiber firing, ready to throw down. I glared at my best friend—my brother. My nostrils flared, and my teeth squeaked as I ground my jaw, my face screwing up with unbridled rage.

  “You fucking needed that,” he spat, his hands up in defense, ready to throw another punch if he had to. “You were completely out of it.”

  “You shouldn’t have stopped me,” I said slowly, each syllable forced between my bared teeth.

  “Like hell, I shouldn’t,” he roared. “Look at yourself. You’re never down here this long. Get upstairs and take a fucking shower because you fucking smell awful.”

  Chapter 8

  Kinsley

  ‘You’re a fighter?!’

  I stared down at the text I’d sent, seeing the dots on the screen disappearing and reappearing over and over. I hadn’t answered him since I’d hung up, and I wouldn’t speak to him after I’d found out a couple of days ago. I couldn’t believe he’d kept this from me. Quinn was a fucking street fighter, and I’d been dragged into his illegal shit just by being associated with him.

  I’m going to tear him a new one the next time I see him, I swear to fucking God.

  Miley had been kind enough to slip up, assuming that Quinn would’ve already told me the juicy details and that his absence was his training schedule for an upcoming fight in something they called the ‘circle.’

  “Oh, I know he’s got a fight coming up, so I was wondering if you need some girl time while he’s training,” she’d said.

  I’d tried to act like I knew what she was talking about, saying I didn’t like to talk about what he did because I didn’t want to see that side of him, but inside, I was seething. Miley had tried to comfort me, saying she could see I was upset, but not to worry.

  Oh, I was upset, all right; she just didn’t know what kind.

  ‘I thought you knew.’

  ‘How the hell would I have known? Nobody said a damn word at school.’

  ‘Nobody talks about it at school. That’s how it is.’

  ‘What, like the first rule of fight club?’

  ‘Something like that.’

  ‘You’re something else, Quinn, I fucking swear.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  I couldn’t text him back, and I declined his call after that. I was seething, pacing my room while my fists clenched and unclenched. He’d put me in a position that could be so fucking dangerous if my mom found out. She’d have him arrested, I’d be implicated in his illegal activity…

  I’ve got a headache.

  I rubbed my forehead, willing the headache to subside. Miley was on her way to pick me up, and this time, it was definitely her.

  We arrived at the already packed beach, and I unbuckled my belt as Miley slowed her car, pulling in to an empty bay near the front.

  I got out of the car, the already chilly wind whipping some of my hair free from my loose braid. I tugged on the hem of my bright red sweater, the deep V exposing the neckline of the white tank underneath, then smoothed my hands down my black jeans.

  Miley fixed her own loose braid, pulling the strands to adjust the stylish baggy loops. It made the pink in her hair pop a little more, especially when it matched the tight corset-style top. “Come on, Kinsley.” She fixed the wide straps as we went, her light-blue denim skinnies swaying as she walked.

  The moment we hit the sand, I knew I’d regret wearing red converse, the grains finding their way in through the small vents at the sides.

  ‘Oh, look who it is!” Rachel beamed and opened her arms, welcoming Miley, but not me. “Sorry, Kinsley, but if Phoebe sees me being nice to you, she’ll have my head.”

  History repeating itself.

  “I don’t know why she hates me so much,” I grumbled. “It’s not like I’ve done anything.” Rachel and Miley looked at each other then back to me. I deadpanned.“What?”

  “Um, I thought you knew,” Rachel said, glancing around. “I thought it was obvious.”

  “Rach,” Miley hissed.

  “Just tell me for God’s sake,” I said, throwing my hand up.

  More secrets. Great. I just love this.

  “Well, Phoebe’s into Quinn. Big time,” she explained.

  “So?” My stomach flipped over hearing his name, the thoughts of him coming into class bruised and swollen swimming through my head.

  “He doesn’t give her the time of day, but then you show up, and he’s all, ‘Kinsley’s my girl,’” she replied, mimicking his voice.

  “Phoebe’s jealous?” I scoffed. “I see.”

  “She might be hooking up with Layton, but she still wants him.”

  “Whoa, whoa, who the hell’s Layton?” I asked, my eyes bouncing back and forth between them. I was so close to being done.

  “Seriously, are you two even dating?” Rachel asked, her brows drawing together. “Layton’s Quinn’s friend and Josh’s cousin. The three of them share a house across the street from me.” Her chin lifted, and she turned her head a little. “Come to think of it, I’ve never seen you there. If you were dating Quinn—”

  “Why the twenty questions?” I asked nervously. “Surely, this is mine and Quinn’s business.”

  “Yeah, but Phoebe’s been over there tons of times, and she said she’s never seen you there, e
ither.”

  “We haven’t been seeing other long,” I cut in, thinking just how much longer the farce would go on. “He’s been to my house, though.”

  “Yeah, he has,” Colby’s voice came from behind me. His mouth was turned up into a snarl. “I don’t know what you see in him, Kinsley.” He turned his head to the two guys that usually sat behind me in art class. “Right?” They both nodded their heads, but their eyes traveled the length of my body, then doing the same to Miley and Rachel. “Here, I brought you a drink.” He held out a red solo cup. “Non-alcoholic, just some bitter lemonade.” The other guys did the same for the girls

  “No, thank you,” I said, and turned away, leaving his hand hanging there. Miley and Rachel walked with me. “And I’d appreciate it if you stayed out of my business.”

  I took my phone out of my pocket and opened up my texts to Quinn.

  ‘I’m at the beach with—’

  I didn’t get to finish my text because two large arms circled me from behind, pulling me to a solid chest. My heart raced, my pulse rapidly pulsing out of control. The enormous frame behind me held my back to their front, and I looked up, my shoulders sagging in relief. “Quinn, it’s you,” I breathed out.

  “It’s me,” he said, his eyes dancing, but there was no humor there. “Can I steal my girl away for a few minutes?” He kept his eyes on me while talking to the girls. “I missed her and need to catch up.”

  “Oh, uh, sure,” Miley sputtered.

  “Knock yourself out,” Rachel said, her suspicious eyes bouncing between us.

  He squeezed me tighter, his head dipping to my ear. “Let’s go, Kinny baby. We should go somewhere private.” We walked across the beach, out of earshot of the others. “Kinny,” he said the second we reached the driftwood.

  “Don’t say a fucking word,” I seethed. “Just don’t, Quinn. I had to find this out from Miley. Miley! I had to hear from her why you come into class looking like you’ve been in a fight.” I cringed when he grinned. “Because, of course you have.”