I picked up my phone, seeing the two notifications on my screen. I opened them up.
‘Do you walk away from all your boyfriends like that?’
‘I’m looking for you. Where are you?’
I pinched the bridge of my nose, then ran my fingers over my temples. “Why?” I whined. “Why does he have to be so hot and cold?”
And more hot than anything.
I groaned and rested my forehead against the steering wheel until there was a knock at the window. A wide smiling face made me jump. “Colby!”
“Sorry I scared you.” He laughed. “I see your car’s fixed.” He gestured toward the wheel that had been vandalized. “Cool.”
I powered the window down a couple of inches. “Uh, yeah, Quinn sorted it out for me,” I gushed, the tightening in my chest making me uneasy.
His forehead twitched, a crease forming between his brows as though he was trying to mask something. “That’s great of him.” His eyes surveyed the interior of my car, coming to rest on the helmet beside me. “So, you and Quinn, huh?”
“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.”