“You don’t even kiss each other,” the blonde girl snipped.
“Yeah, what’s up with that?” a girl next to her piped up. “I’d be sucking face any chance I got.”
“God, I’m with Phoebe,” Jojo sighed, her long lashes batting up and down “If I was hitting that, I’d be home right now and getting busy, not sitting here freezing my ass off.”
“Yeah,” blondie said. “I’d find better ways to spend my time than here.” The pair giggled while throwing sultry eyes his way. “So, if you want to meet up later, Quinn, you know where we are.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The way these people spoke about him like he was an object, and the things that came out of their mouths…
Did he not just say no, in a strange, yet glaringly obvious way?
My past clawed its way out, the memories of Owen and my fight with him coming to the forefront of my mind. These people treated Quinn’s no almost the same way Owen treated mine.
“We’re out of here,” Quinn said, disgust written all over his face as he sneered at the now silent faces. His fist uncurled, and his fingers brushed over mine, sending shivers up my arm and my skin to prickle as usual whenever he touched me. They linked with my fingers, and he took our hands out of his pocket as we walked away.
“They never listen to a word he says,” Josh said to me as he caught us up. “It doesn’t matter how much of a twat he is, they don’t fucking listen.” I watched his face fall, defeat and exhaustion from an ongoing battle settling on his young features. “I make fun of him for it sometimes, but I know it gets to him.”
I turned to Quinn, keeping my voice low. “God, I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
He shrugged, his eyes still searing as he stared dead ahead. “Now you see why I fucking hate people.”
I nodded. “I’m starting to feel the same way.”
“If you’d have just made out a little from time to time, they wouldn’t have suspected a fucking thing,” Josh muttered. “You know I’m right.”
“It’s not for me to decide—it’s Kinny,” Quinn snapped, “and you know I’m right.”
I swallowed hard, the thought of kissing Quinn making me lick my lips and my mouth to pool.
Quinn halted and turned to me, his height making my head tilt back. His tense jaw ticked, and his deep frown began to soften, as did his eyes as he looked into mine.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, a shiver running through me.
He let go of my hand, then shrugged out of his hoodie. The movement caused his muscles to bounce, and I watched his shoulders tense and his now exposed biceps bunch up.
I tore my eyes away before he saw me taking in his ripped physique.
He held the hoodie up, and before I could protest, he slipped it around my shoulders, waiting for me to push my arms into the sleeves. It swamped my body, the size difference between us making me look tiny in the large garment.
My skin absorbed his heat in an instant, relishing the soft fabric and the warmth inside. I breathed in, taking in the scent I’d become familiar with, and I reacted in exactly the same way, with an embarrassing sigh.
“Better?” he asked.
“Yes, thank you,” I said, never leaving his face.
He lifted his hands and placed his palms on my cheeks, holding my face still. His fingers threaded in my hair, brushing back until he cupped my head, his thumbs resting against my cheekbones. He dipped down toward me, his face closer and closer with every passing second causing my heart to race faster than ever, my breaths becoming shallow and quick.
A hard body pressed against me, and I held onto his arms to steady myself. What had probably lasted a couple of seconds felt like a lifetime as he neared.
“Don’t bite,” he whispered, his eyes falling to my lips.
I sucked in a breath. “I won’t.”
His mouth pressed against mine, softly, carefully, as though anticipating the moment I’d sink my teeth into him, but I didn’t; I couldn’t.
The pressure increased, his lips pushing against mine a little more. Behind my closed lids, I saw nothing. Everything had disappeared from around me, no waves, no sand, no audience witnessing Quinn’s mouth on mine, even if it was closed, and no fire raging except for the one deep in my core.
Quinn began to pull back, and my lips parted on their own, expecting him to be done with his show. He wasn’t. His tongue ran over my bottom lip before his mouth crashed to mine, open, seeking entrance, and I let him in.
His tongue delved into my mouth, hot and insistent, tasting of oranges with a hint of cola, sweet and delicious. He tilted my head, deepening the kiss, his hands gripping my hair and holding me tighter.
My hands slid up his back, feeling the fibers of his muscles bunch under my touch. I couldn’t stop there. I brought my hands to the front, stroking his solid waist and then up over his square chest, continuing my ascent until my fingers reached his hair.
I tangled myself in them, gripping, weaving, and pulling him closer for more.
One of Quinn’s hands stroked down my head, my back, and rested in the dip of my spine right on the top of my ass. His fist clenched against me, and his rock hard body tensed further.
My breasts flattened against him, the rest of me trying to follow as his lips worked over mine, soft, strong, and so languorous I lost all feeling in my legs.
He took a breath, then kissed me again, more urgent, and I licked into his mouth, not wanting him to stop. I sucked on his lower lip, and a growl erupted from his throat, sending tremors to flow downward, settling right into my lower stomach, pooling there.
With no warning, Quinn pulled away, and even in his nearness, I managed to stumble forward, slamming against him.
“I think they got the message,” he said, his head low, but his eyes focused over by the bonfire.
I cleared my throat, and they snapped to me. “Yeah, definitely,” I choked out, lifting my hand and touching my kiss-swollen lips. “No doubt about it.” My knees still wobbled, my legs shaking from the most unbelievable kiss I’d ever experienced.
And it was all for show.
“We should leave now,” he said, looking down at me.
I looked down, too, and caught a glimpse of my nipples poking out like they were trying to flee from my bra.
Please don’t notice.
I checked Quinn’s face as he took the zipper. He averted his gaze from my chest, and I closed my eyes in embarrassment. He had to have seen my reaction, and being pressed against him, his heat surrounding me, I couldn’t blame it on the cold.
“We’ve got business to attend to,” Josh said, not looking up from his phone. “And just in case those asses decide to hold onto their wallets after your little rant there, we need to do this now.”
“Sure.”
One word from Quinn was enough to throw a bucket of ice over me—hitting home that this was nothing but a convenience for both of us.
“We’ll drop you,” Josh said to me, gesturing to where a black SUV was parked off to the side, away from the other vehicles. “I wouldn’t go back over there alone.”
Quinn rubbed his chin, then glanced at me, but didn’t hold it. “I gotta sort out the next fight—see who’s listed.”
I nodded. “Sure,” I replied, repeating his answer.