He grabbed my wrist. “Don’t go. I promise I won’t be late again.”
“It doesn’t sound like you’re as serious as you were the other day. Are you jerking me around?”
His green eyes darkened. “Is that what Sloane put in your head?”
“Sloane didn’t have to put anything in my head. I have my own studying to do, and I am not wasting my time with an asshole.”
He slapped a hand over his heart. “I’m hurt.”
I shook my head, ready to pack up. Anger fired through every nerve ending. Maybe Sloane was right for me to stay away from Trevor.
“Quinn.” His tone was soft and sweet. “I’m sorry.”
I huffed. “Time is precious to me, Trevor. I only have a small window to help you. I barely have time to do my own homework. With my brothers away at college, I’m the only one to help my dad on the farm. Maybe you should go back to Elise for tutoring.”
“Please,” he said, batting his eyelashes. “Give me a chance.”
I held up my finger. “One. And no girls at the table, interrupting us. Got it?”
He saluted me. “Yes, commander.”
I half smiled as we dove into algebra.
The words on the page were fuzzy. I couldn’t read or study anymore. I closed my US government book. Politics wasn’t my thing. But it was either that elective or psychology, and US government seemed like it would be easier.
Knuckles rapped on the door.
“Yeah, it’s open.”
Marcus strutted in, wearing a pair of sweatpants and nothing else. He glanced at Ethan’s bed. “It’s almost curfew.”
I traded my desk chair for my bed. “Says the guy who almost always misses curfew.”
The day Jasper had told Ethan and me that Marcus had gone to Ashford, none of us thought he would make it back before lights out. To our surprise, he had. Since then, he hadn’t seen Sloane or gone back to Ashford, at least not to my knowledge.
“Ethan is working out. He should be back shortly.”
Marcus sat on the edge of Ethan’s bed. “I have something to tell you, and I don’t want you to get upset.”
On that note, my pulse sped up. “You’re running away with Sloane,” I teased. But deep down, I wasn’t. I wanted Marcus to be happy, and if Sloane was the gal to give him a purpose in life, then so be it. I couldn’t talk anyway. Marcus wasn’t enamored with Quinn, but he didn’t ride my ass about her, although I wasn’t drinking and acting out or running back to Ashford.
Marcus regarded me, his blue eyes steady and piercing. He and I were the only two out of the eight of us siblings who had blue eyes. However, he’d come out with brown hair rather than the sandy blond I had.
“Well, are you going to stare at me or tell me what’s on your mind? If it is Sloane, man, I’m cool.”
His lips curled, barely smiling. “You mean you’re okay with us dating again?”
I scooted up so my back was resting against the headboard. “Yeah.”
“We’re not exactly.” He picked at a nail. “We’re trying the whole friends thing.”
I cocked my head. “Why would that make me upset?”
“This is not about Sloane and me.” He took a deep breath. “I told you about Sloane’s stepbrother.”
He had when he’d returned from Ashford that day. Marcus had instantly hated the guy. Apparently, Sloane didn’t like how a stranger had waltzed into her life and her mother’s.
But her stepbrother wasn’t my problem. “He’s a dick. So?”
“Have you talked to Quinn lately?”
I held the air in my lungs, nodding. “Why?”
“Sloane is worried about her.”
A laugh rumbled free. “Sloane? The girl who doesn’t like Quinn?”
“That’s not the point,” Marcus said. “Quinn is tutoring Trevor. Sloane gets the impression he’s up to something with her.”
Quinn had told me she’d decided not to tutor him. I wondered if Principal Sanders had forced Quinn’s hand. “Like?”
“I don’t know. Neither does Sloane.”
Ethan waltzed in, sweaty and looking upset. He tore his T-shirt off and tossed it in the corner with the rest of his dirty clothes.
“What’s up your ass?” Marcus asked.
He grabbed his shower gear. “Jessica. She won’t stop texting and calling me.”
Marcus arched a brow. “I thought you liked her.”
I hopped off my bed. “I’ll let you two figure out girls. I need to call Quinn.” I also needed a private spot.
I inhaled the brisk night air two minutes later as I held the phone to my ear, waiting for Quinn to answer.
The grounds of the academy were desolate as curfew approached. The landscape lighting glowed along the path as I walked down toward the football field.
“Everything okay?” Quinn answered, sounding like she was yawning.
“I just wanted to hear your voice before I crashed for the night.” That was mostly true.
“Aw, I love you too. I was about to go to bed. It’s been a tense day.”
My blood gelled. “Something happen?”
“Not exactly. Tests, studying, chores, tutoring. You name it. Oh, and I… Never mind.”
I settled along the perimeter of the football field. The moonlight provided an ominous feeling, like the calm before the storm. “Quinn? Did Trevor do something to you?”
She sucked in a breath. “What? Trevor? Why would you ask me that?”
“Marcus came to me earlier. Sloane is worried about you helping him.”
“Oh my God. Seriously? Trevor is a nice guy. He needs to get his grades up.”
I scraped a hand through my hair. “I thought you didn’t want to work with him?”
“Coach Dean wants me to help him. Although I don’t think Trevor’s girl, Claire, wants me anywhere near him. She won’t leave us alone when we’re in the library. The other day, she dropped her thong on the table.” She giggled. “And Trevor took them and put them in his pocket.”
I rolled my eyes, even though she couldn’t see me. “How long have you been working with him?”
“A couple of weeks. Maiken, don’t worry, babe. It’s just tutoring.”
I trusted Quinn implicitly. However, I didn’t share her sentiment that Trevor was a nice guy. “Didn’t you tell me he gave you the creeps?”
She let out a breath. “Yeah, but I think I had him pegged all wrong. I think he was looking for attention.”
“Baby doll, I won’t hesitate to come home if he so much as tries anything.” I made a mental note to call Noah when I hung up with Quinn. He could keep an eye out since both of them played on the basketball team.
“Trevor isn’t going to do any such thing. I should get some sleep. Four a.m. comes super fast.”
“Before you go, you were about to tell me something.”
“It’s a surprise.” The sound of water running droned in the background.
Surprises weren’t my thing, but I couldn’t help but grin as butterflies came alive in my stomach. “What’s the occasion?” It wasn’t my birthday.