Page 10 of Love Collided

“How about you stop pushing her buttons and solve both of the problems?”

“I promise I will stop trying to purposefully push her buttons. I can’t promise it won’t happen by accident. I think I could say hello and it piss her off.”

He nodded, going back to work on the car and Ash came over to help him.

I just liked to annoy her, he had nothing to worry about at all.

Scout stood up after crawling under her car, looking way too hot for a girl covered in dirt. There was no reason I couldn’t stay away from her. I was here to hang out with Ash and Fox, maybe the rest of the crew, annoying her was only an added bonus.

There should be nothing about Scout that caught my attention.

FIVE

SCOUT

I stayedfocused on the car, losing myself in what I knew. One bolt and part after another, until this car ran better than ever.

By the time I looked up again, darkness had fallen and Chase’s car was still sitting outside.

Quinn walked in the back door, the cocked eyebrow letting me know they had all noticed my absence.

“Have you really been in here the entire time?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” she asked, her hands on her hips now.

“Because I see Chase’s car is still here, and I didn’t notice anyone leave to take him home yet.”

“He is back there, but I’m confused. Since when are you not the life of the party that loves everyone? You’re the one we have to drag away from a cookout, not drag to it.”

“And I always will be except when we invite stuck up rich boys.” She smiled, the slow curve of her lips making me nervous. “What is the smile about?”

“Just funny to see you so rattled. Did he do something terrible to you?”

“Besides cheat and call me ankle biter? If that doesn’t tell you what you need to know, I don’t know what will.”

She shrugged. “You are a mean little thing when you need to be. I wouldn’t go so far asankle-biter,” she said, smiling again. “But feisty enough to talk back if you need and I’m sure you could race him again.”

“And what happens when he’s a jerk again?” I turned back to the engine. “Why do the hot ones have to act like that?”

“Is that what this is about? You think he's hot?”

“No, I think he is just like those guys in high school that would give me shit for trying to dress up or look nice. You know how much I dealt with it back then, and it was usually from guys like him.”

“I honestly don’t know how anybody bullied you. You have a knife on you at all times and a group of men who will pull up to any fight for you. But we aren’t in high school. He isn’t here to make your life miserable. He’s here to hang out with some friends.”

“I think he is already making my life miserable,” I said with a small smile. “And don’t even tell me someone like him doesn’t have plenty of friends.”

“Maybe he doesn’t have a lot of good friends and you already know we are the best of the best.” Quinn’s smile dropped and she crossed her arms. “So really what I’m hearing is you think he’s hot and he’s just like those guys in high school that you had crushes on, but were jerks to you, and that’s pissing you off before you even give him a chance.”

“A chance to what? Hurt my feelings?”

“A chance to see if he’s actually a jerk like they were.”

“Ankle biter, Quinn, he’s calling me ankle biter.”

She tried to hide her laugh, but failed. “Interesting that you didn’t deny anything I said.”

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