Page 93 of Turning Up the Heat

I huffed out the breath I’d been holding, kicking at my couch. “Damn it!”

Now what?Things with Delaney were worse than before. I did not understand women. Hell, I might not even understand people.

Buzz.My cell vibrated on the coffee table. I picked it up and saw a text from Ryder.

R: How’d it go with Delaney?

Q: Horrible

R: Ugh. Want to talk about it?

Q: Not really

Right on cue, my phone rang. Ryder. That dude could not take a hint.

“I just said I didn’t want to talk about,” I mumbled into the phone, pouring myself a shot of whiskey. Fuck it.

“That’s why I’m calling you. When you don’t want to talk about something is when you need to talk about it the most. What happened, man? Delaney was really upset when she called me looking for you. I thought for sure you guys would kiss and make up.”

“Ppfft. The complete opposite happened.”

“What’d you say?” Ryder asked, a concerned edge to his voice. Like I was some kind of a loose cannon or something.

“Nothing, man. I told her to do what she wants.”

“Seriously, Quinn?”

“What? Isn’t that the right thing to say? Supportive of her dreams and all that shit?”

Ryder chuckled. “Ummm, I’m feeling the tender loving care right through the phone. No idea why that conversation went south. Dude. I’m no relationship expert—clearly—but I’m pretty sure she probably wanted to hear something along the lines of ‘I want you to stay.’ Or ‘I support you and I’ll be there for you.’ Like, in New York.”

I took a deep breath. “Shit. Really?”

“Yeah. Want me to ask Bree?”

“No. Please don’t involve her.”

“He’s right, Quinn.” Bree’s voice echoed in the background.

“Dude, am I on speaker? I freaking hate that.”

“I knew you’d never talk to her. But she’s adating expert, Quinn. And God knows, you need the help.”

I shook my head, took a swallow of the amber liquid and relished the burn as it slid down my throat. It didn’t really dampen my annoyance, though. “Whatever. Okay, since Dr. Love is in on it now, what do I do? How can I fix this?” Damn, it pained me to ask for help. But I couldn’t risk losing Delaney.

“Hey, Quinn. So my advice for you? Find her and tell her you don’t want her to go. Trust me—she doesn’t really want to leave. But she’s torn between love and her career. If you really want to win her back, how about offering up a compromise? Like a long-distance relationship? You could do that for a while, right?”

“I guess,” I said, staring at the ashes in the fireplace. “For Delaney, I would.”

“Sometimes you have to put yourself out there, even if it’s risky. You can do it, I have faith in you,” Bree said, her smooth voice reassuring.

I set my glass down and gazed up at the ceiling.I hated the long-distance thing.I’d tried that with Julia and look how that turned out. And I wanted to see Delaney every day, have her in my bed every night.

“Gotta go. Thanks.” I disconnected, shoving my phone in my pocket.

Dumping the remains of my glass in the sink, I checked the fire and made certain all the embers were out, then locked the door and headed down the windy road, back to Peachtree Grove. I just hoped I wasn’t too late.

27

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