Page 8 of Sweetest Hate

Me:Cool. On my way out now.

Quinn already stood outside, leaning against the passenger door of my car. The sight of him standing there with his hand in one pocket while the other tapped on his phone brought a familiar pang to my chest. While Quinn was no longer that boy I'd stupidly fallen in love with when we were kids, being home again brought a sense of nostalgia.

As I strolled to a stop in front of him, he glanced up and grinned, the shit-eating kind that said he had something juicy to spill.

"I have news." He appeared to be in a much better mood than when I'd left him earlier.

I cocked a brow. "Care to share with the class?"

His grin broadened. "Bill has to head into the city for some work thing he couldn't get out of, and my mom's tagging along with him."

"So, the trip's canceled?"

"Nope." Quinn wiggled his eyebrows. "Even better. Bill said I could take some friends and still go. Party on the lake?"

I smiled as excitement raced through my veins. "Fuckin' right."

While I wasn't thrilled about watching girls smother Quinn and him enjoying every bit of the attention before he picked one out of the crowd, I was still ready to get out on the water.

Quinn shrugged one shoulder. "Good. Because I already invited everyone."

"Dick. You couldn't text me?" I snorted, circling around the hood of the car. I unlocked the door and slid inside. "Who's coming?"

Quinn's grin was smug as he settled in the passenger seat and looked at me. "Everyone."

Who knew how many people that actually meant? "And where does everyone plan on sleeping?"

"There's like ten bedrooms or something in the place and the living room is supposedly massive, so there should be enough room."

"I'm not sleeping with you if there's not enough room," I warned as I started the car. "I don't want to listen to you with girls."

Quinn snorted. "Duh. Now can we go eat please?"

"Yep." I pulled away from the curb and headed toward town. "What about Arsen?"

"What about him? I'm sure the dick will be here at the house when we get back." Quinn groaned.

Though I didn't want to poke at a sore spot, I needed to know how much Quinn actually knew about Arsen. "Did you know his mom abandoned him when he was a kid?"

Quinn was quiet for a second. "If you're trying to tell me I should cut him some slack for being an asshole, that isn't going to happen. We all have our own issues."

He'd dodged the question, making me wonder whether he had heard Arsen's story. But I was also aware Quinn was speaking from his own experience, and I pondered if his issues were the reason commitment seemed as unwelcome as a pop quiz on Monday mornings. There was no way I was diving into that part of his life and stirring up bad memories. But still, his callous reaction bothered me. Without another word, I headed for the pizza joint.

The tension vanished when we met up with our high school friends. Plans were made to bring beer, and as I'd expected, to round up some girls.

Quinn sat next to me in the booth as he animatedly talked about some of our past camping escapades.

"It'll be just like old times," Quinn assured us.

Now I just had to break the news to my mom. She'd understand and probably make me go even if I refused.

Three

Kellan

The winding roadto the cabin was lined with tall evergreen trees that saturated the air with the fresh scent of pine and spruce. The warm morning wind rushed through the open windows tousling my hair. I breathed in the distinct smell of the freshwater lake as we drew closer to our destination.

Shinedown's latest hit played through my car's speakers as Quinn and I led the line of vehicles filled with our friends and their tagalongs. After an hour-long trip to the cabin, which had passed in a blur of unfamiliar country roads that eventually blended into the vast wooded area, we finally made the turn onto an uneven dirt road driveway. The bumpy mounds of earth gave way to cracked rocks that crunched beneath the tires, and the trees that towered over us opened up into a clearing where the cabin sat two stories high. I whistled as I took in the giant structure. Thecabinwas more of a lake house or lake mansion.

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