Page 73 of Fragile

I shake my head, racking my brain. “No, and he used to suck at drawing when we were kids.”

“Hey!” Miles protests, poking my side.

“What? It’s true. But at least you were always good at sports.”

“I knew it!” Hudson exclaims. “He can’t be good at everything.”

“I am, though,” Miles counters, ripping some pale-yellow tape with his teeth, and he’s never looked sexier.

“You’re mediocre at best. I guarantee it.” Hudson laughs as he swirls a pink pen between his fingers.

“Wanna bet?”

Hudson leans forward and surveys Miles’s face. “Yeah, I do. Fifty bucks says my scrapbook is better than yours by the end of the year.”

“Pffff,” he huffs. “Easy.”

“No asking Quinn for tips either. That’s cheating.”

Miles side glances at me, then winks. “Fine, no cheating. I’ll still kick your ass.”

“Big talk for a guy who has zero artistic talent, according to our scrapbook club leader.”

“She doesn’t realize how many talents I have,” Miles replies suggestively, and it makes me choke on absolutely nothing. To make matters worse, my brother takes that opportunity to look up and frown at me.

“You okay, Quinn?” Seb asks.

Clearing my throat, I smile, eyes watery. “I’m good, I have this cough that’s more of a tickle, really, but it’s super annoying. I think one of the girls on the squad has it too. I probably got it from her. Maybe I’ll get some cough syrup later, or maybe some cough drops. Yeah, I’ll go…later.” I nod awkwardly, cheeks still warm from my ramble. My brother just replies with a single hum and goes back to his scrapbook. I know he’s working on something for Indie, so he's been quiet today, focused, which is good for me. Great for me, because he isn’t paying attention.

I can’t look at Miles, it’d be too obvious right now.

Jay catches my eye, though, as he shakes his head. “I’m going to grab some water. You look like you need one too, Quinn, come with me?” he asks before getting up and walking away.

I stand and follow him over to the small kitchen area as he pulls the fridge open, passes me a water, and narrows his eyes at me.

“What?” I squeak, even though I know what.

“Nothing,” he says, opening his water, twisting the cap slowly, as though he’s waiting for me to crack and tell him something. I open mine too and tip the cool liquid into my mouth, and when I look back, he’s still watching me.

“Seriously, what?”

Briefly flicking his eyes to the other side of the room, he looks back to me. “So, is it a secret?”

I absently squeeze the water bottle in my hands. “Is what a secret?”

“Sério?”Really?he says in his native tongue.

My eyes widen, knowing I’m going to have to come clean to one more person. “Okay, okay,” I begin, putting my bottle on the counter beside him. “You have to promise not to say anything.”

He makes a cross over his heart. “So, you and Miles?”

“Yeah, for a little while now. But you can’t tell Seb.” I rush out. “I’m not ready to…”

“Share your guy?”

I nod. “Is that bad of me?”

His shoulder lifts. “I won’t say anything; I know how close you all are. Seb is distracted with Indie most of the time, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out the way you were looking at each other over there.”

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