Page 164 of Quinlan

My arm stills mid-motion. My bare feet plant themselves to the floor. My shoulders tense.

Someone has entered the gym.

Not just anyone.

Her.

The smart move would be to settle my nerves before I turn around. Collect myself. Let the storm settle.

Here, I’m relaxing my shoulders. Dragging in a long breath. I’m fine.

I am not fine.

“Rome?”

Quinlan’s not supposed to be here. She’s not supposed to be able to leave the apartment.

She’s not supposed to be anywhere near me when I’m this worked up. When I’m—

“Rome?” Her palm rests on my sweaty shoulder.

I shake her off, whipping to face her. I overdo it. It’s too fast.

I’m still nothing close to being fine.

Both my hands grip the sides of her neck and then… I pick up on that scent. Food.

Being starved for long periods of time enhanced my sense of smell. For years, I’d been hunting for it. Literal breadcrumbs. Anything my parents might have forgotten to lock away.

A bite for me. The rest for Anne.

My nostrils flare. I hunt for the source of it, and I find it. One hand around Quinlan’s wrist, and I lift her hand up between us.

A chocolate bar. The colorful wrapping has been peeled, the untouched chocolate stares at me.

“What’s this?” There are more pressing questions, like how she got out of the apartment. How she knew I’d be here.

This takes precedence. This trap.

Quinlan’s after my secrets.

I admire her for it. I want to hand them over to her, too. To be as brave as her and Liam were up there, in her room, when they opened up the way they did.

Impossible.

When I’m like this, I can’t do the right thing.

There’s only war inside my head.

Whoever let her down here made the wrong motherfucking call.

“Chocolate?” she says with those pretty plump lips. Lips that are swollen from our abuse. “For you? Thought you might be hungry, um, after your workout?”

“Hungry?”

I haven’t been hungry in years. Whichever one of my friends brought Quinlan here ought to have known that. They didn’t tell her my stomach is always full. They let her walk into the lion’s den anyway. Let her see me in this state.

Another side of me. The real me.

---