Page 96 of Fair Catch

A tiny smirk curls the corner of his lips, popping a dimple. “Oakley’s in the shower, so I have a few minutes of solitude. Why?”

Once again, I hesitate, not sure where to start with the events of the past two months.

Just fucking say it.

“I slept with Kason,” I finally blurt out.

He can’t hide his surprise, brows shooting upward in an instant. “No shit.”

I nod, before adding. “Since October.”

I’m not sure how I expected him to react, but it definitely wasn’t his jaw dropping open and him shouting, “You’ve been holding out on me, you fucker!” loud enough to wake the dead.

“Calm down, you overly dramatic nympho,” I hiss, not wanting him to draw Oakley’s attention. “I didn’t think you wanted the dirty details of my sex life.”

Snorting, he mutters, “You should know me far better than that.”

He does have a point. Q’s been around for the few relationships I’ve been in, and he knows I’m not the type to just sleep with someone on a whim. It’s one of the many ways my best friend and I are total opposites: He’s a manwhore—albeit reformed, now. Meanwhile, I’m the equivalent of a monk in a cock cage thanks to my need to emotionally connect with someone before ever sleeping with them, and that’s not even taking into account my distaste for people.

The same distaste I had for Kason that Quinton knows all about. It’s why the question in his eyes is loud and clear well before it finally leaves his mouth. “How the hell did it happen? I mean, I thought you hated him.” He pauses, his eyes widening animatedly before he adds, “Wait, are you hate fucking? Can you do that when you’re demi? Hate is as deep of an emotion as any—”

“Oh, my God,” I cut in, chuckling at his barrage of questions. “We aren’t having hate-sex, so you can cool it. We’re…in a relationship.”

The fact that he looks disappointed in that answer has me laughing even more.

“Okay, so if it’s not hate-sex, where the hell did that come from?”

I shrug. “Left fucking field, apparently.”

“Look, I know you’re basically a genius,” he starts, arching a brow, “but that’s the wrong sport, Hayes.”

“Oh, fuck off,” I mutter, laughing some more. “Leave it to you to bullshit with me when I’m telling you semi-earth-altering news.”

He lets out a hum, face contorting in disagreement. “Earth-altering isn’t exactly the wayI’ddescribe it, but—”

“I’m hanging up now.”

Quinton chuckles, both dimples in full view now. “Dramatic as always. But I take it this little call is for more than just to tell me your dry spell is over. So what’s up?”

“I dunno, I just…” A stupid smile crosses my face, and I shake my head. “I dunno. Anyway, how’s it—”

“Oh, my God,” he cuts in, sitting up through the phone screen. “You really like him.”

“Obviously I like him if I’m in a relationship with him.”

He rolls his eyes, evidently annoyed by my smart-assery. “Don’t bullshit me, Hayes. I’ve known you too long for you to get away with it.”

He’s right.

I’m in really fucking deep, being dragged under by emotions I don’t fully understand yet. In the few relationships I’ve been in, I’ve never felt this. The want to keep going forward. Looking toward the future, and feeling excited for what it might hold, despite it being unknown.

And I can’t help the smile that crosses my face all over again.

“I do, yeah. A lot.”

“Damn, that’s wild considering you were ready to murder him the moment he moved in.” He shakes his head, clearly still trying to process the information. “What changed?”

Everything.

---