Page 30 of Loving You

“Anyway, so Danny and most of the group will be here tomorrow. This is kismet, Quinn. All of us being in the same place at the same time before the big day. I know I’ve said this already, but this summer is really going to be the best one.”

Quinn’s face turns pale as she looks up at me, those green eyes begging me to help her.

I don’t show any reaction.

She’s hiding something from me, and as much as I think it’s going to be hard to pull this off and that pretending to date isn’t the right path to go down, one thing is clear.

I’m going to be Quinn Bank’s boyfriend for the next eight weeks.

CHAPTER SIX

QUINN

I’m a pretty put-together person. I like exactly two cups of coffee a day. I’d rather have a gummy daily vitamin than the hard ones that get lodged in my throat. I have to have matching pajamas sets at night. I like knowing that I don’t need to rely on anyone else to make any choice in my life. It’s my life.

Which is exactly why I hate that the moment Sully and Andy showed up, a sinking feeling hit my stomach. Like that first small instance when you think you’re going to be sick. Your body sits up in a jerk and your brain thinks,am I going to puke?

I hate even more that Miles picked up on my odd behavior in the snap of someone's fingers. I was going to tell him about my slip-up last summer, but I thought maybe I could wow him with my office skills and show him how valuable I could be or maybe even get a little further with this Cherry thing to show him how it works, and then he wouldn’t care that I had a plan, but now, I have to just rip off the Band-Aid.

That makes me nervous.

“Anyway, Andy’s parents are sitting on the other side of thebar near the bookstore, but we wanted to come say hi,” Sully says.

“We definitely need to do lunch or dinner, and oh gosh, you have to come to the wedding. Oh, and the festivals this town has. I hope we see you at all of them.”

I’m about to tell them I’m going to be busy, but it makes me even more sick to lie more than I have.

Miles clears his throat next to me. I glance at him at the same time Andy and Sully do, and we all catch the way Miles’s gaze falls to my hand on his thigh, his hand settled over mine.

“Oh my gosh, we are interrupting your lunch date. We will see you around.” Andy smiles, leaning in to hug me one more time before they walk away.

We all wave goodbye just as our lunch appears.

I ignore the way I can feel Miles watching me.

I can practically feel the heat of his questions breathing on my neck. I roll my shoulders as if I can shake them off.

“Care to explain?” he says, slowly turning to eat his lunch.

“Not really.”

He takes a bite of his burger, nodding.

Once he swallows, he says, “Let me rephrase that. Explain.”

I roll my eyes and dip my French fry into the mustard on my plate. I make sure he’s watching as I stick it in my mouth.

He cringes. “I want an explanation so much right now that I’ll suffer through watching you eat that nasty shit. I’ll watch you eat every single fry, Quinn.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Well, I won’t lie: you have the upper hand right now. I’m clearly in need of help in all areas of life and all of a sudden little Miss Perfect Quinn—oh, sorry, Quinny—shows up and saves the day. Yet, unexpectedly, it seems she might need some help of her own.”

“Are you saying that you enjoy seeing me uncomfortable?”

He shakes his head.

“I like seeing that you’re not as perfect as I thought you were.”

---