Page 21 of Surviving in Everton

Sadly, Rowen gives in to her dramatics, kissing me on the lips one last time, and unwrapping her legs from around me. I gently set her down on the ground and turn to glare at Quinn.

“Just so you know, if you had been five minutes later, you would have walked in on a whole different scene,” I grumble.

Rowen’s eyes widen in horror and she smacks me in the stomach. “No, she wouldn’t have. I’m not gonna fuck you at work, Ayden Carrington!” she huffs, but I’m fairly certain I could have convinced her.

“Yeah, yeah, moving on.” Quinn rolls her eyes at us. “I need some girl talk, so you’re gonna have to go play with Hudson now, Ayden.”

“Sheesh, okay I’ll leave you to it then. Don’t get into too much trouble,” I tease them and kiss Rowe one last time. “Love you, Doll,” I whisper before I head out front to see if Hudson needs any help.

Chapter 10

Rowen

“Okay, spill. Why are you really here interrupting my sexy time?” I ask Quinn with a raised brow.

“What? I wasn’t lying. I miss you. I haven’t seen you in forever. Oh don’t look at me like that,” she scolds me when I give her a look like she’s lost her mind. Though, I mean, she kinda has. It hasn’t been that long.

“We just saw each other on Saturday,” I remind her with a roll of my eyes. She’s so dramatic sometimes.

“Well, yeah okay, but tell me I haven’t missed something, something big, in the past few days,” she counters, and I can’t argue with that, so I sigh instead.

“Fine. How’d you know?”

“Rowe. We talk every day. I haven’t even gotten a text from you since Sunday when you told me the guys were coming over for an early dinner to celebrate Violet’s first day of school. Hell, I didn’t even get a first day of school pic!” she exclaims.

Fuck! I didn’t send anyone first-day pics. God, I’m such an awful mom.

“Stop it! Don’t you look like that. It’s fine, Rowe, but that’s how I know something is wrong. And not something small and petty, like one of the guys snores or some shit. So just talk to me, okay?”

I bite my bottom lip but nod. “Okay, I’ll tell you everything at my house. I’ll go let the guys know I’m leaving.”

We walk out of the kitchen and I see Ayden and Hudson talking in hushed tones at the counter. I don’t know what those two are up to, but I don’t have time to find out. I walk up behind Hudson and pull an Ayden, wrapping my arms around his waist and putting my cheek against his back. He grabs a hold of my forearms and squeezes.

“You heading out, Sugar?” he asks me gently.

“Yeah.” I sigh as I squeeze him tighter. “It’s been brought to my attention that I’ve been a bad friend these past few days. So I’m gonna have to take Quinn home and have a little conversation.” I end with a groan, and the guys both chuckle.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine, and Quinn does not think you’ve been a bad friend. She’ll understand once you tell her what’s been going on. You’ve been preoccupied, but it’ll be good for you to have Q in your corner. Go home and catch her up on things. When school gets out we’re all meeting at your house. The kids will play in the playhouse and we’ll talk about what Ayden found out today, okay?” Hudson encourages.

I nod my head against his back. “Yeah, it’ll be fine, I know that. I just don’t wanna talk about it. Talking about it makes it real. I’ve been doing a good job ignoring it and acting like everything is okay. I’m a little scared of what will happen to that wall I built to protect myself when I tell Quinn. I have a feeling a tidal wave is going to come smash it to bits and there’ll be nothing left to protect me from the multitude of emotions that are dying to swallow me whole,” I admit.

Hudson turns in my arms and tilts my head up by my chin. “Even if a tidal wave smashesallof your walls to bits, we will still be here for you. You are never alone, Rowen, and telling Quinn will add more people to the army that will help protect you from your thoughts and feelings,” Hudson reassures me, then kisses me gently on the lips.

I smile softly at Hudson. He always knows what to say to make me feel better. I turn to give Ayden a hug goodbye and he sweeps me up in his arms.

“It’ll be fine, Doll, don’t worry so much. Go have some girl time. We’ll see you in a couple hours,” he whispers in my ear then pulls back and kisses me soundly on the lips.

I turn around to find Quinn smirking at me. I roll my eyes at her and walk away. My car’s parked out back, so I head back through the kitchen. “I’ll meet you there,” I tell her as I walk past.

* * *

Pullingup to my house I find Quinn already there waiting for me on the porch swing. I turn off the car and take a deep breath before finally getting out. Quinn sits there swinging as she waits for me to reach her, stopping the swing for me to sit down and turning to face me.

“Alright spill,” she demands. “I know something’s going on, so don’t even try to hide it.”

“I wasn’t going to,” I retort. “And I haven’t been hiding it from you, I’ve just been preoccupied and I guess it slipped my mind,” I defend. She gives me a look and raises her eyebrow at me, so I sigh and square my shoulders. “Okay, well… it seems you were right. Harris spelled me. We think he mixed some potion in my nightly tea,” I finally admit and her eyes widen to the size of saucers.

“When did you figure this out? And why the hell didn’t youcallme?!?” she screeches.

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