Page 68 of Heart of Gold
He bursts into a fit of laughter, “That might be my new favorite way to refer to what just happened.”
I blow out a ragged breath, “Well, you’re welcome to do that anytime you want.”
His beautiful smile fills his face, “Oh trust me, I plan on doing that every single chance I get.”
A huge grin invades my face and he continues, “And you know what else I plan on doing?”
“Getting that pizza out before it’s black?” I tease.
“Making you fall for me.”
I can’t keep the redness from painting my cheeks, “Yeah?”
“You better believe it.”
chapter twenty-eight
Gavin
Practice ran long today and by the time I got off the field and into my driveway, it was after eleven. That’s why I’m surprised when I see Quinn sitting on my front steps.
Her head is hung low and when she looks up, her eyes are tear stained. I quickly take her in my arms and she sobs.
“What’s wrong, what happened?”
After a few minutes of rambling and hyperventilating, she finally tells me everything about the night her mom died.
“Raelynn told the police everything. Liv called me earlier. She got arrested.”
I push her bangs out of her face, wet with tears. “How did you find all of this out?”
“Grayson came to my dorm. Rae is facing a lot of charges.”
I can’t help but feel a ping of jealousy that he’s still dropping by her dorm unannounced. I push those feelings aside and be as supportive as I can.
“That explains why he skipped out of practice early. Is there anything I can do?”
She shakes her head, “No. I just didn’t know who to talk to about all this. It wasn’t realistic for me to drive home. Liv told me I could if I wanted to but it just didn’t seem like the right thing to do. Ava had a meeting with her advisor this evening and I haven’t heard from her since. I know you have a big game this weekend. I’m sorry to just show up and dump this all on you.”
“I’m glad you chose to come here.” I wipe a tear from her cheek bone. “Fuck the game. Do you wanna talk about it?”
She takes a deep breath and nods.
“Come on,” I say. “Let’s go inside, your arms are freezing.”
She follows me through the door, and I’m shocked to see a girl on the couch with Levi. He didn’t mention anyone was coming over and there’s no car in the driveway. When I get closer I realize who it is, her hair is darker than I remember.
“Allie?”
She smiles, “Hey, Gav.”
“Hey,” I say, pulling Quinn closer by her hand. “This is Quinn.”
“Hi, I’m Alabama, but everyone calls me Allie.” She says softly, but if I didn’t know better I’d think Allie had been crying too. I know for a fact Levi hasn’t seen Allie in a year so what exactly is she doing here?
What a weird night.
Quinn and I head upstairs and lay in my bed with her head on my chest for what feels like hours, and eventually her breathing evens out. I don’t dare wake her up, but I do slip my arm out since it’s starting to go numb, and pull the blanket up over her.
