Page 22 of Fast Break
“He can’t go home,” Trey reiterates.
“I know. I meant I’ll take him back to my place.” Yes, yes that option, please. I want to join in the conversation but it seems to be taking place without me and I think I’ve forgotten how to speak anyway.
“You sure?”
“Course. Wait here for me, yeah?” Quinn replies. He moves away and I want to reach out and grab him but my arms aren’t working that well either. I slump against Trey and watch as Quinn walks back to his group of friends, too-pretty Jace amongst them who is eyeing me with what I can only describe as open hostility.
“He’s so nice,” I finally manage to get out.
“Who? Quinn?” Trey replies.
“Yeah. He’s so, so nice,” I clarify.
“Well he’s about to save your ass so I’ll have to agree with you on that one,” Trey says. “You sure you don’t mind going home with him?”
“Not at all. He’s so nice, Trey,” I assure my cousin. “And his eyelashes. Have you seen them? They’re like …feathers.”
He chokes on a laugh. “Can’t say I’ve noticed his lashes, cuz.”
Silence descends for the moment until Quinn’s nice blue WRX is pulling up on the street in front of us and Trey is hauling me to my feet. Quinn is there too, his hands on me as he and my cousin move me into the front seat. I wish I could tell them I can handle it but I kind of can’t, and I also really don’t mind the feel of Quinn’s hands on me like that. His face is right in front of me as he leans across to strap my seatbelt in and I have this urge to smell him. And he smells divine, as good as I imagined he would as I inhale a long breath of him.
“You smell good,” I sigh, barely registering Quinn’s soft chuckle.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Trey says as he leans on the open door, peering across at Quinn as he shifts into the driver’s seat. His eyes carry a warning, and I can’t help but smile at how protective my cousin is of me.
“Love you, cuz,” I tell him.
“Love you too, bro,” he replies, glancing across at Quinn again.
Next minute the door is closed and it’s just me and Quinn alone in the car, Quinn who smells so delicious and looks so good and has those amazing lashes and I just want to enjoy the ride with him. Instead, my eyes close shut and I only know that because next minute we’re at Quinn’s house and he is hauling me out of the car. His arms are wrapped around me all nice and tight while he leads me to his house.
“This way, JT,” he encourages, one hand on my hip, the other under my arms.
“You’re so nice, Quinn,” I sigh, leaning my head on his shoulder. I hear him huff out another laugh while he unlocks the door. Next, we have the stairs to navigate and that is not as easy as it sounds but we make it up there, me leaning heavily onto Quinn as his hands do all the work. I want to just curl up into him and breathe in his delicious scent all night long.
My eyelids are droopy and I am not entirely sure what happens next before I feel something nice and warm wrap around me and I am out cold.
***
I wake up alone and disoriented, limbs heavy and head feeling fifty types of nasty. I rub my eyes as they slowly open and it takes me a few seconds before I realise I’m in Quinn’s bedroom. Another glance around me confirms I am in fact, in Quinn’s bed, his soft blue comforter squeezed around me. My heart jumps right up into my throat while I try to gain my bearings.
Quinn is nowhere to be seen but a moment later I register the sound of the shower running in his ensuite. My stomach gives another resounding kick. Because that means Quinn is in there—naked and wet—in the room right next door. And suddenly I’m assaulted with a whole set of new emotions as that realisation settles around me.
How the fuck did I end up here in Quinn’s bed? I glance down at myself, kind of relieved to discover I am fully dressed in the jeans and polo I wore to Insanity last night. I look across at the pillow beside me, noting the indentation and the clearly slept in state of the bedding. My cheeks light up like the dawn sun. Did I sleep here in Quinn’s bed? Beside him?
Ho – ly fuck.
I am seconds away from full hyperventilation mode when the sound of the water shuts off. I slam back down onto the pillow, sealing my eyes tight shut. It’s not that I’m afraid of Quinn but I am the first to admit I need a few more minutes to process the fact I have woken up in his bed. Where we apparently slept—in the literal sense—together.
The bathroom door opens and I feel the warm, steamy air invade the room but I keep my eyes clamped shut. I hear Quinn pad across the room, and I cannot help but take a peek but no,oh holy hell, that is not a good move on my part. Quinn has his back to me but the only thing covering him is the plain blue towel wrapped around his waist. His back is nice, so very, very nice, and I can’t peel my eyes away.
But then—oh wait for it—he drops the towel, and it takes everything within me not to react to the fact that Quinn is now completely, totally naked. But I am only human and I cannot stop the little gasp that leaks out of my mouth while my blood rushes south and my dick pushes up against the zip in my jeans.
I can only see his ass but oh, it’s a nice ass if that is a thing I’m allowed to say? His body is trim and toned, his skin a few shades paler than mine. He’s not packing in the muscle department, but I don’t think that’s a negative whatsoever as my eyes spill over his flesh. I’m still reeling when Quinn proceeds to ruin the moment as he steps into a pair of boxers.
It's only then I realise I am blatantly perving. I clamp my eyes shut so tight I’m sure it looks completely unnatural. I will myself to keep them closed but I actually just don’t think I can, and I open them just in time to see Quinn stepping into a pair of jeans. My eyes fall to his crotch before moving up to the naked expanse of his chest.
Breathe, JT. Just breathe.
