Page 26 of Fast Break
“I’m kind of surprised. I didn’t think you’d be wearing that off for a while,” Trey murmurs. “You were pretty messed up, bro.”
“Hmm, well, I didn’t actually get home until late last night and they were still out by then,” I admit, not sure whether I should have told my cousin this news or not. But we both know I am the world’s worst liar.
“Really? Where were you?”
“Um, I was at Quinn’s.” I fixate back on my laces.
“Really? You spent the whole day with him?” Trey asks. I know that if I look up I will find a v creasing the space between his eyes. But I can’t bring myself to look at him just now, certain I will give something away I’m not really prepared to deal with just yet.
“Yeah,” I shrug. “I told you, he’s nice.”
“Yeah, cuz, you said that about twenty times already,” Trey eyerolls. I can’t quite tell if he’s amused or not. “So, what did you do?”
“What did I do?” I repeat.
“With Quinn.Allnight andallday?”
“Oh, um,” I swallow, definitely picking up on my cousin’s pointed questions now. “Nothing much. Just watched a bit of Netflix. You know.” And went for a walk in the forest behind Quinn’s house and lay in the sun until it set, feeling more at peace than I had ever felt in all my life. Amy was home by the time Quinn and I arrived back from our walk and she had picked up enough takeaway that I ended up staying for dinner too. I wasn’t sure if I had overstayed my welcome by then but Quinn had seemed happy to keep me a little longer.
“You watched Netflix all day?”
“No, not all day. We also went for a walk in the forest,” I tell him, rising to my feet and walking out of the locker room. I am not prepared for a grilling from my cousin. I don’t have the answers to his questions, and I don’t want to talk with him about Quinn anymore. I have enough going on in my head about Quinn and I need this morning’s training session to give myself a break.
Trey leaves me alone, but I can feel his eyes on me through our training session. Coach Vizard is in a mood and he makes us pay for it out on the court. I am admittedly still a little fuzzy from Friday night and I almost feel like throwing up when he finally calls time.
Trey is waiting for me when I slump onto the bench in the locker room, and I really hope he’s not going to start up on more questions about Quinn.
“You want to get some lunch and then hit the gym?” he asks instead. This is a normal line of conversation with my cousin and I’m so relieved that he seems to have dropped the Quinn interrogation that I agree.
Even though the thought of the gym after that gruelling training session makes me feel more than a little queasy.
***
I walk into science class on Monday morning, eyes immediately seeking out Quinn’s. He’s in his usual seat in the front row, his eyes on me too. He sends me a lazy smile as his gaze traces me up and down. A takeaway coffee cup sits on the table as I slide in beside him, while Trey moves to the back row where he and Millie immediately start playing tonsil hockey.
“Hi,” I say, that annoying shyness descending on me like it always does in his presence. I am not a shy, quiet guy but something about Quinn has me turning into this stuttering, incoherent, uncoordinated mess.
“Hi,” he grins, blue eyes alight with something as he fixes his attention on me. “How was your Sunday?”
I like how he only asked about Sunday rather than the weekend. He already knows how half of it went seeing as we spent it together.
“Good,” I smile. “Although Coach tried to kill us at training and then for some mad reason I decided to hit the gym with Trey in the afternoon.”
He huffs a laugh as he takes a sip of his coffee. “Thanks for reminding me why I don’t do sport.”
“I can’t imagine not doing sport. I kind of live for it,” I tell him. I glance up at him but look away again as I feel his eyes scrutinising me.
“Yeah. I can see that about you. It’s good to have a passion.”
“What did you do yesterday?” I ask.
“Nothing as interesting as you. I visited my gran and then spent the rest of the day studying.”
“You’re a good student,” I say.
He just shrugs. “Well, I am planning on getting into law school so I gotta get the grades for that.”
“I’m sure you will. You’re the smartest person I know,” I tell him, realising I sound a little gushing. But it’s true. He is so smart and I am in awe of him.
