Page 28 of When Wrecked Meets Ruined
“I can’t believe I’m having a party tonight,” Quinn said.
I spun around on my inflatable donut to face her. Instinctively, she folded her arms over her stomach to hide the scars. I gave her a pointed look, and she sighed, dropping her arms to her side. Quinn’s scars were something to be proud of rather than to hide, and I hoped one day she would realize that.
Unfortunately, that day hadn’t come yet. When she looked in the mirror, the scars must have looked worse than they really were. That’s how mirrors worked.
“I feel like such a badass.” She flashed me a bright smile. My best friend was beautiful, with long honey blonde hair, big hazel eyes, and a smile that could light up a room. Hell, it could light up the entire night sky.
But Quinn Cavanaugh was the furthest thing from a badass you could get.
No, that wasn’t entirely true. At only eighteen, Quinn had already undergone two kidney transplants. She was strong and fierce in her own unique way, but she was a good girl to the core. Not a rotten apple like me.
“That’s because youare a badass.”
“Yeah, I am.” She lifted her arms and moved her body to the beat of the house mix pouring from the surround sound speakers. “The badass is in the house tonight.”
We were laughing, but a wave of sadness washed over me.
I’d be lost without her when she left for California in the fall. Not that I’d ever tell her that. Quinn was special, she was my person, and more than anything, I wanted all her dreams to come true.
“By the way, Jesse and I worked three shifts together this week, and I ignored him.” She gave me a triumphant smile, so proud of herself.
Jesse was her oldest brother’s friend, an ex-motocross racer, and nine years older. He also happened to be Ridge’s cousin. Another McCallister with an inflated ego. Quinn had been obsessed with him since she was a kid. Now that he was back in Texas for the summer working for her brothers, this had disaster written all over it.
“Good. Jesse’s a dick. You deserve someone better.”
“He’s not—”
I held up my hand to stop her words. “Don’t even try to defend him. He hurt you. Just remember how he acted and the things he said to you.” I really wanted her to move on from her obsession with Jesse because I knew, in the end, he would only hurt her.
He would be fine, she would be devastated, and that would make me ragey.
Nobody hurt my best friend and got away with it.
“Walker seems into you,” I said. “He’s not a total douchebag. He’d be perfect for a summer fling.”
“A summer fling?” she asked skeptically like the concept was foreign to her.
“Get in, get out, no strings attached.”
“Maybe.”
She didn’t sound convinced. But I wouldn’t give up until she put Jesse out of her mind and her heart. He didn’t deserve her.
I dropped the subjectfor nowand closed my eyes, soaking up the late afternoon sun. I’d worked the breakfast and lunch shift today and had another early shift tomorrow, but for now, I could relax.
Quinn’s house looked like a Tuscan villa, and whenever I came over, I felt like I was on vacation at a five-star resort. Beautiful, perfect, and stress-free. I didn’t have to worry about Wade showing up to hassle me. Or my mother throwing shit at my car. A few days ago, she’d been high on something and screaming that I was the devil.
I shoved the bad memories deep inside and released the tension in my body as I drifted across the pool. Pure bliss.
“What about you and Ridge?” Quinn asked, completely ruining my Zen. “He seems really into you.”
“Trust me. He’s not.”
“I disagree. I saw the way he looked at you.”
“Like he wanted to put his dick inside me. That’s the only way he looks at me.” The same way most guys looked at me.
She shook her head, disputing that. “I saw something different. Just give him a chance, Evie.”
