Page 36 of Topping the Jock
It was great to be home.
“Twenty-nine isn’t that bad,” a familiar voice said from behind me. “Don’t jump.”
I looked over my shoulder to see Quinn, his hair ruffling in the wind as he walked toward me. He wore a light jacket and a checkered shirt underneath it, looking both stylish and adorable. I had told him where I was, so I wasn’t surprised he’d found me.
“I knew you cared about me,” I said, looking back at the sunset with a smile.
Quinn stepped up beside me, staring out over the water. “As I said before, what would I do without my greatest enemy?”
I turned toward him, resting against the railing. “Am I really your enemy? Still?”
Green eyes peered at me through dark lashes before he looked away. Saying nothing.
“You’re allowed to like me,” I said, wondering why he was fighting it so hard.
“Idon’tlike you.”
“Maybe so. But you don’t hate me either. Not anymore, anyway.”
His gaze flickered back to me, his lips slightly parting before he licked them. “I don’t know what I feel. Or what I think.”
“So stop thinking.” I placed my hand beside his on the rail, my heart picking up speed when he moved his closer, his pinky brushing mine. “Listen to your body instead. What’s it telling you?”
“To punch you,” he said, his lips twitching when our eyes met.
“And after punching me?”
Quinn sighed, moving his hand away. I fought the urge to snatch it back. “I shouldn’t have come here.”
“Why did you?”
“Because…” He put his back to the railing and stared up at the run-down Ferris wheel that had once been the perfect hangout spot for teens back in our day but now stood motionless and rusted. “I can’t stop thinking about that day in the locker room when we kissed. It’s like a movie playing in my head. I’ve tried ignoring you this past week, and it only made me want you more.”
“Here I thought you just wanted to give me birthday spankings.”
Quinn laughed, the sound full and having a slight rasp. “That too.” He turned his head toward me as the breeze picked up again, the wind catching the ends of his bangs. “Know what else?”
“Tell me. I’ve learned your secrets are highly arousing.”
Hello, voyeurism. I still couldn’t believe he’d gotten off on seeing me fuck someone else.
He rolled his eyes. “I’m trying to be serious, Monty.”
“Oh, I’m being serious,” I said, trying to keep a straight face but smiling when his suspicious gaze landed on me. “But from experience, the secrets you’ve told me have, uh, made for some interesting nighttime reflection. My wrist hates you, though.”
His eyes closed, briefly, before opening again. He couldn’t mask the amusement in them, no matter how hard he tried. “Are you finished?”
“Yeah. Go on.” I made the motion to go with it.
“How kind of you,” he said, then returned his gaze to the Ferris wheel.
The pier was mostly empty with the exception of a couple walking hand in hand not far from us. By their excited, yet nervous, smiles, I would’ve bet anything they were on their first date. I wonder what they’d say about me and Quinn.
“I realized I missed talking to you,” Quinn said, his voice so quiet I almost didn’t catch his words. “By ignoring you all week, I thought it would irritate you, especially after what we did in the locker room. But instead it irritatedmebecause you seemed unaffected. There I was trying to play hard to get, but you were the one in control the whole time. And it pisses me off. I’m tired of you being the one calling the shots.”
“I wasn’t unaffected,” I responded. “Guess I’m just good at hiding it.” I smiled as his words registered. “You missed me, huh?”
Quinn shook his head. “It still doesn’t mean I like you. Only that I find you slightly less annoying than before.”
