Page 16 of Topping the Jock
“Oh, it’s fine.” Quinn smiled, looking between Neil and Tyler. In other words, he was avoiding my gaze. “I planned to grab a burger to go. Busy day today. It was good seeing you.” He nodded to them before going inside the restaurant.
“Okay,” I said to Tyler. “How do you know Quinn?”
He gave me a nervous smile, flashing the dimple in his cheek. “I know you gave him a hard time back in school, but he’s actually a really cool guy. He goes to the same gym as me and Neil. One day, he asked Neil to spot for him on the weight bench, and the three of us got to talking. We’ve been friendly ever since.”
“But you bullied him,” I said, still stunned. Quinn wouldn’t give me the time of day. Why was he all buddy-buddy with Tyler? And why did it irritate me so much?
“Not really.” Tyler furrowed his brow. “You know I love ya, man, but the way you and the other guys treated him never sat right with me. I was just too big of a chicken to stand up to you. I never went out of my way to be mean to him.”
Well, now I really felt like shit.
“We work together,” I said, looking down at the pavement and shifting my weight to my other foot. “I’ve tried talking to him, but he’s made it clear he wants nothing to do with me.”
“Maybe he needs time,” Tyler said. “I hope you guys can sort things out.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
Tyler and Neil got into a maroon blazer before leaving the restaurant. I stood in place, looking across the parking lot at the sea in the distance. Lost in my head.
“You’re still here.”
I looked over at Quinn. He wasn’t glaring at me for once. The smell of his burger drifted from the takeout box. But I smelled something else too, a hint of something woodsy and warm. My cock swelled.
Why did he have to smell good on top of being incredibly hot?
“You’re acknowledging me,” I said, putting a hand to my chest. “I’m shocked.”
He rolled his eyes. “Being ignored is good for you sometimes. Keeps you grounded. Otherwise, you’ll get a big head and start thinking you’re a king again.”
“Hey, I never thought I was a king.”
“You sure acted like it. People bowed down to you and kissed your pompous ass.”
“Your language offends me, Mr. Beck.”
Quinn scoffed, but he did a poor job of hiding his smile. “Your face offends me.”
“Wow,” I said, taken aback. “Now who’s the one being bullied? I’m gonna go home and cry.”
“Need me to buy you some tissues? Or maybe pull out my tiny violin and play you a little song? It’s the least I can do.”
A laugh burst from me. To my surprise, Quinn laughed too. Well, his was more like a slightly amused snort, but I’d take it. Whether he was amused by the thought of me crying or actually laughing with me, I didn’t know. But it felt good, regardless.
“You didn’t tell me you were friends with Tyler,” I said after a short pause.
“Didn’t know I had to tell you.” Quinn swiped a hand through his hair, moving his bangs aside. A nervous tic maybe? “Why does it matter to you who my friends are?”
I shrugged. “Guess I’m glad you were able to forgive him.”
“Tyler was never an asshole to me,” he said, moving his gaze to a loud truck that drove past the restaurant, the diesel engine rumbling as it went down the street. “Unlike you.”
I cracked a smile, more as a cover-up for how I really felt on the inside. That smile died when Quinn’s green eyes lifted to mine. With one look, he’d forced me to face the hurt I tried to hide.
“How long are you going to hold that over my head?” I asked, hating the slight shakiness in my voice. “I’ve apologized a million times, Quinn. What more can I do? I can’t change the past.”
“I know you can’t,” he said. “But it doesn’t change how I feel.”
“And how do you feel?”
