Page 23 of Seven Lost Summers
But if that happens, I don’t know if I can come back from that.
Chapter 5
Nate
Hername’sstillamystery, but she’s already under my skin.
She played that guitar with a focus I’ve never seen. Not only skill, but control.
Every note carried weight. She didn’t care who was watching, yet somehow, she commanded that entire fucking room. Including me.
Now I’m stuck on her. She’s in my head, turning the volume up on things I rarely let in. I keep replaying the way her fingers moved, the way the sound slammed straight into my chest. This pull isn’t the usual kind. It’s something I don’t have any words for.
Maybe that’s what unsettles me the most.
I need to find out who the hell she is.
Quinn Thomas is the only one who might give me the right answers, but getting anything out of her is a fucking challenge.
She’s propped against the lockers, phone in hand, scrolling like the world is on mute. There’s chaos everywhere and she’s tuned it all out without blinking.
She knows exactly what kind of attention she attracts.
How many guys would crawl through glass just to get a glance. But Quinn doesn’t give a shit. She doesn’t chase approval. She doesn’t need anyone to like her, especially not me. That’s what makes her dangerous. She plays her own game…always has.
I step up to her and Quinn doesn’t even pretend to care.
She lifts her eyes only enough to skim over me, that flat, bored stare already cutting. The one that says I’m old news and barely worth her time. Normally, she’d shut things down fast by walking off or telling me to fuck off. She never plays along. Never bites. But this time I don’t lead with a cocky smirk or some half-sleazy line.
“The new girl. Who is she?”
Quinn arches a brow, dragging it out like she’s already decided this is her entertainment for the day.
“Why?”
I clench my jaw. Swallow the urge. Keep cool. What I want is answers.
She holds my stare a beat too long, those sharp green eyes digging in like she’s peeling me open, deciding whether I’m worth the answer or should be made to fucking grovel for the truth. After that comes the smirk that always shows up when she’s got the upper hand.
“Bianca.” She drops the name casually.
I nod once. “Okay.”
After that, I turn away.
“What, no sleazy pickup line today? No charming little ego boost for yourself?” Quinn calls after me, her voice dripping with mockery.
I keep walking, smirking. “Not in the mood to be rejected.”
She laughs. “You disappoint me, Reynolds.”
As I walk away, I remind myself to keep my guard up. The problem isn’t that Bianca is already in my head, stirring things I rarely let through. I need to be considerate of Theo.
For the first time, Theo actually gives a shit about a girl.
That never happens. He doesn’t do that, or reach out to anyone. Doesn’t do crushes or chase. He’s the opposite of me. He holds himself back from everything, afraid that if he lets anyone in, they’ll see the fucked-up mess he’s spent years trying to hide.
The only time I’ve seen him let someone touch him was the night I talked Lydia into dropping to her knees. I thought he’d want that.
