Page 64 of Toxic Obsession

Chapter34

Wynter

Iwas clearly too exhausted to have that conversation. A soft giggle escaped me, and instead of stuffing it down, it grew into a full-on belly laugh. Tears flowed down my cheeks as I doubled over and sank to the floor, unable to get a hold of myself. Gasping for air, I finally managed to control my crazy outburst. I peeked at Quinn who looked like he wanted to toss me out of his window for laughing about something so serious.

“Is that what Adam told you?”

“A few days before I played the video at the party, Adam told me that Drew had confided in him. Apparently, Kyler went to Drew for help with an abortion for Bell. Adam said when you learned about the baby you shamed and bullied Bell for wanting an abortion.”

I snorted. “I’m sorry. I giggle uncontrollably when I’m exhausted. None of this is funny … well, except the shit pie you ate off Adam’s plate.”

Quinn glowered at me. “Could you please try to get a handle on yourself and answer me? Did you know? Did you say those things to Bell?”

My giggles abruptly stopped with the rage that flared to life in his eyes. I held up my hands in surrender. “First of all, you need to understand that Adam flat-out lied to you. If Bell was pregnant, I knew nothing about it. I talked to her at school a few times. Hell, I didn’t even know that you and Brody existed.” I paused, wondering if I’d just deflated his ego a little. I hoped so.

“Likewise,” he grumbled.

“Second of all, there’s no way in hell Kyler got Bell pregnant. Zero. Zilch. Didn’t happen.”

Quinn frowned. “There’s always a chance, even with birth control.”

I picked myself up off the floor and walked over to Quinn. Cupping his chin, I forced him to look at me so he would understand that what I was about to tell him was the honest fucking truth. “Dude, Kyler was gay. He came out to me when he was eleven. Kyler even admitted his junk didn’t even work when a pretty girl was around.”

Quinn gripped my wrist, an abundance of emotions flickering across his face. “You’re positive?”

“Ab-so-fucking-lutely.”

Confusion creased his forehead. “Then what’s Adam’s motive?”

I leaned down, my mouth close to his ear before I whispered, “Why does anyone lie? To hide something.” I backed away and waited to see if Quinn would confess to knowing anything else, but the questions that radiated off him gave me his answer. He was as clueless as I was.

Quinn dropped his hold on me. “At times I wonder if it’s personal or business, but sometimes your personal lies cover illegal company activity. Do you think that Drew and Adam were committing tax fraud or scamming clients?”

For some stupid reason, I wanted to crawl onto Quinn’s lap and bury my head against his warm neck. Even though he was responsible for the video, I still found myself drawn to him. The need to stand together, united, was powerful. I’d argued with myself the entire night and most of the day that he didn’t deserve my forgiveness. There was more to it, though. I’d spent time with him in and out of the society. I saw his cruelty and anger, but I’d also seen his heart. The good parts of him that were broken from losing Bell, the parts of him that were fighting the current, and how he was pulling himself to safety.

He hadn’t fucked me the other night, either. He’d taken his time, touching and taking care of me even while his heated gaze revealed his feelings. Quinn was falling for me, and I knew it then. I was falling for him, too despite his betrayal—I had been treated worse by others, after all.

What kind of woman was I for being willing to try again with him? I demanded a shift in his beliefs about me, but did my unwillingness to grant him the same make me a hypocrite? All he’d known about me were half-truths. We were both fucked up by situations completely out of our control.

“The more we talk, the more I think something bad was going on way before Kyler snapped.” My stomach plummeted to my toes as another piece of reality penetrated my exhausted brain. “I’m scared,” I said, my pitch climbing. Flashes of the cheer team beating me bombarded my brain. “I have classes tomorrow. What if people gang up on me again?”

“Again?” A hint of anger peppered his word.

I told Quinn about the cheerleaders and how Everlee was the only person who knew about it.

He shot out of his chair. “Jesus Christ, what is wrong with people?”

My muscles tensed, like a cornered animal, when I heard Quinn’s voice. My heart raced and my body burned with rage as the echo of his words brought my dark past back to life with a deep, burning anger coursing through my veins. What Quinn had broadcast all over the party had called up memories I had shoved into the pits of hell. A stone-cold fury bubbled up inside of me, and I stomped over to him. I raised my arm, balled my fist, then released the angry, hurt beast and punched him square in the nose.

He staggered backward, covering his face as blood streamed down his mouth and chin.

“I don’t know, Quinn. Whatiswrong with people?” Reminding myself that my martial arts training was viewed as a weapon in the state of Oregon, and I could serve time in prison for fucking Quinn up, I opted for low blows. I stomped on his foot and landed a square kick to his shin. “Seriously? You’re getting pissed at others for doing exactly what you just did to me? Blasting me without ever finding out my side? That makes you a hell of a man, doesn’t it!”

Blood seeped into Quinn’s dark T-shirt, and I laughed as I swept his foot out from under him. He landed with a thud. “Seems like you wouldn’t fall for that move, but here you are. On your back for me.” My fists clenched and unclenched. “Guess we both have tempers, huh?” I straddled him, but before I could drop on him with my full weight, he grabbed my knees and forced them to buckle.

His eyes darkened and narrowed before he spoke. “Get mad, Wynter. Get really fucking pissed. I fucked you over good. Everyone hates you now. No one wants you here,” he spat.

A million little knives sliced through my heart. “I hate you! I fucking hate you!” I screamed, pummeling his chest with my fists.

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