She quickly washed and dried her hands and unlocked the door, only to face what seemed like the whole squad of cheerleaders from a decade ago.
Great.
“Um, sorry. Go ahead.” She sidled past them, happy to get away but their giggles and hushed whispered seemed to grow louder, following her as she tried to put distance between them.
What was so funny?
“Bailey!”
She glanced up at the sound of her name being called over the music blaring through the sound system to find Quinn standing nearby.
With a glance at the group of women still clustered by the ladies room door, he grabbed her by the elbow, saying, “Come here.”
“What’s wrong?” she asked, confused as Quinn moved closer.
He turned them so her back was against the wall and his body shielded hers from view as he faced her.
“What are you—” She found further speech impossible as he reached around her, encompassing her in his arms, trapping her between the wall and that of his muscular body.
He leaned closer and her eyes widened. She bit her lip as she watched his face move near and she anticipated their first kiss.
But why would he suddenly be kissing her?
They’d just gotten there. He wasn’t drunk. But he was definitely in kissing range. And his hands were on her hips and moving toward her butt.
Oh my God, this was happening…
And then he moved his hands behind her and with one quick tug, Quinn yanked the hem of her skirt from where she must have tucked it into the waistband of her tights.
“Oh, my God.” Her eyes widened further as realization hit.
It was bad enough having the mean girls laugh at her, but to have her lifelong crush be the one to notice and fix her all while she’d assumed he was going to kiss her… There were no words for the humiliation.
“Please tell me I didn’t do what I think I just did,” she whispered, too appalled to even enjoy that Quinn was still so close, practically pinning her against the wall. His attention solely on her as he completely ignored the stares and whispers of the group of females nearby.
This scenario, him, her, this close, had only happened in her dreams…and now during the most embarrassing moment of her life.
She flashed back to landing naked on top of him and amended that, moving this to one of the top two instead.
“It’s okay. It’s fixed. You’re good now.” His dimple-laden smile almost had her believing it. Almost…
“Goodis not a word I’d use to describe how I’m feeling right now. I swear to you, I’m usually very cool… or at least moderately cool. And really well-dressed. It’s just being back here. In this town. Around those girls. I crossed the town line and it’s like I’m an awkward fourteen-year old again.”
“I know what you mean. Being back here…” He shook his head and let the sentence fall away, but he still didn’t move.
His nearness had her heart thundering so loudly she could barely hear herself as she asked, “How can you understand? You, Mister Popular Jock.”
“I mean that’s the problem. I’m not that guy. I work in the dark—usually literally. Stealth mode. I’m one of a team of silent nameless, faceless operators. That team is nothing like the one I was on in high school. I’m not a star. No one is singled out. We do our job and do it well because if we don’t people die. But everyone here is acting as if being a SEAL is like being a rock star. Like I’m going to tell them tales about my latest op.” He shook his head again.
“Now I get why you didn’t want to come tonight,” she said.
After a quick glance over his shoulder at the still-staring posse of mean girls, his gaze met and held hers. “Ditto. All I knew was that you and Josie were besties. I guess I didn’t realize how horrible girls could be to one another. I’m sorry about that. And them.”
His kind words were going to make her cry—which might be the only thing that could make this situation worse.
Close to tears, she said, “You have to stop being nice to me now.”
“Why?”
