Page 123 of Hard Hitter
“What? No,” Quinn’s eyes widened with panic. “No, that’s not what I meant. I mean, I have wanted you for a long time, but-”
“So you just thought, ‘hey, if I pretend to be a virgin I can screw my best friend and we’ll both be happy?’”
“Technically, I never actuallysaidthat I was a virgin...you asked if sex gets casual after your first time and I said I didn’t know, because I only had sex once, so…” Quinn trailed off.
“So, because you lied by omission you thought it was okay?” Raelyn challenged.
Quinn ran both hands through his hair anxiously. “That’s exactly what Chris said…”
“Chris?” Raelyn snapped. “Chris knows about this?”
“Well, I kind of...yeah, I told them about our...the pact...on the bus ride home from the state championship game.” He looked like he was talking more to himself than Raelyn at this point, “They told me I needed to tell you the truth, and then every time we hung out just the two of us, you’d start kissing me before I could say anything. And then I couldn’t say anything because...I just wanted to keep kissing you.”
Suddenly feeling completely bare and vulnerable, Raelyn attempted to cover her breasts by laying one arm across her chest. “So...let me get this straight, Quinn,” her eyes were piercing as she looked up at him where he still knelt between her legs. Only moments ago her body was warm and wet and eager, and now was cold and rigid. “You let me believe you’d never had sex so that we could have our first time together, only not really. And you continued to lie all year. We see each othereveryday. You could have told me any time and chose to keep it from me. Andnowyou tell me the only reason you’re coming clean at all is because Chris and Jett told you it was shitty to lie to your best friend of eleven years? Just to get in her panties?”
“Rae, no, that’s…”
“Is that all this was for you?” Raelyn’s voice was getting higher and louder. “The stupid pact?”
“The pact wasyouridea, Rae,” said Quinn. “I just wanted to be with you-”
“So tell me you want to be with me!” She was shouting now. “Don’t lie to me!”
“Fine, I want to be with you,” he said the words so fast, it nearly sounded like one word.
Gesturing to their naked bodies in bed together, she scoffed, “Yeah, I see that.” Still holding an arm over her chest, she slid out from underQuinn and flung her feet over the side of the bed. She felt the burn of tears behind her eyes and had to avoid his gaze. Forgetting about her undergarments, she found her skater dress and stepped into it, pulling it back on.
“Rae, no, come on,” he climbed off the bed and grabbed her arm to pull her toward him. “Baby, come on, this week has been so amazing. I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry. None of this came out how I meant. I just couldn’t do it knowing I hadn’t been totally honest with you. But now I’ve told you and we can go from there.”
“Go from there?” she repeated, incredulous. “Gee, Quinn, I’m flattered that you’re still willing to make all my dreams come true byfuckingme tonight-” she caught the way he winced as she said this, “-but I don’t need you to do me any favors.” She yanked her arm out of his grip and turned away from him. The burning behind her eyes was winning out and the tears were welling up in her eyes
“Please, Rae, don’t...I didn’t mean it like that,fuck,” Quinn fisted his hair as he watched Raelyn grab her things.
“I know how you are with girls, Quinn, but I thought at least I might be different,” Raelyn said around the lump in her throat. She needed to leave. She needed to be gone, away from here, away from the scene where she discovered the truth about her so-called best friend. The one person she just knew she could trust above anyone else.
“Youare, Rae,” Quinn said, his voice pleading. Raelyn ignored the desperation in his tone as she slipped her sandals back on by the door. “Rae, you’reallI’ve wanted since-”
“All you’ve wanted?” Raelyn shot back, glaring at him from over her shoulder. She shook her head as the first tears spilled down her face. Quinn reached for her again and she pulled out of reach. “Quinn, don’t.” She couldn’t look at him. Didn’t want to be near him.
Pushing her fingers back through her hair, she tried to think of something to say, but there was nothing. Absolutely nothing that could fix this. Nothing that could make her feel better about his lie. Nothing that could change how foolish she felt for thinking this was more forboth of them. She let out a shaky sigh and shook her head again. Without looking back, she pulled the door open and stormed out.
Chapter 32
Sleep had not come easy, and it wasn’t until around four or five in the morning that Raelyn had finally managed to get some rest. Still, her sleep was interrupted, tossing and turning in the unfamiliar bed.
After leaving the hotel, she’d contemplated places to go where she knew she would be left alone. She wanted to go straight back to her own house but knew that was likely the first place Quinn would have looked for her. If he’d gone looking, that is. She needed to be completely alone until she could fully grasp what she had witnessed outside Quinn’s hotel room. Knowing that Amira and Brody were still on their honeymoon in Maui, she had taken advantage of the spare key Amira had made for her and slept in one of their upstairs guest bedrooms.
The queen-sized guest bed was soft and plush and in any other circumstance would likely have provided an amazing night’s sleep. But Raelyn had been lost in thought after tormenting thought about Quinn and the woman leaving his hotel room. Trying to come up with alternate theories and other possible explanations than the obvious, she couldn’t help coming back to the fact that Jett had dropped him off nearly two hours before Raelyn had shown up, and Quinn had been in his underwear.
It had barely registered that she’d gotten any sleep at all until the bright morning sun was shining in through the sheer curtains, making her squint awake. She yanked the covers over her head and groaned, burying her face into the pillow. The fresh pain in her chest hit her with renewed intensity as she pictured the scene from last night and ran through the fragments of conversation she had overheard.
If only she’d mentioned where they were going to get lunch, I could show up and cause a scene. Throw his drink at him, maybe even his plate. There’d probably even be a photographer around to catch it.
No, she wouldn’t have done that even if she had known. She didn’t want to be anywhere near that woman or Quinn right now. Especially together. Her eyes burned and her eyelids felt swollen from the lake of tears she cried throughout the night. They stung and felt dry, but she knew if she thought too much about the fact that Quinn was cheating on her...Quinn...cheating onher...the flood of tears would easily return.
If not for the fact that she had to pee at the same time every morning, she likely would have stayed in that bed all day. But her internal clock was stubborn. Slipping her feet out of the bed and sitting up slowly, she caught sight of her phone on the nightstand. She had turned it off after Quinn’s first text, not wanting to be tempted to respond or call. She was sure he would continue texting, and likely call her when she didn’t respond or show up. Raelyn picked up the phone and tapped her fingers on the case nervously. Pushing her hair back out of her face, she powered it on, set it back on the nightstand, and got up, making her way across the hall to the bathroom.
After washing her hands, she found a hairbrush and ran it through her tangle of hair. She wet her face with cold water and stared at herself in the mirror, trying to compose herself. Steady her breathing. Get a grip. Definitely donotstart crying again. She swallowed hard and let out a long breath before making her way back to the bedroom to check her phone.
