Claire and I sometimes snickered about
it. Not that he wasn’t attractive in a
clean-cut, Ivy League sort of way. But he
wore boat shoes and pants with little
whales on them, referred to his mother
as Mummy, and used “summer” as a
verb without a hint of irony. I wasn’t
sure Tripp’s presence would help me
tonight, although it might make me laugh.
“No, that’s OK. At least we don’t
have to change the reservation if Lindsay
isn’t coming. Quinn can just take her
place.”
“Right. OK, see you there.”
I ended the call and went back to
work, where I was so busy that I lost
track of time and was late getting home.
Quinn’s car was on the street when I
pulled in the driveway, and I half
expected him to accost me in the hallway
with a corsage or something, but I didn’t
see him on my way up.
In my bedroom, I took off my work
pants and blouse, quickly swapped my
basic beige undergarments for something
sexier, and changed into a short gray
sweater dress and black knee-high
boots. I didn’t have much time left over
for hair or makeup, but I plugged in my
curling iron anyway, and while that
heated up, I added more color to my
cheeks, eyes, and lips. When the curling
iron was hot, I curled a few random
chunks of hair and pinned back the sides.
I was just adding earrings when
Quinn knocked on my door. “Coming!” I
yelled. After throwing my lipstick,
phone, and wallet in a smaller purse, I
went to let him in.
“Hi.” He looked me over from head
to toe. “Wow. You look gorgeous. Love
the boots.”
“Hi.” It was all I could manage, my
pulse had started racing so fast. He
looked way too good, and he smelled
fucking incredible. Did I really have to
wait until after dinner to get my hands on
him? I cleared my throat. “And thank
you. You look nice, too.” He wore dark
jeans in a slim cut, a camel coat, and a
blue scarf that matched his eyes. His
scruff was trimmed, and his hair was
parted on the side and combed back off
his face.
“Thanks. You ready?”
“Give me one second.” I went back
to my bathroom and gave myself a quick
spritz of perfume. When I came out,
Quinn was holding my coat, and I
slipped my arms into it. “Thanks.”
While I was buttoning it, he put his
face in the crook of my neck and inhaled.
“Mmm, you smell good.”
The feel of his lips on my throat sent
a tingle down my spine, and I wriggled
away from him. “I’m trying to button my
coat.”
“A thousand apologies. Is there a
rule about sniffing you?”
I glared at him over my shoulder, and
he held his gloved palms up. “Hey. I
don’t want to screw up our first date.”
“You know, it wouldn’t be our first
date if you’d have asked me to your
prom like I wanted you to.” Oh, shit. I
hadn’t meant to say that.
It took him a moment—a terribly
awkward moment—to respond. “I
almost asked you, I swear to God.”
“Oh, right.” I rolled my eyes and
pulled on my gloves before grabbing the
bag with Claire’s gift in it off the coffee
table. “Let’s go. You want to drive?”
“Yes. And I was serious,” he said,
following me out the door. “I did think
about it.”
“Who’d you take, anyway?” I asked
as we walked down the stairs.
“Danica Newman.”
“And was it fun?”
He shrugged, moving ahead of me to
open the front door. “She gave an OK
blowjob, I guess.”
“God, you’re a pig.” I tossed my hair
as I went by him, slipping into the cold
dark. “Well, maybe later I’ll show you
the spectacular one you missed out on.”
“Are you trying to make me hard
already?” He adjusted himself before
shutting the door. “Hey wait!”
He rushed past me as I was moving
down the walk—which he’d also
shoveled. “Let me pull in front of the
driveway so you don’t have to walk
through the snow.”
He jumped behind the wheel of his
SUV and moved it forward a few feet,
then left it running as he got out again.
“What are you doing?” I asked as he
came around to the passenger side.
“I’m opening the door for you.”
“Oh, Jesus. This isn’t the prom,
Quinn. All the chivalry really isn’t
necessary. I promise I’ll let you take my
dress off at midnight if you want to. In
fact, we can skip the dance entirely.”
“Stop taking the fun out of this,” he
said before shutting the passenger door. I
buckled up as he moved around the car
and got back in. “Now try to look
happy.” He leaned toward me and held
up his phone in front of us.
“What the hell?” Before I knew it,
he’d snapped the pic and was tucking his
phone out of sight, inside his coat.
“Gimme that.”
Unbuckling my seat belt, I tried to
get the phone but he fought me off.
“Feisty tonight, I like it,” he said,
laughing as he got me by the forearms.
“But save some of that energy for later.”
“If you post that picture, I’m never
speaking to you again, let alone fucking
you.” I straightened up, smoothed my
hair, and buckled in again.
“Right, because that always works
for you. Now where am I going?”
I told him how to get to the
restaurant, and we spent the fifteen-
minute ride there talking about our
respective proms and other social events
we remembered from high school.
“Did you have a serious boyfriend
back then?” he asked me. “I don’t
remember.”
“Not really.”
I spent my junior year
mooning after you, asshole.
“My senior
year I dated this one guy off and on, but
we were headed to different schools, so
we were never that serious. I did let him
pop my cherry, though.” I said this with a
sly sideways glance at him.
“Oh yeah?” He didn’t look at me, but
I saw his hand tighten on the steering
wheel. “And how was it?”
I shrugged. “It was fine. I wasn’t
super crazy about him, I sort of just
wanted to get my virginity out of the
way. I knew the first time wasn’t going
to be great for me. Seemed like it was
for him, though.”
“I’m sure it was.” The hand in his
lap balled into a fist.
I allowed myself a tiny smile of
triumph.
If you wanted to be my first,
Quinn Rusek, you should have done it
while you had the chance.
“Too bad you
rejected me back then. Maybe it could
have been you.”
“Oh, it would have been me.”
“You sound awfully sure of
yourself.”
He laughed confidently, and some of
my self-satisfaction melted away. “Not
only am I sure it would have been me,
I’m sure you would have enjoyed it
more.”
Now it was
my
hands curling into
fists. Why the hell did I let him get to
me? I practically spoon-fed him these
opportunities! “Guess we’ll never know.
The restaurant is over there. Park on this
side of the street.”
He did as I instructed and turned off
the car. “You’re not mad, are you? I was
just being truthful. That is what you like,
isn’t it? Laying everything out there up
front?”
“Yes,” I said stiffly.
“Good. Now look at me.”
I did as he asked. “What?”
“I know I could have been your first.
And we’d have had fun. But I also know
that I wouldn’t trade the memory of
finding you in my closet yesterday and
everything that came afterward for
anything. Jaime at seventeen was
tempting. Jaime at twenty-seven is
fucking torrid.”
I felt my cheeks getting warm, a
smile tugging at my lips.
“And Quinn at eighteen was good,”
he went on, “if a little fast, but Quinn at
twenty-eight is a hell of a lot better.”
“I like it fast.”
“I know you do. You’re like a
fucking cheetah.” He tapped my nose.
“But one of these days, you’re going to
let me take my time with you.”
Tilting my head, I gave him a coy
smile. “I’ll trade you a date for a slow
fuck.”
He shook his head. “Uh-uh. No way.
I’m getting all three dates, plus the
blowjob you offered me,
and
the slow
fuck.”
“What am I, a goddamn buffet?”
Irritated, I opened the door before he
could play Boyfriend and come around
to do it for me. “And by the way, I think
this should count as two dates because
you’re getting to meet my friends
already.”
“Hmmm.” Quinn’s brow furrowed.
“I’d consider that. On one condition.”
“What?”
“I get to tell your friends about the
snooping.”
“No!”
“OK, then I get to be as romantic as I
want tonight.”
“What do you mean,
romantic
?” I
made a face. “Like, touchy-feely at the
table?”
“If I’m so inclined. And you can’t
squirm away or say anything about it. No
blowing up the game.”
I chewed on the thumb tip of my
glove and thought it over. “If I agree to
play along, you can’t tell anyone about
my snooping in your flat, ever.”
He sucked air through his teeth.
“Wow, that’s harsh. I was really looking
forward to telling that story, especially
the part where I hit you in the face with
my underwear.”
“That wasn’t your underwear, it was
a shirt! Now do we have a deal or not?
It’s cold out here.”
“That’s because you opened the
door.”
“
Quinn
.”
“OK, fine. Deal.” He held out his
hand and I put mine in it to shake, but
instead he tenderly kissed the back of it.
“Ew, what are you doing?” I pulled
my hand away.
He looked at me with that stupid
phony smolder. “God, I love getting
romantic with you.”
My eyelid twitched. “This is why.
This is why I hate dating. All this sappy
shit just drives me insane.”
“I know,” he said, laughing. “And I
sort of care about your sanity, but it’s
going to be really fun to fuck with you in
front of your friends. Now stay there.”
I shook my head as he got out of the
car, came around to my side, and opened
the door all the way. “You
are
a sadist. I knew it.”
“Well, I might be, but let’s save that
for later.” He smiled devilishly and
reached for my hand. “Come on, love
bug. Can I call you love bug? What am I
saying—of course I can! I can do
anything I want tonight.”
Oh my God.
I needed a cocktail.
Stat.
THIRTEEN
QUINN
I HELD onto her arm as we crossed the
street.
“Seriously?” she said.
“Yes. It’s dark and icy, and I can’t
have my love bug slipping and falling
and hurting her precious little ass. I’ll do
that myself.”
She sighed heavily. “Fine. Please
just stop calling me love bug.”
I granted her nothing but a smile.
Inside the restaurant, she tried moving
away from me and crossing her arms, but
I didn’t let her. Taking her hand, we
approached the host together, who led us
back to a corner booth where three
women sat.
I recognized two of them as Claire
and Margot, Jaime’s friends from high
school, but the third I didn’t know. All
three jaws dropped as we approached.
“Ladies,” I said. “Thank you so
much for letting me join you tonight. I
know how much my sweet pea values
her girl time. It’s one of the first things
she told me about herself.” For effect, I
kissed the back of Jaime’s hand again
while she threw knives at me with her
eyes. Then I turned to the table and
pulled off my gloves, sticking them in my
pockets. “Quinn Rusek,” I said, holding
my hand out to the woman I didn’t
recognize, who was seated on the end.
“Elyse Martin.” She shook it, her
dark eyes wide. “Nice to meet you.”
Next to her was Claire, whose curly
red hair fell in ringlets over one
shoulder. “Claire, good to see you again.
And happy birthday.”
“Thanks.” She looked back and forth
from me to Jaime, clearly confused.
“Glad you could make it.”
“And Margot, how are you?” I
greeted the striking, willowy blonde next
to Claire.
“Good.” She regarded me with
amusement in her eyes, almost like she
was in on the joke, and I wondered if
Jaime had spoken to her about me today.
“Have a seat,” Claire said, gesturing
across from her. “Please.”
I turned to Jaime. “Can I take your
coat, honeybun?”
She peeled off her gloves, angrily
shoving them in her pockets. “Yes, thank
you,” she said through her teeth as she