Chapter 6
“Don’t be like that, Daze,” I say, wrapping my fingers around her wrist as I lift her hand to my mouth, blowing a raspberry into her palm. “Besides, Quinn is my friend.”
Daisy slow blinks, her gaze moving from me to Quinn and back to me again. “Friends?” she scoffs in disbelief.
“Yep,” I reply with a wink before turning my attention to Quinn. “Aren’t we, Quinn?”
Quinn stares up at me, an unreadable expression on her face as Daisy now says, “How can you be friends? You’re not friends with anybody.”
“Um, what the hell, Daze? Am I not friends with everyone here?” I say, waving an arm around at our group of friends who are all now watching this.
Daisy rolls her eyes. “I mean, yeah, obviously, but you know what I mean,” she says.
“I don’t actually,” I reply, even if I totally do.
Clearly, my friends know I don’t do random friendships with tourists, and clearly, they know that Quinn is a tourist. I can all but guarantee they also know she’s the same woman Eli told them all I attempted to pick up this morning.
“Let me introduce you to everyone,” I say, slinging an arm around Quinn’s shoulders. She flinches at my touch but doesn’t pull away. “So obviously you know Daisy,” I start, just as Miles wanders over. “She’s engaged to my little brother, Miles.”
Quinn nods, giving him a small smile as she says, “Nice to see you again.”
Miles tips his head in acknowledgment, giving Quinn a smile in return as I now turn her toward the rest of the group.
“Okay, so that’s Owen and Sloane,” I start. “Eli, who is Owen’s cousin. Alana and Flynn, and Nate and Sage. Oh, Sage is from New York too. Maybe you guys know each other?”
Sage snorts out a laugh as she says, “In a city of eight million?”
“Well, you never know,” I reply with a shrug before turning to Quinn. “Drink?”
“Um, yeah, thanks,” she says, clearly nervous at being the center of attention.
I squeeze her shoulder once before dropping my arm, knowing I’m probably contributing to that nervousness. Which I don’t want to do, especially after what happened earlier this afternoon.
When Quinn had bolted on me at lunch, I figured it was because she thought I was coming on a bit too strong and that she’d had enough of it, especially when Helen came over and pressed her tits against my arm.
But then I found her on her porch, bawling her eyes out, and something weird happened in my chest. Something I couldn’t quite define, but which I definitely didn’t like.
And when she told me why she was really in Hawaii and that she wasn’t just a tourist and she really wasn’t interested in a hook-up or whatever, I wanted to punch something.
Not because that all but put the final nail in the coffin of me getting anywhere with her, but because of that asshole husband of hers.
What a fucking dick.
“Come on,” I say, steering her toward the fridge under the back stairs, my hand on her lower back.
We walk over in silence, and when I open the door, I run through everything we have: “Beer, wine, soda?”
“Um, I’ll take a beer. Thank you,” she says quietly.
I grab two, popping the caps on them before I hand one to Quinn. “You okay?”
She nods, her gaze dropping to the beer in her hands.
I tilt her face back to mine. “I’m not just talking about that whole introduction thing,” I say.
“I know,” she whispers.
“It’s okay to be upset, you know.”
She huffs out a breath as she says, “I think I’m more angry than upset. Although I’m upset that I’m angry too.”
Chuckling, I clink my bottle against hers as I say, “It’s okay to be that too.”
Quinn smirks at me as she says, “Is that so?”
“Uh huh,” I reply with a nod. “And besides, look at all the new friends you just made,” I add, waving my arm at everyone, who thankfully have now gone back to their original conversations. All of them except Daze, who is still watching me, a suspicious look on her face.
“I literally just met them,” Quinn says, pulling my attention back to her. “I’d hardly say we’re friends.”
“Bullshit,” I tell her, slinging my arm around her shoulders again. “You got invited to the barbecue, so you’re definitely part of the gang. But just remember, I’m your first friend and therefore the most important.”
“The most important?” Quinn repeats, the ghost of a smile on her face.
“Yep,” I confirm with a nod. “Basically your best friend.”
“My best friend?”
Chuckling, I give her a wink as I tease, “Is it normal for you to repeat everything?”
She rolls her eyes at me, but that smile gets a little wider. “Just making sure I understand what you’re saying.”
“Gotcha,” I say as I lead her over to a couple of chairs. “So just to reiterate: everyone here is now your friend, but I’m the best and most important friend.”
“Got it,” Quinn replies with a nod as she sits down.
I do the same, leaning over to add, “And for the record, I’m totally okay with a friends-with-benefits arrangement too.”
This earns me another eye roll, but her smile gets a little bigger as she tries to hide it behind her beer.
The rest of the night is fun, with Quinn hanging out and easily fitting into the group.
She doesn’t say much, although when Sage comes over to ask her about where she lived in New York, I use the opportunity to learn a little more about this woman who I can’t seem to stop thinking about.
A woman who has well and truly friend-zoned me, but who I still want to be around.
By midnight, she’s yawning, and even though I’m fully expecting her to say no, I stand, holding my hand out to her as I say, “Come on, I’ll walk you home.”
“You don’t—”
“Quinn, I’m not letting you walk home alone,” I say, cutting her off. “Yeah, it’s safe and it’s not that far, but you’re new to Hawaii, and I don’t want you getting lost.”
“Lost,” she says, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
“Lost,” I confirm. “Besides, what kind of friend would I be if I let you walk home alone in the dark?” Quinn mutters something I don’t catch, but I just pinch her side and say, “Come on, let’s say goodnight to our friends.”
I don’t miss the look Miles gives me, nor the warning Daisy whispers in my ear as we say our goodbyes. Eli, the traitorous bastard, is just laughing at me, and I respond by flipping him off as Quinn and I make our way out to the street.
“So, did you have a good time tonight?” I ask as we walk along the deserted road.
“I did, yeah,” she says, giving me a quick smile. “Your friends are all really nice.”
“Your friends too now, remember,” I say, giving her a soft elbow in the side.
Quinn smiles at that. “I thought your brother looked familiar when I met him earlier, but maybe it’s just because he reminded me of you?”
“Maybe, although to be clear, I am the better-looking one.”
Quinn laughs, shaking her head as she says, “Right. Still, he looks familiar for other reasons. I don’t know, like maybe I’ve met him before?”
“He was, well, still is actually, in a band,” I say, grateful that my brother only has eyes for Daisy and isn’t going to be any kind of competition for me with Quinn.
Not that that’s what this is or anything.
“He was?”
“Yeah,” I reply. “Was pretty good too. Released an album and everything.”
“Was? What happened?”
“Um, well, it kinda went to shit when they were on tour on the mainland. They were support for this huge band, and I don’t know, Miles doesn’t really like to talk about it.
Miles doesn’t really like to talk about anything, but shit went down, and everything imploded, and now he’s back here.
But the band is back together. They’re just taking it slow this time.
So, you never know, maybe there will be another album. ”
Quinn doesn’t say anything, and when I glance over, she has a look on her face, almost like she’s thinking about something.
I grab her pinkie, tugging gently on it before hooking it around mine. “You don’t, like, have a crush on him or anything, do you?”
This gets her attention as she turns to me, her eyes wide and her mouth open in an O shape. “A crush? Oh my god, Kai, he’s like what, twenty years old?”
“Twenty-two, actually, but you know, he was, is a rock star.”
She snorts out a laugh, shaking her head at me. “Twenty-two, jesus.”
“I’m twenty-four for the record,” I say, taking advantage of the fact that she hasn’t pulled her pinkie away as I now lace our hands together.
Quinn looks over before looking pointedly down at our joined hands.
Chuckling, I squeeze hers once but don’t let go.
“You ever gonna tell me how old you are?”
“I thought you said age was just a number,” she teases, brow raised.
“Oh, it is,” I reply. “But friends should know their friends’ ages and shit. Like what if I want to get you a present for your birthday?”
“You need to know my age to get me a birthday present?”
“Well, I need to know your birthday to get you a birthday present,” I say. “But I’d want to make sure it’s age-appropriate too.”
Quinn bursts out laughing at this, her head falling back. I look over, loving that she looks so genuinely happy in this moment, especially after this afternoon.
“Come on, you know you want to tell me,” I tease, swinging our joined hands between us.
She lets out a breath, her eyes closing for a second before she says, “I’m twenty-nine.”
I smile as I say, “Man, you look amazing for your age, seriously, not a day over twenty-five.”
“Kai!” she squeals, elbowing me in the side.
“What?” I ask, laughing as we turn down the long drive that leads to her rental house.
“Nothing,” she says, shaking her head, her smile wide.
“No, seriously, what?” I ask, grinning.
“I don’t look a day over twenty-five?”
“You don’t, seriously,” I say.
“And yet age is just a number?” she asks.
“Yep.”
“So the fact I’m turning thirty in two weeks is also not a problem?” she asks.
I stop, my grip on her hand tightening as she also stops walking, turning to face me.
I take a step closer to her, watching as her eyes widen a little.
“It’s not a problem to me,” I whisper, my eyes locked with hers.
Quinn swallows hard, her hand still in mine as she stares back at me.
I take another step closer, feeling her hand tighten its grip on mine.
“Like I said, Quinn,” I whisper, my eyes dropping to her mouth.
“Age is just a number, and I happen to find older women incredibly sexy.”
Quinn blinks, her eyes now focused on my mouth. I can’t resist licking my bottom lip, watching as her eyes widen again before she blinks and looks away. And for just a second, I swear if I’d leaned in and kissed her, she would have let me. Would have kissed me back even.
“Come on,” I say, knowing that the moment has passed. “Let’s get you home.”
Quinn wordlessly walks beside me, her hand still in mine as we head up the steps to her front door, where the pineapple still hangs upside down. Quinn lets go of my hand as she pulls her keys from her pocket.
“You haven’t fixed it?” I ask, gesturing to the pineapple.
“I can’t find the nail,” she says, her eyes scanning the dark front porch. “I’ll get to it eventually.”
I smile, chuckling a little as I turn to her and say, “I mean, maybe that’s your thing, but if it isn’t, you should fix it.”
“What? What do you mean?”
My grin widens as I take the keys from her hand and unlock the front door. “Swinging.”
“What?”
I place a hand on her lower back, guiding her toward the open door. “An upside-down pineapple is the universal symbol for swingers, Quinn. I mean, not gonna lie, it’s not really my thing, but if you’re—”
“Oh my god, are you serious?” she says, turning to look around the porch, a look of desperation on her face.
Laughing, I pull her in for a hug, my mouth against her ear as I say, “Relax, I’ll come by first thing tomorrow and fix it for you.”
“No, it’s fine, you don’t have to do that.”
Pulling back, I hit her with a grin as I say, “Sure I do, that’s what friends are for, right? Night, Quinn,” I add, giving her a kiss on the cheek before I turn and head into the night.