Chapter 13 #2
Maybe I don’t need my friends to enjoy this trip after all. Maybe what I really need—what I deserve—is to let go of my heartache and throw all my inhibitions out the window and let this tall, gorgeously mysterious man have his way with me out here in this beautiful garden.
I scoff at my own thoughts and earn another raised eyebrow from Quinn. “Care to share what’s going on in that head of yours?”
“Oh, nothing much,” I tell him as a blush storms across my cheeks.
I tip the remainder of the champagne into my mouth and swallow it slowly as I savor the last few drops.
“I’m just thinking that I’ve never been one to let myself swoon over a mysteriously handsome man in the middle of a fantasy-esque garden.
” I quickly glance at his lips again, wishing I were exactly that type of girl.
The one who was brazenly confident enough to lean in and press my lips to his and let the troubles of tonight flow away.
But I can’t look at Quinn and let myself feel these types of urges for him without thinking of Josh. The revelation that he’s been having an affair with my best friend has punctured me too deeply to ignore.
So, instead, tears start crashing down like a tidal wave, and there is no escaping them.
My body spasms and convulses as the reality of what happened tonight finally hits.
There’s no drug to get over a broken heart.
You can stave it off temporarily by immersing yourself in a new friend, a beautiful garden, or even a glass of bubbly champagne.
But there is nothing that can stop the full magnitude of your brain catching up with your heart after a momentous betrayal like this.
Quinn grabs the empty glass from my hand and leads me to a stone bench sitting at the base of a small pond while I struggle to catch my breath.
How could I have missed this? How long were they sneaking behind my back? Was I too blissfully unaware and ignorant to catch on?
Quinn sits a respectful distance away from me on the concrete bench, but he places his hand on my back and rubs it in soft, comforting circles.
“Well, like I said earlier,” he says quietly as he gazes towards the pond.
“I’m here if you want to talk about it. But if you don’t, I’m also completely fine with sitting here and keeping you company until you’re ready to brave the world again. ”
I flash him a weak smile. “I just don’t know how to face them knowing they all lied to me.
How stupid I must have looked to them this entire time?
I’m mortified and angry,” I confess as I wipe the evidence of my breakdown off my face.
“But mostly, I hate feeling this weak. I hate them for making me feel this small.”
Quinn closes the space between us and cups my face gently with his hands. His expression surprises me. It’s not the same cocky and arrogant one that he’s shown me until now. He looks…angry? Bothered, even.
“You are not small, Teagan. Don’t give them the power to make you feel like you are.
They are beneath you and don’t deserve to breathe the same air as you.
You walk with your head held high, as if none of this has affected you.
That’s how you go back into that house and face them,” he tells me as his soul-piercing eyes slowly start chipping away at my armor.
“You are strong. Strong enough to beat them at their own game. Don’t let them see you fall. ”
The way he’s so fiercely adamant makes me wonder who in his life made him feel this way, because you don’t talk like this without having firsthand experience.
“Who made you feel small?” I whisper.
Quinn’s eyebrows knit together, his mouth dropping open in surprise before he pulls his hands away from my face and drops them in his lap. “My family. They aren’t very nice people.” His voice is soft and vulnerable. Something about it tugs at my foolish, overly trusting heartstrings.
I’m about to ask him to elaborate when a frog croaks from somewhere in the garden, making me jump out of my goose pebbled skin.
“I guess we should probably go back,” I suggest, getting to my feet while looking into the dark garden.
I hear something bigger moving along the path, which makes the hair on my neck stand up.
The air seems to have dropped in temperature because I’m suddenly freezing.
Quinn stands and offers me his jacket. Typically, I would say no, but it really is freezing out here, so I slide my arms in and wrap his coat tightly around me. It’s still warm from his body, and it feels heavenly.
“Walk back with me?” He holds his hand out for me. I slip mine into his as we head back to the house. It feels right and wrong all at the same time.
I can do this. I’ll walk in there with my head held high. I won’t let them ruin this trip for me.
“Wait.” Quinn stops. He tugs my hand and pulls me towards a large tree. My back hits the bark as he boxes me in with his hands.
“What?” I ask, my voice trembling slightly as he looks down at my lips. “Quinn?”
He lets out a strangled groan. “I have to do this. Just once,” he proclaims before his lips are on mine.
The kiss almost ruins me. I could drown in the taste of him and the feeling of his body pressed up against mine.
Quinn pulls away just as quickly as it began and paces back and forth in front of me. “I’m sorry,” he gasps out. “I shouldn’t have done that. I promised myself I would stay away from you, Teagan. Especially since I know this won’t end well. But there’s something about you I just can’t shake.”
His admission startles me, and I’m mixed with both confusion and desire. I don’t care if this will end badly. All I care about is this moment, with him.
A loud bell rings from the direction of the house. I feel myself losing him. Our stolen time together is coming to an end with each ring of that bell.
Quinn steps back towards me. “You’ve been saved by the bell. Now let’s head back before I do something stupid like that again and end up getting thrown into the pond.”
Instead of answering him, I grab the collar of his shirt and slam my lips back to his.