Chapter 6 Quinn
He never answered. I didn’t expect him to. He was about as communicative as roadkill. Despite the late night and the restless sleep, the fact that I ate two slices of pizza just before midnight had me tightening the laces on my sneakers for my morning run.
Doing my stretches and warm-up, I left my dorm room and set off at a reasonable pace, keeping to the main walkways. I passed a few people, either like-minded running enthusiasts or students eager to get to the library.
As I approached the stadium, I was focused on my pace and the music playing in my ears.
That didn’t stop me from being aware of him as he drew alongside me, and with a quick glance, I took in his side profile.
His hair was damp from practice, strands clung to his forehead, and he was still in his practice jersey and loose shorts.
Gray didn’t acknowledge me, just ran alongside me, keeping pace and not pushing for me to go faster until the last stretch as we came full circle, and my dorm was ahead of me.
Gray caught my eye, and with a smirk, he ran in front of me, my own smile forming as I dug my heels in and took off after him.
We raced to the stairs, and I finished just behind him.
“You cheated,” I said as I bent over with my hands resting on my knees while I caught my breath.
“You were slow,” Gray countered with a grin as he pulled his leg up behind him to stretch it out.
Straightening, I watched him as he switched legs, making sure to pull them close and ease the tension in his muscles. “You heading to the house or back to the stadium?”
“Stadium.” Gray looked at the watch on my arm. “Time?”
“You have a half hour before your first class.”
“Plenty of time.” As he dropped his leg, he stretched his arm across his chest. “I’ll even have time just to walk back.”
“Okay.” My eyes ran over him, taking in the damp shirt, the strong legs, the muscular forearms. He had to be exhausted.
I pitied the fact that he had to walk back to the stadium just for a shower.
The words were out before I even thought about them.
“You should have taken your stuff and showered here.” With more willpower than I knew I possessed, I kept my face blank as I cringed internally at my thoughtless offer.
“You been thinking about me in your shower?”
With reddening cheeks, I looked away from his piercing blue eyes and down at my feet. My feet were safer; they didn’t see through my defenses and strip my soul bare. “No, you know what I meant,” I mumbled as I smoothed my T-shirt over my hips.
Gray stepped closer to me, and I had to stop myself from being a complete cliché and holding my breath. I watched his gaze roam lazily over my body, slowly, torturously dragging his eyes up to meet my frozen stare.
“I’m not sure I did know what you mean, why don’t you explain it to me?” Gray’s voice was low and husky, and dear God, did he know he was looking at me like that? It seemed that I was a cliché after all, as I felt my pulse racing, and my lips parted as I saw the heat in his stare.
“Gray.” I swallowed past the hoarseness of my own voice. He took another step, and now he was almost pressed against me. I quickly looked around to make sure there was no audience.
“Nervous?”
“No,” I breathed as he dipped his head down. The smell of him, a mix of sweat, spice, and smoke, combined with his raw sensuality, was wreaking havoc with my senses.
His lips skimmed my jaw as he breathed one word into my ear. “Liar.”
It was as if he had thrown a cold bucket of water over me. I jerked back from him as my hands flew up and pushed him back. Anger replaced anticipation as I watched him step back, his cocky smirk wide as he laughed at me.
“God, you’re a complete asshole,” I growled at him as I shoved past him, and angrily I climbed my stairs to my apartment. “I hope you get a cramp!” I called over my shoulder before I slammed my apartment door closed behind me.
My shower was cooler than normal, and well, it should be.
What was I thinking? I knew better how much of a bastard Gray Santo was.
Tipping my head under the spray to wash out my shampoo, I let my temper cool, and despite myself, I gave out a low chuckle at his complete assholeness.
And yes, it was a word. It was a word that was in the dictionary, and beside it for a definition was a picture of Gray Santo.
As my fingers combed my conditioner through my hair, I remembered the last time he had touched me.
Really touched me. The way only he could.
Maybe I needed a mindless hookup to get me to move on.
It had been a while after all. Rubbing my exfoliating shower gel across my skin, I thought about it.
The Saints were playing at home this week, so there would be a party somewhere, and I needed to be there.
I lost my virginity when I was sixteen. I had hooked up with a number of guys since then.
Some were good, some were terrible, only one made my body sing for him, and only two I had ever actually cared about.
Maybe that’s where I was going wrong, maybe I needed to feel something for the guy.
Or maybe I just needed one hot hookup that blew my mind while rocking my world.
After twisting my hair to get out the excess water, I dried myself hurriedly. I had spent too much time in the shower, and now I was going to be late if I didn’t hurry. Blasting my hair with the dryer until it was half dry and wild, I quickly ran it into two French braids.
I got dressed quickly and grabbed my book bag and a protein bar as I rushed out the door. My first class was at one of the sports buildings beside the stadium, and it wasn’t lost on me the irony of the fact that I should have gone with Gray instead of getting dressed here.
Power walking as I ate my breakfast, I cursed myself for forgetting my water, internally seething that it was all Gray’s fault while also knowing it wasn’t his fault. Not really. My phone started ringing, and I answered it with a smile.
“Hey there.”
“You heading to class?” Jett asked me, and I could hear students and knew he was already at his first class of the day.
“Yeah, heading there now, I took too long in the shower,” I replied as I took another bite of my breakfast.
“You seen my brother?”
I paused chewing, hesitant about what I should say. “Yeah, he joined me on my run this morning.”
“Of course he did.” Jett sounded frustrated but amused.
“What’s going on?”
“What time are you free?” Jett asked me instead.
“Two-hour practical this morning and then I have an hour before my next class.”
“I can’t make that, after?”
“Nope, my afternoon is full; Tuesday is my busy day. I don’t finish until six.” I was at the sports building now. “I’m at class, what is it?”
“We have a three-hour practice session today. We’ll be done by six, maybe six thirty. Make your way to the stadium when you’re finished. Family meeting,” Jett instructed me.
“Why?”
“Queeny.” I heard the reproach, and I fought the eye roll at the tone. He was younger than me, but I swear to God, sometimes he thought he was my older brother.
“Fine. Ash?”
“You get us all, I said family meeting.”
He hung up on me, and I added another Santo prick to my list of people I was going to punch today.
I liked sports. I enjoyed the company of athletes, and even if I didn’t, pounding the shit out of people in the form of a “massage” was soothing to me.
The deep tissue massage image I had shown Jett a few weeks ago was so amazingly Zen .
. . for me. The recipient was sure I hated them; I had no doubt, but I would challenge anyone to tell me the next day that they didn’t feel great.
As I watched the point guard for the basketball team struggle to get off my table, I amended it to two days.
He may still hurt tomorrow, but after that, he will be like a new guy.
“Quinn, you look like you’re enjoying yourself,” my professor said as he approached me.
He was great, I loved his classes. Dimitri had been a trainer for the Olympic gymnastics squad and was so incredibly down-to-earth.
Learning from him was a joy. His experience was unparalleled, and he taught both theory and practicality with equal passion.
“It’s quite relaxing,” I admitted to him. “Although, I’m still hesitant about bending his leg that far back.”
“And you’d be right to, because your clients may not be honest with you. They may not tell you that they actually have a strain or a twinge. Something so small to us may be the reason they don’t play the next game if the coach thinks they could be injured.”
“But to not tell me could hurt them more.” I cleaned my hands as I waited for my next victim.
“But you can’t stop them from playing.”
“I can if I take small muscle discomfort and turn it into inflamed ligaments.”
“Exactly!” My professor smiled at me as he looked at the center for the basketball team waiting for my attention. “You’re exceptionally talented, Quinn, there is no denying that, but I am going to have to put an end to the number of ‘volunteers’ that come to your table for your practical.”
I didn’t hide my grin as he looked uncomfortable. “You think I’m popular for more than my healing hands?”
Dimitri laughed. “Yes, unfortunately I do. Plus, you don’t need the practice that your classmates do. So, for the rest of this lesson, you will supervise their skills and technique and assist. Yes?”
My eyes lit up with delight. “Play teacher?”
Seeing my enthusiasm, Dimitri clasped my shoulder with affection. “Don’t make me regret this.” With a laugh, he walked away from me, and I called one of the guys in my class over to my table.
“You’re up, Dimitri asked me to help.”
Instructing my classmates wasn’t as satisfying as actually carrying out the work, but the time still passed quickly.
Heading to the coffee shop after class, I spotted Ava sitting under her tree.
It wasn’t her tree, obviously, but she claimed it as hers, and I was pretty sure even in the dead of winter, I would find her here.
Her head was bent over a book, her hair loose, which caught in the wind, but it wasn’t distracting her.
“Hi,” I said as I approached. Her smile was wide as she looked up at me, and she immediately patted beside her.
“I’m going to get coffee,” I told her with a shake of my head, and I saw her face light up. “Want to come?”
“Does a bear shit in the woods?” Ava asked me as she started packing her stuff up.
“Um, sure. What if they’re in a zoo?”
Ava hesitated slightly and then shrugged. “Okay, does a bear in its natural habitat shit in the woods?”
“You drive Jett insane, don’t you?” I asked knowingly as I grabbed her hand and hauled her to her feet.
“Yes.” She was proud of it, and together we headed for coffee. “Were you okay last night, you know, after the bar?”
“Hmm?”
“The guy,” Ava clarified.
“Him? Yeah, I forgot about him, to be honest, until Gray saw the bruise and gave me shit.”
“He saw you with your sweater off?”
I didn’t miss her curious look that she thought I didn’t see. I had spoken without thought, but then, what was I hiding? He used my bathroom; it was late, and I was getting ready for bed. “Yeah, he used the bathroom.”
“You don’t seem to be close to him. Do you get along well?”
I choked back my hysteria and contemplated my answer. “We get by.”
“Is it because of Ash?”
Yes, but not why you think it is. “Something like that,” I admitted.
“Ugh, I’m prying again!” Ava scolded herself. “I’m so sorry, I seriously am not this gossip girl, but you and them, it just fascinates me.”
“Why?” Now I was curious.
“Well, you’re Ash’s ex, you’re Jett’s BFF, and I can’t help wonder what your history is with Gray.” Ava didn’t meet my stare, but she carried on. “He intimidates me, to be honest. He and Jett pulled a shit move on me when they thought I was complicit to the water spiking, and he just, he’s . . .”
“Unnerving.”
Ava flashed me a grateful smile. “Yes! I mean, he’s the other half of Jett, so I should know what he’s like.”
“They’re fraternal twins, not identical,” I reminded her as we got to the coffee shop. “He’s nothing like Jett, and then sometimes, he’s a carbon copy.”
“Do you have a favorite?” She asked it innocently enough, and from what I had learned about her, there was no maliciousness in her question. But very few people in my life had asked me which Santo was my favorite.
“They’re not ice cream flavors,” I chided softly.
Ava laughed. “Oh my gosh, that would be amazing if they were.” She quickly ordered a caramel latte and then asked me what I wanted. Giving the barista my order, we waited before she suggested we sit inside, and looking around, I found an empty table.
As she collected the drinks, she came over and grinned at me. “I have it, I couldn’t help it. Tell me what you think? Ash, I’m thinking raspberry ripple; Gray, I’m not sure, maybe mint chocolate chip; and Jett would be . . . chocolate.”
“We’re still on ice cream then?” I mocked as I took a sip of my coffee.
“Yeah.” Ava flushed red as she continued. “Although maybe I think I just want Jett and chocolate ice cream.”
“I actually like chocolate ice cream, so could we not ruin my favorite flavor please?” Ava sat back in her seat as she looked out the window, and I feared I had lost her to her thoughts. “Raspberry ripple?”
“Yeah, Ash is all about fun, I think,” she added hastily.
“You don’t need to worry all the time, Ava. Ash and I were a long time ago.” I sipped my coffee as I watched her and decided just to put her out of her misery. “I cheated on him. He didn’t take it well. Who would? I’ve never had sex, nor do I want to ever have sex, with Jett; he’s my best friend.”
I watched as her eyes widened at my harsh honesty, and I braced myself for the question she had asked me before, and I knew she would ask. But she surprised me by taking it one further.
“Did you cheat on him with Gray?”
Well, what the hell was I supposed to say to that?