Chapter 7 Gray #2
“Basketball team.” Quinn smiled at her, and studying her, I saw it was genuine.
That was interesting. I turned my attention back to Ava, my head tilting as I studied her.
I just didn’t see this fascination they all had with her.
What was she offering to make them all like her?
She didn’t appeal to me at all, and honestly, I found her kind of irritating.
For Quinn to willingly spend time with her, she had to have something to keep the ice queen interested in being her friend.
“Ooh, who did you get?” Ava leaned forward with a breadstick, eager for the details.
“You like basketball too?” I asked her. Maybe she was a sports “fan,” or maybe she was a stage five clinger.
“Yeah, don’t you?” Ava asked me curiously.
“Doesn’t really interest me,” I answered as I met my brother’s look. He arched an eyebrow, and I mimicked him. Snorting, he looked away with a small shake of his head.
“You don’t like me,” Ava blurted out. “I get it. We got off on the wrong foot, you know, the whole ‘you did nothing to stop Jett from almost decapitating me, then you had octopus hands, and I punched you.’ I get it, we’re not going to be besties and, dude, I am more than okay with that .
. . trust me. But you are going to have to accept that I’m with Jett, he’s with me, and you’re his twin, so we can’t really avoid each other.
” She took a bite of her breadstick and chewed as she waited for my response.
“Is that right?” Leaning back in the booth, I looked her over.
Blonde hair in a high ponytail. Her blue T-shirt annoyed me on principle due to the school it represented.
Her shoulders set, waiting for my reply, but her face was open, her words genuine.
She had nerve; I’d give her that. “What do you propose we do about it?”
I watched her chew the inside of her cheek as she thought about it. I could feel Ash tense beside me, waiting for my reaction. Quinn had leaned forward, her hand cupping her chin as her elbow rested on the table. Jett’s glare . . . well, I knew when to ignore my brother.
“I propose we do nothing,” Ava told me calmly as she broke another piece of her breadstick off.
“Nothing? You think that’s the best option?” I was testing her, and she knew it. With narrowed eyes, she looked me over as I did her.
“Actually, I would suggest something else, but I’m not sure if you aren’t a sensitive soul under all that outward testosterone.”
Ash’s cough covered his laugh, which broke the stare off, and Quinn was openly grinning at me, enjoying Ava’s spunk.
“I think I can take it,” I murmured as I waited. “Take your best shot.”
“I thought I did that when I decked you.”
Jett pressed his lips to the side of her head, and I saw his shoulders shaking. So, she amused him. Interesting.
“It’s nice that you have something else to latch onto.” Raising my water glass, I gave her a mock salute. Jett stopped laughing, Quinn lost her smile, and I felt my cousin press his leg against mine in warning.
“What do you mean?” Ava asked as she looked around the table, picking up on the shift in atmosphere.
“I agree, we do nothing. I don’t really know you to like or dislike you,” I told her bluntly but politely. He couldn’t give me shit for this. “And I don’t really want to get to know you to find out what the answer is, so I agree, we do nothing.”
“That isn’t the best option,” Jett said softly. “I think you both just need to spend more time with each other.”
“I have football to concentrate on and other things that are more important. The three of us should be focusing on these more important matters. If your girlfriend is still around by the end of the season, I’ll see what I can do.”
“Isn’t it cold in here?” Quinn suddenly announced. “I left my jacket in the car. I’ll be right back.” She stood abruptly and held her hand out to me. “I need the key.”
“I’ll get it.” Slipping out of the booth, I welcomed the break.
What the fuck was with Jett? It was not time to play happy families; we weren’t the fucking Waltons for fuck’s sake.
Wrenching open the car door, I snatched Quinn’s jacket from the back seat, and as I closed the door, I took a moment to take a deep breath.
I was too highly strung for this. I shouldn’t have come, but I didn’t have a good enough excuse to get out of it.
Tiredly I rubbed my forehead. I’d had zero sleep, two training sessions, and a run with Quinn. I was ready to pass out.
“You’re tired,” Quinn said from behind me.
Turning, I looked at her as she held her hand out for her jacket. “Yeah, I am.”
“You should have said no to this, got some rest.”
“I can make my own decisions.” Handing the jacket to her, I walked past her, back to the restaurant.
“You’re just going to piss him off.”
“Ship sailed.”
“Gray!” Quinn called, and I turned to look at her. Her dark eyes held a plea, and I inhaled deeply, trying to stave off the words that were ready to spill in frustration.
“I’ll be better.”
She took a small step toward me. “You’re doing too much; you’re pushing too hard. Ava shouldn’t be the one you break.”
“That isn’t what this is.” Looking around the street, I noticed how few people were out and about.
Halloween decorations were everywhere, and I studied them with an interest I didn’t have.
Halloween was Quinn’s thing. She’d always tried to make the four of us dress up and then do stupid party games.
When we got older, it was high school parties, and by then we weren’t that averse to seeing our fellow students in their costumes — the less clothing the better.
“I know you’re still doing whatever it is you’re doing.”
“Do you hear yourself?”
“Yes, don’t be a dick to me. I’m not Ava; I will slap you in front of everyone.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” I reminded her. I headed back into the restaurant, not caring if she followed, knowing I should.
“You took your time,” Ash grumbled as he flicked his eyes to Jett and Ava, who had obviously forgotten they were in public.
“I was hoping the food would be here,” I confessed as I sat. “Although, I’m really glad I’m not eating at this precise moment in time.”
Ash grinned as he reached for a breadstick and then pulled his hand back. “I’m starving.”
“Me too,” I agreed as I looked over my shoulder, hoping the food would be coming.
“Did you get your assignment in?” Ash asked me as he turned slightly in the booth so he didn’t have a direct line of sight to the giggling, whispering couple.
“I did. Think it may be a B, maybe a B plus.” Shrugging, I looked over my shoulder again. “Seriously, where the fuck is my food?”
“Do you get hangry?”
Fuck, this girl was annoying. “What?”
“It’s someone who gets irritable when they’re hungry. My friend Mia is horrific for it. Honestly, you need to take cover when she’s hangry.” She gave me a smile. I thought we’d just discussed we weren’t going to do this.
“No, I don’t get hangry. Maybe I’m just always angry,” I added quickly before she gave me a smartass comment.
“I think I could get hangry,” Quinn piped up.
If I wasn’t so good at schooling my emotions, my mouth would have dropped in shock. Was this really Quinn, being . . . nice? What actual hell was I in?
“Nah,” Ash spoke up as he looked at her. “You’re just a bitch.”
“Will you all quit it?” Jett looked at us all. “Fuck me, we all agreed to come to this, can we all remember we’re not fucking animals and be civil. I’d actually like to enjoy my food when it comes.”
The table fell into another silence, but thankfully, my brother stopped groping his girlfriend long enough for the silence to be at least comfortable.
I watched Ava out of the corner of my eye.
She shifted in her seat as her hand tugged her hair.
She looked at Quinn, she looked at Ash, and then her eyes met mine.
Very slightly, I shook my head, the message clear: don’t ask.
And I didn’t lift my stare until she dropped her head in acknowledgment.
“What did you think of Atticus Dawn?” Ava asked Quinn, and I tuned them out as they spoke about music.
When the food finally arrived, Ash and I attacked ours like the starving men we were.
I heard Quinn sigh, and I ignored her silent reprimand about the speed with which I ate my food.
Mushroom ravioli in a garlic and herb sauce, with a side of roast chicken displayed artfully across the top. The portion size was lacking.
When we were finished, we watched Ava and Quinn take forever as they made small talk and ate their lasagna at a rate that made snails look speedy.
In this, we all agreed, as I noticed Jett was also finished and his fork was idly twirling in his hand.
He looked ready to dig into Ava’s plate at the merest hint that he could.
“Is that it?” Ash asked me as he looked at both our plates. “We got food at home?”
“Yeah, we’ll sub out some of what we were supposed to eat tonight for this and fill up on the rest,” I said to him quietly.
“Thank fuck.” My cousin tilted his head back to look at the ceiling as I waited patiently for the girls to finish their food.
Eventually, they put their forks down. Jett finished Ava’s, and Quinn wordlessly handed her plate to Ash, who finished her food in two bites.
“We done?” I asked impatiently as I felt tiredness roll over me.
“Yeah—”
“Ash, let’s go.” I got out of the booth quickly, my cousin eagerly following behind me. “See you later.” We left without a backward glance. Outside, we exchanged a look and headed to my car.
“He’s gonna be pissed.”
“Yeah? Or maybe he’s just hangry.”
Ash’s laughter was infectious, and grinning, we headed home to eat some actual food.