Chapter 24 Quinn
Why did I drink all the wine? Wine was evil. Wine took up residence in your head and plagued you for days.
Nursing my coffee, I glared at Ava, who was bright-eyed, bushy-freaking-tailed, and full of the joys of life. Did Jett really love her, or would he forgive me if I accidentally stabbed her cheery little face?
“You thinking about stabbing me?” Ava asked me shrewdly.
“How did you guess?” I asked her, a little startled that I had been so transparent.
“Mia looks at me the same way,” she told me with a grin. “I can’t help it, I don’t get hangovers. Well, I’ve only ever had one hangover.”
“Pretend,” I groused as I stood and made my way to the coffee pot. “Good friends pretend.”
“Okay,” she groaned theatrically, and it was so loud I reconsidered strangling her.
“Go away, go find Jett, distract him,” I ordered her as I took my mug and opened the back door. I needed fresh air.
“Will I send Gray over?” Ava asked as she happily bounded past me.
“No, he’s probably still sleeping.”
Ava hesitated and then happily rushed off to the Santo house to see Jett.
I welcomed the peace as I closed my eyes and tilted my head up to the cloudy sky.
I think I dozed, because I startled when a cool hand removed the coffee mug from my hand.
Opening my eyes, I stared into light blue ones, and I smiled as I reached out for him.
“Hey,” I greeted.
“Hangover?”
“So bad,” I admitted as Gray lifted me out of my seat and then sat down with me in his lap.
“Your hand’s never going to heal,” I told him as I curled up into his chest.
“The splint works wonders, and I think I’m resigned to knowing we won’t win the championship, so I have the time to heal.”
“You’ve written the team off because you can’t play?” I asked him incredulously.
“Nah, not just me. Ash and Jett missed practice, Jett’s hurt his shoulder, Coach is going to have to play Kowoski, we have ’Bama again soon. Our focus has slipped.”
“That’s my fault.”
He tightened his grip on me, and I took the comfort he offered. “No, it isn’t. We were already distracted, but it was our choice to find who did this to you.”
“But to miss the games . . .” I protested.
“My hand is my fault. I went after Harry; I did this to myself. Not you.”
“But Jett.”
“Hit Onyx all on his own. Jett knocked him out, Onyx went for a swim unconscious, and we all have bruises from yesterday.”
I lifted my head off his chest to look at him. “These are flimsy excuses,” I told him.
“Doesn’t make them any less true.” He kissed the top of my nose, and I smiled at him. “You have something to say to me, Queeny?”
My smile grew wider, and I shook my head. “Nope, don’t think so.” I settled against his chest, and I felt his rumble of disapproval.
“Quinn,” Gray warned.
“Gray,” I mocked him as I ran my fingers over his splint.
“Tell me,” he ordered as he pushed me away from his chest to sit upright.
Shifting in his lap, I was now higher than him, and looking down on him made me feel bold. “Would you prefer I was taller?”
Gray blinked and then frowned. “Are you still drunk?”
“No,” I laughed, but my stomach churned and my laugh turned into a groan. “I wanted so bad when I was younger to be at least six feet so I could be the same height as you, but I stopped growing at five-ten and got boobs and an ass instead.”
Gray squeezed my ass as he grinned. “I, for one, am very grateful for your boobs and ass,” he teased. “Plus, I’m six-one — that extra inch is very important.” His good hand caught the back of my neck as he pulled me to his lips. “You like my inches,” he murmured against my lips.
“I love your inches, all of them,” I whispered as I watched his eyes widen. “I love you.”
He kissed me slowly. His mouth moving over mine with unhurried urgency, yet I still felt his wild need barely contained within his kiss.
His tongue stroked mine as he claimed my mouth, branding me forever with the slow, steady kiss that left my knees weak, my heart racing, and me utterly compliant in his arms.
My knees adjusted, and I was straddling him on the patio chair, my ass rocking gently into his hard length that lay solid between us.
“Shit, we need to stop,” Gray said as he pulled away. “The Admiral sees this, he’ll cut my balls off.”
Dipping my head to his neck, I lightly nibbled on his ear. “The Admiral and Anne left this morning to go to the store. It’s just you and me.”
Gray tugged my head back with his fist wrapped in my hair. “Serious?”
“Deadly.”
I cried out in alarm when he rose, lifting me with his good arm, and carried me into the house. I contented myself with nuzzling on his neck as he took me to my bedroom and dropped me to my feet as he turned and locked the door.
Pulling his clothes off, he nodded toward the bed. “Strip.”
I was only too happy to do so, my sweater and leggings coming off quickly, and I squealed when I felt his hand smack my ass before he pulled my panties down.
“On your back,” Gray ordered as he pushed me lightly backward. I did as he instructed, and then his strong forearms were holding him up before he crawled up the bed to meet me. Dipping his head, he looked down at my breasts before his head dropped and he captured a swollen peak in his mouth.
He licked and sucked my breasts until I was squirming for more. My hand trailed down to the apex of my thighs, and I slowly rubbed myself.
“No,” Gray growled. “Mine.” His hand pushed mine up the bed, and then he had both my wrists in one hand as he kneeled over me and glared at his splint.
“Don’t!” I warned, as I guessed he was going to take it off. “You’ll make it worse.”
“Promise you’ll leave both hands here,” Gray asked me.
“Why?”
“Say it.”
His words were so heavy with desire, and his eyes clouded with lust; he was simply too gorgeous to deny.
I nodded silently, and he closed his eyes briefly before he trailed his hand over my body, playing with my breasts until he sat back and watched his hand slip between my thighs.
Deft fingers stroked me, and I closed my eyes in pleasure.
“You’re soaked,” Gray murmured as he brought his fingers to his lips, sucking my wetness from them. “So fucking sweet,” he muttered as he bent down and pushed my legs apart wider before he took a long, slow lick of my pussy. “How long they away for?”
My mind stuttered on the question until I realized he meant Dad and Anne. “Um, an hour, maybe.”
“I don’t have the time I need,” he told me as he licked again.
“I want to eat this pussy for a lot longer,” he said as he licked again.
“All fucking day.” His mouth moved over me urgently, and I cried out as his tongue centered on the small bundle of nerves, my back arching in pleasure as he sucked lightly.
I felt his fingers enter me, and my hands curled into his hair as I urged him on.
His mouth was incredible. He had always excelled at this skill, but this morning, he was making my body sing for him.
Parting my legs further, I forced his head in deeper; I needed everything.
I was so close that I was going to explode.
My hips were moving in a frantic rhythm with his tongue, and I thanked the heavens we were alone because the noises coming from my mouth were almost inhuman.
“Jesus fucking Christ, Gray, don’t stop, please God, don’t stop,” I begged him as his teeth grazed over me, and I lost it.
My entire core detonated, and I was smothered by the tsunami of pleasure that washed over me.
As awareness trickled back, I felt fingers trailing over my clit gently, and I moaned at the touch before I felt him press against my entrance.
Steadily, he slid inside me, and I moaned again as he stretched me, pushing his way inside as my quivering, oversensitive body yielded to him.
“You feel so good,” Gray mumbled as he started to thrust into me.
“You feel amazing,” I groaned as my hands blindly reached for him.
“I can’t think, you feel so fucking good.
” My hips rolled in rhythm with his, and all I could focus on was the euphoria coursing through me as he moved inside me.
His lips were everywhere, covering my body with kisses, as his good hand cupped my ass.
“Roll over,” he ordered as he withdrew, and I whimpered at the loss of him filling me as I eagerly flipped onto my stomach, lifting my ass into the air.
His tongue and lips were back at my core, and my head was on the bedspread as my hands curled into fists on either side of my head.
As his tongue flicked over my clit, I almost sobbed with need when his fingers started thrusting in and out of me.
Soon, I was screaming my release into the pillow, and then he was inside me again, his hips slamming against my ass, his hand between my shoulder blades, holding me flat.
I felt the coarse texture of his splint as it rested on the small of my back.
“More,” Gray growled as his hand moved and tangled in my hair, pulling me back, my back arching with need as he continued to move relentlessly inside me.
I came again, and I heard his rumble of approval before he picked up his speed.
“I’m gonna come,” Gray announced tightly. “Fuck, baby, I’m gonna come.” I felt him leave me, and then I felt him empty himself on my ass, rubbing the head of his dick against me as he groaned his release.
Slumping down onto the bed, I moaned in exhaustion. Jesus, that had been intense. My eyes opened when I felt him leave the bed, but he was back moments later with a warm cloth as he cleaned my back.
“Thanks,” I mumbled tiredly.
“I didn’t have a rubber, sorry.” I felt the soft kiss between my shoulders, and then Gray was lying beside me. I opened my eyes and took in his disheveled hair, the light sheen of sweat on his body, and I met his gaze with a smile.
“I love you,” I told him simply. “That was amazing.”
“Hangover gone?” he asked as he grabbed my hand and kissed my fingertips.
“I had a hangover?” I answered back with a small grin.
“This splint needs to go so I can fuck you properly.”
My eyes widened slightly in alarm. “I think you’re doing fine, better than fine.”
Gray grinned, but I still saw his frown as he looked at his hand.
“Being out for the season sucks,” I told him quietly. “Don’t put on a brave front. I know this is my fault, and I’m sorry. I know you’re not blaming me, but you need to. I did this, and I’m sorry.”
“I would break every bone in my body if it meant protecting you, Quinn.”
I felt the tears well up, and I was pissed at myself. I missed the days when I didn’t cry; this slushy, squishy girl wasn’t me. “I think that’s the most amazing thing anyone’s ever said to me, and also the most profoundly terrifying, because I believe you.”
Gray shrugged as he closed his eyes. “I love you. I’ve always loved you.
You were mine the day you jumped into that pool, you were mine when I kissed you in the kitchen for the first time, you were mine when you gave my cousin your virginity, you were mine when you begged me to touch you, you were mine the night I told you I loved you and you turned me away.
Now that I know why you did it, it hurts less, but even that .
. . it doesn’t change the simple fact that you belong to me, and I’m yours.
Even when you chose others over me, I am and always have been yours. Just as you are mine.”
“Gray . . .”
“It’s okay. I knew you would come to your senses eventually.”
Rising up on my elbows, I looked at him as I wiped away the tears. “I don’t deserve you.”
Gray huffed out a laugh as he opened one eye to look at me. “I know, I’m a moody, angry bastard. I won’t apologize.” His hand tugged me to him, and I fell ungracefully onto his chest as his good arm wrapped around me. “Football, you, family. That’s all that matters.”
“In that order?” I teased.
He kissed my forehead as he looked at the ceiling. “No, you first.”
Football was everything to Gray, more so probably than it was to Jett, and I didn’t think people realized that. “Football first,” I corrected.
“Football is going to be a few years of my life, Quinn,” Gray corrected. “You’re forever.”
I was going to burst into tears — he couldn’t say this to me without me bawling my eyes out. Knowing that, I hid my face in his shoulder as he stroked my back softly. “I don’t deserve that,” I mumbled into his skin. “But I promise that I will.”
I felt him kiss my hair, and we lay like that for a while longer.
“Quinn, you here? We’re home,” Anne called up the stairs.
“Shit!” Diving off the bed, I scrambled for my clothes as Gray lay naked on my bed, laughing at me.
“Do you want him to actually kill you?” I whispered furiously as I pulled on my leggings and then shoved them off as I searched for my panties. “Where’s my panties?”
Gray guffawed loudly as he swung his legs over the bed. “I’m going for a shower,” he said casually as I paused to watch his naked ass as he headed to the shower. “Coming?” he asked me over his shoulder.
“My dad is downstairs!”
“That a no?”
“You’re impossible,” I hissed at him as I pulled my sweater on. “He’s going to know, Gray.”
“I never, ever thought he was stupid.” With a cocky grin, he closed the bathroom door, and I heard the water running.
The door popped open again, and Gray looked me over.
“Your sweater’s on backward,” he told me calmly, and I stared at him wordlessly.
A knock sounded on my bedroom door, and I jumped.
“Quinn, we’re making lunch. Does Gray want anything?” Anne asked me from the other side of the door.
Gray winked as he laughed at me and closed the door again.
Well, this wasn’t going to be awkward at all.