Chapter 8 Jett
“You know her?” Gray asked me as I approached him and Ben, our backup quarterback.
“Met her twice, happy to never meet her again.” I took the ball off Ben. “Your aim was on point.”
“Didn’t mean to knock her down,” he admitted with a grin. “She dropped like a stone.”
“Yeah, when I said aim for her, I didn’t mean knock her out,” I told him with my own grin. “Thank fuck she’s too prickly to realize she could probably sue us.”
“You want to tap that?” Gray asked me as he turned to watch Uptight and Angry march into the cafeteria.
“No, even horizontal, that girl would still have a giant stick up her ass, and it wouldn’t be mine, know what I mean?”
Gray snorted as he tossed the ball in his hands. “She does have a point; we probably shouldn’t be doing this in the quad.”
“She irritates me,” I told my brother. “I wanted to see her knocked on her ass. Mission accomplished.” With a grin at Ben, we started to head to the stadium. “Thanks to our fine quarterback, I got my wish.”
“It sucks you’re out for two games,” Ben said casually as the three of us walked along the campus. “I really didn’t think Ash landed on you that hard.”
“He’s two hundred and forty pounds. Trust me, him landing on you, hurts,” I told him easily.
Gray walked beside me quietly, his eyes on his phone, and then his head was up and he was looking behind him. “She’s going for lunch,” he told me. Turning back the way we had just come, I saw the familiar long-legged, black-haired girl head into the cafeteria.
“Where’s Ash?”
“Stadium.”
“Let’s go.” Turning back to Ben, I tossed him the ball. “See you in a bit.”
Gray and I headed to the cafeteria. I needed to enlist help for what happened on Friday.
Quinn was already at a table when we got there, two plastic containers in front of her.
Her long hair gathered over one shoulder as she settled down to eat her homemade lunch.
We’d known Quinn since we were ten. She was the girl next door.
Awkward. Shy. Braces. Hideous hair. She was also wild.
Her parents lamented that we led her astray.
If they only knew what their beautiful daughter was capable of, they would owe Gray and me a thousand apologies.
“Queeny,” I greeted her as I took the seat opposite her, and Gray pulled a chair from the neighboring table, ignoring the cry of protest from its intended occupant.
“I hate that,” Quinn said without raising her head from her food. “What do you want?”
“What’s up your ass?” Gray asked her as he leaned over, plucking one of her carrot sticks out of her container and popping it in his mouth.
“Your brother,” Quinn snapped as she glared at him. “Maybe it was your dad? I can’t remember, all the Santo dicks merge into one giant pain in my ass.”
“Jesus fuck, what’s your ’tude for?” Gray glared at her, and I knew I had to intervene before they ended up killing each other.
“Quinn.” I leaned forward to get her attention. “Can I have a chance to speak?”
“What’s happened this time?” Dark brown eyes met mine, and for the first time since we sat down, a small smile graced her face.
“It’s like you expect there to be a problem,” I joked lightly.
“I have the Santo twins interrupting my lunch when their cousin is nowhere near them, which means you’ve been looking for me.
Or waiting for me. Which usually means .
. . you need me for something.” Quinn took a small bite of her chicken salad.
“Who is she? How much do I need to know? How bad do you need it resolved?”
I started to tell her, keeping my voice low. “I was at a party on Friday—”
“Before a game?” Quinn frowned at me, and I hurried on to avoid the lecture.
“Yeah, I planned on having one beer. I was there checking something out.”
“What?”
“It’s not important,” Gray interrupted me as he looked around. “He had one beer, then Derrick saw him leave and go home.”
“The cute corner?” she asked before she rolled her eyes at Gray’s scowl. “So?” Quinn was looking between the two of us, her food forgotten.
“I have no memory of getting home.”
“You were drugged?” Quinn asked me with concern. “I knew that ankle injury was bullshit. Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not all,” Gray said as he took another carrot, ignoring her glare. “He woke up with a girl.”
Quinn sighed, shaking her head in disappointment as she laid her fork on the table. “You’re a complete asshole. How did you even manage?”
“I don’t remember. Anything,” I stressed as I held her gaze. “I need you to find out who she is.”
“What’s the last thing you do remember?”
“The beer.”
“You took an open drink?” Quinn was ready to launch into another lecture.
“No. I opened it.”
“You laid it down? Unattended?” She looked even more ready to start yelling.
“No.”
Sitting back, she tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Pinpricks?”
“What?” I exchanged a glance with Gray.
“If you didn’t drink it or swallow it, then it was injected into you.” Quinn stood abruptly. “Let’s go.”
Ignoring her food, she picked her book bag up and headed out of the cafeteria, not giving Gray or me any choice but to follow.
Quinn walked into the men’s bathrooms with no qualms. “Everyone out.” Stunned, a few students looked at her before they started to react, either in horror or humor, and then they saw us.
“Move it, boys, no need to be shy. I’ll make sure I tell whoever asks it was a weapon.
” She winked lasciviously at them before she jerked her head toward the door. “Today, guys.”
Gray checked the stalls as I held the door open for the students to leave. Quinn stood in the middle of the bathroom, already looking me over.
“Last memory of the night?” she asked when we were alone.
“The beer and talking to Derrick about routes for the game the next day.”
“Whose party?” she asked as she approached me, handing her book bag to Gray before her hands started running up my left arm as she studied me.
“I don’t remember, some guy.”
“Jett, I honestly—”
“C’mon, Quinn, you know it could have been anyone’s. He got a text, he went, enough said. Ask around, people saw him, you’ll learn whose it was.” Gray was also now studying my skin intensely.
I felt like a lab rat. Quinn exhaled in exasperation but nodded. “I’ll find out.” Her hands were now lightly prodding over my right arm, which was heavily tattooed. “I’m never going to find it in this mess.”
“Hey,” I protested, turning my head to look at her. She jerked my head forward as she moved up to my neck and then pulled my earlobe forward to check the skin behind there.
“You’re sure you didn’t drink it?” she asked as she moved around to my back.
“I’m sure. This is weirdly relaxing,” I teased her as she pulled my T-shirt up and ran her hand over my back. “Like a pregame warm-up massage.”
I heard her huff out a laugh as her hands kept moving. “You’re funny,” Quinn said lightly. “Okay, I have nothing.” She stood back and then moved to my side so I could see her. “Who were you looking for at the party?” she asked casually as she took her bag from Gray.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, Jett, that I’ve known you for ten years give or take, ever since daddy dearest left the Navy and settled down in the house right beside yours.
” Her eyes flicked between me and my brother.
“I know when you’re speaking bullshit. Now, if you want me to help, you tell me what I want to know.
Now.” Quinn gestured to the door. “Or I walk.”
Gray caught her arm to stop her in case she went through with it. “Quinn, we told you—”
“You told me shit,” Quinn interrupted him. “Jett doesn’t go to parties when he doesn’t know who’s having them, who they are, or what they have going on. And he sure as fuck doesn’t go alone!” Wrenching her arm from Gray’s grip, Quinn turned her angry stare my way. “Who were you both looking for?”
“Quinn . . .”
“I told you!” Angrily, she stepped toward me. Quinn was tall, but still she needed to look up at me. “I told you all to leave it alone.”
“We’re never going to do that,” I bit back just as angrily. “That fucker messed with what’s ours.”
Throwing her arms up into the air, she pushed past me. “I’m done. When you can listen, and respect my wishes, then I’ll talk to you.”
The door slammed behind her. Gray and I stood awkwardly for a moment longer before I turned to the urinal. May as well take care of business since I’m here.
“We stopping?” Gray asked me as he stepped up to the one beside me.
“No.”
“She’ll be pissed.”
I grinned as I unbuttoned my jeans. “She’s always pissed,” I replied grimly. “I don’t give a fuck if she’s pissed, nothing stops us.”
As we headed to the stadium, I thought about what Quinn had said. I knew she wasn’t happy about what we were doing, and even though it had caused more of a rift in the friendship we had, she had to know we would never stop.
Quinn Lawrence was like a sister to me; no one in this world would ever hurt me or my family.
No one.
* * *
Ash was running routes when we got to the stadium. Coach was glaring at both me and Gray, and without a word, Gray ducked into the locker room to get changed while I dropped my pissed-off self onto the bench.
Ben came over to talk to me, and I spoke to him briefly about nothing. Me not mentioning his arm, and he not mentioning the fact that I was sitting on the sidelines like a spare prick in a brothel.
“Why are you here?” Bowers said to me after he pointed at Ben and then the twenty-five-yard line. Ben took the less-than-subtle hint and jogged over to meet up with the rest of the offense.
“I’m recovering from a slight injury. While I do so, am I not supposed to make it to practice?” I couldn’t look at him. If I did, I might punch him, and then “Two Weeks’ Suspension” headlines would become “No Longer Plays for Cardinal Saints College” breaking news.