The only girl in a family of boys, it’d been hard dealing with my brother’s relentless teasing about my bra size. Unless someone outside the family tried it. Then they were protective to a fault—especially Christopher. He’d gotten his ass beaten once defending me when a senior tried to cop a feel in front of the lockers at the gym.
“Darling daughter,” my mother said, rolling her Rs dramatically. I used to be embarrassed of our eastern European background, because we didn’t sound anything like my friend’s parents. Now I cherished how unique our family was. “Who’s your friend?”
“Quinn, this is my mom,” I said. “Ma, I know Quinn from TSU. He plays baseball for the university. And he, um . . . is also Joel’s frat brother.”
“Nice to meet you, dear,” Mom said, extending her hand. “A friend of Joel’s is a friend of ours.”
Quinn’s eyebrows shot up and I gave him the slightest shake of my head.
“Thank you,” he said, recovering quickly. Before reaching out to shake her hand, he apologized about his appearance. “Sorry, I’ve been working on my car all morning. It’s hard to get all the grease from beneath my nails.”
Mom gave him a warm smile. I could tell she liked his manners. “Does your family live nearby?”
“Yes, just over in Jefferson.”
“So you’re home to celebrate the holiday with your family?” I almost nudged Mom with my foot for prying too much, but I had to admit, I was curious myself.
Besides, Mom wouldn’t have listened anyway. She loved to interfere in other people’s business. Especially my friends’. That’s why she’d allowed Avery to practically live at our house the last year of high school. We were all in the haze of grief, and having Avery there broke us out of our fog from time to time.
“Actually, my parents were called away on business last-minute, so it’ll just be me and my pie.” His head dipped down, discomfort and irritation in his eyes. Something lurched for him deep in my gut. “My father is the state representative for district eighteen, so there are always fund-raisers to attend. I chose to take a break from it this year.”
Before I could open my mouth my mother beat me to the punch. “Then you’ll come celebrate the holiday with us.”
Quinn’s cheeks flared red. “Oh, no, Ma’am, that’s okay, I’m just going to—”
“I insist,” Mom said before he could get his sentence out.
She must have felt the same way I had. It wasn’t pity, just sadness. Quinn was a private, mysterious guy. Did his parents’ political status have anything to do with it? It must have been tough growing up with expectations, maybe equal parts from your parents as from the public. It felt like pieces of the puzzle were beginning to fall into place.
“Um,” Quinn mumbled, staring at me as if he was checking whether or not I thought it was an okay idea.
“Why not?” I shrugged. “Besides, we’re bringing home lots of dessert from the diner.”
His cheek quirked into a grin. “I do love these pies.”
“Plus, my mom has been slaving in the kitchen all morning creating a feast,” I said, trying to sell him on the idea. I didn’t want him to be alone. At least I told myself that was the only reason. “I think you’ll enjoy it.”
“Okay, sure,” he said. “How can I pass up great food?”
“Then it’s settled.” Mom placed her hand on my shoulder. “How about you help your friend find our house? I’ll meet you back there.”
She didn’t even wait for a response. Figuring she had the details all worked out, she walked off, proud of herself. I sighed and looked up at the counter where my auntie stood, spying on the conversation. She gave a quick wink before turning back to load the coffee machine.
“My mom didn’t give you much choice in the matter,” I said, slinking down in the booth. “But is it okay if I drive with you? If not, I can always catch her in the parking lot.”
“Actually, it would be great if you joined me,” he said after eating the last bite of his pie. “It’d be better than me walking in alone. I’m guessing you have a large family?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty big,” I said. “Sorry she put you on the spot. You might not like being around a bunch of rowdy relatives speaking two different languages.”
“Nah, it’ll be cool. Just not something I’m used to,” he said. “My family is small. And we don’t get together with relatives all that much anymore.”
I couldn’t imagine how that felt; I was so used to the chaos of my own family.
“Listen, I’m still dirty from working on my car,” he said looking down at his T-shirt. “Mind if I go home and change real quick?”
“Not at all,” I said. My stomach got all fluttery thinking about how I’d be spending time with Quinn. And it had all happened by chance.
“So you finally found time to get back to your hobby, huh?” I said, recalling our conversation about restoring cars at the fund-raiser event.
He ducked his head as he dug out his wallet and a hint of a smile outlined his lips. “Something like that.”
Quinn laid a ten-dollar bill on the table and we headed out the door. I gave my auntie a little wave before leaving. She was sure to drill me later.
I hopped in the passenger side of his car, noticing the polished leather seats, the spotless floor and dashboard. “I get the honor of riding in your classic car. I see you take very good care of her.”
A spark of pride flashed in his eyes as he backed out of the space. “This one’s my baby.”
I pulled the seat belt over my chest. “Does she have a name?”
He laughed. “Isn’t naming your car kind of lame?”
“No way, you need to call her something,” I said, checking out the vintage door handles. “Give me time to come up with one.”
“Not making any guarantees that I’ll use it, but go for it.” Quinn seemed to light up talking about his car. The faint redness in his cheeks just made him more beautiful. Like he was glowing from the inside.
“It’ll be my special name for her,” I mumbled. When I looked over something had softened in his eyes.
Quinn was a vigilant driver, staying several car lengths behind on the road and never riding anyone’s tail on the freeway. I wondered if it was because of how much he cherished his car or if there was a different reason. Had something else happened to make him so cautious?
He seemed to be careful in other ways as well—like making a move on me the other night. He said he needed to make sure that things didn’t happen between us just because it was easy. But I couldn’t deny the current tethering us together now. Our legs rested just inches apart on the seat and he’d looked at my thigh more than once, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.
His hand tightened against the steering wheel and I noticed the leftover grease beneath his nails. But other than that, his hand looked soft, his skin smooth, his nails trimmed. And I longed to hold it now.
I remembered the rough calluses on his palms when he’d touched my face in his room and my chest squeezed tight. What would it have been like to be snuggled against his side, with his arm around me, music blaring, road-tripping it together?
I tried to push the thought out of my head and focus on just getting to know him. I had this opportunity to spend time with him and I wanted to make the most of it.
Chapter Sixteen
Quinn
“So, how bad does it suck that your parents are gone for the holiday?” she asked while staring out the window, almost as if she was afraid to meet my eyes. Maybe she was nervous she was overstepping bounds again.
I looked down at her knee, jiggling away on the other side of the console, and it mimicked the restless beats of my heart. I had Ella alone in my car and I all I could think about was wrapping her in my arms and kissing the hell out of her. Being with Ella somehow gave me hope that one day, I could feel something real again.