Page 102 of Hard Hitter

“Doesn’t every girl have an idea of what she wants from the time she’s like seven years old or something?” Emerson pressed, still not taking his eyes off of her.

Seven years old? Quinn...I think I’ve wanted Quinn since I was seven years old.

Raelyn smiled at the thought. The image of him skipping rocks by himself on the beach, and her unexplainable need to have him join her party, and then her life.

“Maybe we do,” she said, unable to conceal her smile at the fond memory. She met his gaze and he looked back at her curiously. “I’m notevery girlthough, so no, I didn’t have a wedding all planned out already.”

Emerson snorted a laugh, “You’re not wrong about that.” He tossed back what was left of his champagne and set the glass on the bar behind him. “I can’t wait to get into that reception and get a real drink.”

Raelyn was also ready to get into the reception, but for a whole different reason. She wanted to zoom through dinner and toasts and get straight to the dancing. She had always loved the dancing portion of wedding receptions, but after Quinn’s make-shift prom and homecoming, she couldn’t wait to get him back on the dance floor. And here, there were nearly five-hundred people to watch as she showed him off in front of everyone.

Sorry, ladies, Quinn Casey is off the market.

It wasn’t long before the wedding party made their entrance, and the bride and groom were introduced to the ballroom full of guests. At the head table, Raelyn scanned the tables for Quinn and found him at one close to the front. He was sitting with Chris, Jett, and Victoria, and there were a few other guests sharing their table.

On Quinn’s right was a woman with a natural bronze tan, long shiny hair that was nearly black, and she was wearing a tight-fitting red dress. Raelyn couldn’t tell from where she sat, but she suspected the dress was short. It seemed odd that Quinn was sitting between this woman and Jett. Assuming she was single, it would make sense for Jett to trade places with Quinn so he could chat her up since he’d come without a date.

Raelyn watched intently as this admittedly gorgeous woman talked to Quinn, leaning in and making her rather large bust more pronounced. Seriously, those things were about to pop out of her dress. Raelyn’s eyes narrowed as she continued to watch their interaction.

The woman laughed at something Quinn said, tossing her head back gracefully and placing a well-manicured hand on his upper arm. Her laugh sounded whimsical and feminine. Quinn was grinning, too, as he leaned toward Jett and motioned to the woman who still had her hand on his arm.

Hands off what’s mine, bitch.

Raelyn angled her head toward Amala and asked, “Hey, who’s that girl next to Quinn? Skimpy red dress, XL ta-tas.”

Amala skimmed the crowd until she saw where Raelyn was looking. “Oh, dang. She needs to put those babies away,” Amala said, eyes widening. “I’m not sure, actually. Might be a friend of Brody’s or something.”

Unsatisfied with that explanation, Raelyn huffed and tried Tessa on her other side. Again, Tessa didn’t know, but admitted she had been silently envying the woman’s perfect cleavage that looked photoshopped.

Raelyn stared, intensifying her gaze as she focused on Quinn. She hoped he would feel her glaring at them and look up. His hand wason his water glass in front of him and Raelyn couldn’t help noting his body was angled ever so slightly toward the voluptuous creature next to him.

Look up here.

See my face.

Switch spots with Jett.

Quinn Casey, stop talking to that woman and look at me.

Oh! It worked!

Quinn smiled wide when he found Raelyn staring intently at him, but his smile faltered for a second when he saw the narrow-eyed glare. She cocked one eyebrow and nodded toward the mystery woman and mouthed, “What the fuck?”

His smile returned. Glancing at the woman and back to Raelyn he mouthed, “Are you jealous?”

Um, yeah!

Attempting to make her glare look more threatening, she tried mouthing to him again that she needed to keep her hands to herself. He failed to lip read this message, so Raelyn rolled her eyes and grabbed her phone off the table to text him.

Raelyn: Tell her to keep her hands off.

She watched as Quinn read his phone, then looked up at her with an amused, near laughing expression. Raelyn was not laughing. She was giving her best Don’t Mess With Me stare with a little bit of attitude. Quinn bent his head over his phone as he wrote her back.

Quinn: I’ve never seen you jealous. It’s kinda cute.

Cute?!

Raelyn scoffed and lifted her gaze back up from her phone to see Quinn still smirking in her direction.

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