Page 67 of Hard Hitter

“I’m sorry, do Ilookcharmed to you right now? Is this shit supposed to be cute or something?” Raelyn stood her ground, staring him down. She wanted him to collapse to his knees and beg for forgiveness.

Apparently Quinn had no such intentions.

“It’s really a compliment, if you think about it,” he said, shrugging one shoulder.

Her jaw dropped once again, and she let out a hollow laugh. She rolled her neck as if she were getting ready to fight a bitch, then crossed her arms over her chest to control that urge.

“Oh, she’s mad…” Someone in the group muttered.

"It's a compliment?" Raelyn kept her voice quiet and controlled. It seemed everyone except Quinn recognized her tone as threatening.

"Rae, come on," Quinn said, letting his head fall back as though exasperated.

You're fucking kidding me, right?

"Come on?" Raelyn repeated, incredulous. "Are you serious right now? If I remember correctly, this is exactly the kind of thing you beat the shit out of countless guys for in high school."

"I'll take a swing at him if it'll make you feel better," Emerson's deep drawl came from behind her.

“Fucking try it, Trust-Fund Ken,” Quinn snapped, taking a step closer and puffing up.

“Quinn!You are not getting in a fight with your arm the way it is,” Raelyn hissed.

“I don’t need both arms to fight him,” said Quinn.

Who the hell is this right now? This isnotmy Quinn…

Rae placed a hand on his chest and lowered her voice. “Just ignore him. What the hell are you doing? Bragging about our sex life?”

“Yeah, I’m sure he’s got way more interesting stories to tell than the time he finger-fucked a girl at a baseball field,” Emerson interjected.

Raelyn froze. Hadn’t Quinn told her he hadn’t gone into detail about that night? Hadn’t he implied that he’d only told the story about how he’d finally got the girl he’d always wanted?

She took a couple steps back. "You actually told him that? About the baseball field?" Raelyn was livid. "What thefuck, Quinn? Am I really just some…" she searched for words other than Emerson's, but found none, "somerevengefuck because we didn't hook up in high school?"

"Revenge fuck?"Quinn's brows pulled together. Closing the gap between them, he reached out to take Raelyn's hand, but she pulled away before he could make contact. "You're not seriously going to believe what that asshole said, Rae." He glowered over Raelyn's shoulder at Emerson. "What the fuck did you tell her?"

“The truth,” Emerson shrugged. “At least as far as I could see it.”

“Rae, he doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about,” Quinn said, still glaring over Raelyn’s shoulder.

“I will say though, All-Star, you’re definitely right about that view,” said Emerson, smirking between her and Quinn. “Remember riding me reverse-cowgirl on the floor because you just couldn’t wait for it?”

Quinn lunged forward, but Raelyn placed two firm hands on his even more firm chest to keep him back. "Quinn, don't. It's not worth it."

Wrapping an arm around Raelyn's waist, Quinn squeezed her against him as he continued to stare Emerson down. "You can fuck right off. She'smine,and you fucking lost," Quinn said through gritted teeth.

Raelyn pushed away and untangled herself from Quinn's arms. "I'm not some object to win," she snapped. "And just becausehe'sa sociopath doesn't mean I'm not still mad at you. I expect that shit from him, Quinn. Not you."

"Well,Princess, maybe you should. I've only been letting you down since we were sixteen!"

Behind her, she heard Emerson laugh. “Oh God, this is so much better than I imagined.”

Raelyn whipped around, her voice laced with venom, “Will youshut up?This has nothing to do with you!” Turning back to Quinn, she asked, “What do you mean? When we were sixteen?”

“Everyone knew I was into you, Rae. Everyone knew I was crazy about you, but you just refused to see it. Why? So you could date rich assholes like Liam? Like this guy?” He gestured toward Emerson.

“You’re not exactly in a position anymore to be complaining about rich people, Quinn,” Raelyn replied.

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