Page 90 of Hard Hitter

Quinn gave the three boys behind him a suspicious glance, which Chris and Tyler pretended not to notice, while Jett gave an unconvincing shrug and gestured toward the door. Quinn glared but forged on and through the front door. Through the kitchen and out the back door to the patio, he shook his head as he saw the various banners hung up around the tables of food. One read "Happy Birthday, Quinn!," another "Congratulations!," and another was a picture of the Arizona State mascot.

"Okay, I see your face, but you can't complain," Rae's voice floated to his ears from behind the table topped with presents-seriously? Presents?"Because we combined parties and we didn't go out of our way because you know we have an end of summer bash every year anyway. So really, we did nothing extra."

"Nothing?" Quinn asked skeptically, eyes still roaming the tables of food, the ASU colors of maroon and gold on all the decorations, the banner that clearly said his name on it, and back to the gift table.

"Nope," Rae said. "So, you can stop thinking so highly of yourself. You're not that special." She gave him a playful nudge with her hip.

Finally, Quinn tore his gaze away from the decorations and looked down at Rae standing next to him. He blinked and took a step back. He blinked again and swept his eyes across her from head to toe.

Quinn had seen Rae in a swimsuit before. He'd gone to her swim meets, he'd spent countless hours in her family's pool and hot tub with her, but she'd never looked like this. He was used to her sporty swimsuits. Even the two-pieces she wore were athletic-looking.

Thiswas most definitely a bikini. A girly one. It was strapless and the front cinched together, making the shape of her breasts more pronounced. And then the bottoms.Holy shit.High on the sides, and he could tell even from this angle that when she turned around there would bea lotof cheek showing.

He couldn't stop staring. His eyes were glued to her, and he was suddenly aware that he needed to move or sit down or adjust himself before it became very obvious what he was thinking.

"Is that…" he began, willing his eyes to look away, or at least at her face, but they wouldn't. He cleared his throat, "Is that a new…? I've never seen that on you before."

“Do you like it?” She spun in a circle and smiled up at him. “Wasn’t sure if I could pull it off.”

Pull it off...Well, shit. Now I'm picturing Rae taking that bikini off in front of me. This is good.

“Yeah-” Quinn choked out, then cleared his throat again. “Yeah, Rae...it looks...really good.”

Rae shrugged. "It was a special occasion. Thought I'd try it out."

"I can see your ass," Jett piped in from behind Rae. Quinn glared at him, and Jett simply shrugged. "It's a nice ass. Good work, Rae." Jett clapped her on her shoulder and walked toward one of the food tables.

Jett and Rae are friends and he can act like that around her. I should be able to do the same.

Holy shit, man, stop being so awkward. And look at her face!

Rae smiled as she turned back around after watching Jett walk away. Her eyes landed somewhere beyond Quinn, and he turned to see what had caught her attention. Several guys from the baseball team and some that Quinn played football with were congregated on the pool deck behind them.

That explains the bikini.

Quinn's chest deflated with disappointment. Rae had never worn anything like that for him, but he supposed if the entire baseball team and half the football team were coming to this party, it made sense that she'd act differently. She wouldn't flaunt her insane body for him. He was just Quinn. Just her friend, who clearly had no business trying to be anything else.

He bit his lip and looked down at his feet before meeting Rae's eyes again. He gave a nod, one he was sure translated that he got the memo and went to greet the guys. He was sure Rae would be following him over to show off, but when he looked over his shoulder, she was standing next to Brandi Davis and talking, gesturing in Quinn's, or likely, the boys' direction.

"Case!" Luke Williams clapped his hand into Quinn's and they gave each other a standard bro hug-slash-back-pat. Luke had white-blonde hair that contrasted with his deep summer tanned skin, making him look like a California surfer dude. He was tall and lean-muscled and was one of the pitchers on the T.C. West baseball team. Luke’s focus was trained over Quinn's shoulder. "Dang, Case, your girl's looking good over there."

The possessive monster in Quinn's chest stirred. Partially at the recognition that Luke had called Raehisgirl. That's what he had always wanted, after all. But also because he knew that little outfit Rae was sporting was doing its job. How many of these guys would comment about how hot she was looking? How many of them knew that she was his and they would do best to keep their mitts to themselves?

"Oh yeah, she's showin' it off," Quinn grumbled.

"You guys still aren't together?" Luke asked, eyebrows raised. "What the hell, man? Go get her. Ain't nobody wanna step on your territory after what you did to Liam."

"What do you mean?" Quinn greeted a few others who'd come up and gave their general greetings, smacking him on the back or on his butt like they would before a game.

"I mean, Rae hasn't had a boyfriend since you sent Liam Hamilton to the ground in one punch," Luke explained. "I don't think that's a coincidence. I know I wouldn't go there; I don't care how fine she is."

Quinn couldn't help proudly puffing up a little and mentally giving himself a pat on the back for apparently sending out some sort of message to the other guys in school:Mess with her? You're messin' with me.

"Boys," Charlie DeRose's voice cut through the chatter. He put a hand on Quinn's back, "Happy end-of-summer-birthday-congratulations-surprise!"

Quinn laughed and gave Charlie a hug. "You know you didn't have to do this."

"Oh, I know. But you know my family- any chance to throw a party," said Charlie, his eyes sweeping the pool deck and patio. Quinn saw his expression change to one of alarm. "Quinn, what the hell is my daughter wearing?"

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