Page 10 of North

The afternoon dragged on, the house buzzing with noise and movement, but my focus stayed locked on her.

I told myself it was because she didn’t belong. Because she was ruining everything with her quiet, careful presence. She moved like a shadow, sticking to the edges of the room, trying to disappear, trying to make herself small.

But it didn’t work. Not for me.

She was always there. Always pulling my attention to whether I wanted her to or not.

She was by the pool now, stretched out on one of the lounge chairs, her knees drawn up slightly, her bare legs pale against the dark wood of the lounge chair. That black bikini she wore didn’t reveal much, but it didn’t have to. The soft curve of her hips, the subtle rise and fall of her chest, the faint freckles dotting her skin in places I shouldn’t have been staring at—it was enough to create a sharp, angry heat pooling low in my stomach.

She didn’t try to draw attention like Summer did. Didn’t drape herself over the furniture, or laugh too loudly or flick her head like she was waiting for someone to notice her.

She didn’t need to.

Quinn shifted slightly, her thighs brushing together as she adjusted her position, and my eyes dragged lower, tracing the long, lean lines of her legs down to where her feet skimmed the water’s surface.

Something dark and insistent coiled in my chest, sharp and unbearable, and I cursed under my breath.

“Jesus, North,” Victor drawled, his voice cutting through my thoughts. “You’re staring so hard you’re gonna burn a hole through her.”

“Shut the fuck up,” I muttered, tearing my eyes away.

Connor snorted, glancing up from the game controller in his hands. “He’s worse than a dog in heat,” he said, his tone sharp and mocking. “She’s just a pair of tits, North. Find another bitch to fuck, there’s plenty who’d be happy to take a spin on your dick.”

I’d already tried that with the blonde yesterday. Still, the words hit harder than they should have, stirring something hot and angry in the pit of my stomach.

“Don’t worry about me,” I said quickly, too quickly. “She’s nothing.”

Connor smirked, taking a long swig of his beer before setting it down with a loud clink.

“Exactly. She’s nothing, so stop looking at her like she’s your next fucking meal.”

His lip curled slightly as his green eyes flicked toward the pool, where Quinn was now lying on her stomach, the curve of her back and the faint indent of her waist visible even from here.

“If anything, she’s a liability. Walking around here like her dad didn’t destroy everything he touched. Like she’s not dragging her dead weight into this house. You should be trying to get rid of her, not panting after her.”

Victor laughed, low and dark, leaning back in his chair as he took another drag from his cigarette. “He’s not wrong, you know. She’s fragile. Easy to break. You could ruin her if you wanted to.”

The words were casual, but there was something sharp beneath them, something pointed.

“I’m not interested,” I said through gritted teeth, even as my chest tightened, my gaze drifting back to the deck. “She’s just going to be here for the summer, then she’s out again.”

Victor smirked, exhaling a plume of smoke. “Bullshit, you know that’s not true. You said it yourself, Mark loves a charity case. Don’t kid yourself, she’ll be here next summer. Then the summer after that, and after that.”

Connor’s eyebrows raised.

“He’s not wrong. You could destroy her, North. It wouldn’t take much. Just a little nudge in the right direction and you won’t hear from her again. A few words, a few well-placed rumors, and she’d shatter.”

Clearly getting off on the idea, Connor leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees, his expression dark and smug.

“She’s a nobody. A charity case. If you pushed hard enough, she’d probably crawl back to wherever the hell she came from.” He paused, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Or she’d beg you to stop. Either way, you’d win.”

Heat flared in my chest, sharp and unbearable.

“She doesn’t deserve this,” Summer said suddenly, cutting through the tension like a blade.

We all turned to look at her. She was perched on the arm of one of the chairs, her legs crossed, her expression uncharacteristically serious.

“What?” Victor asked, his tone laced with amusement.

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