Page 54 of Heart of Gold
“I know that,” she whines. “But Grayson will lie and say all sorts of things to make you look bad. You don’t deserve that.”
I take her hand in mine and notice those pretty nails painted a different shade of red. I rub my thumb over them tenderly.
“Let me deal with Collins.”
A hefty pause lingers between us before she finally speaks, “I don’t want to pretend it didn’t happen either. I’m glad it happened.”
It’s like a large weight has lifted off my chest with those words coming out of her mouth. I wasn’t exactly sure how she felt, because she did give me a fake name. She didn’t want to be found after the cruise, but now it seems that she just didn’t want to drag anyone into the shit storm that is Grayson Collins. It was more about protecting me than protecting herself.
“Before I met you, I wanted Grayson to choose me. To come back and tell me he’d made an awful mistake, but when he was standing in front of me at the game last weekend, I could only see you.”
She takes a shaky breath and continues, “I closed my eyes, and thought about what he was saying to me, but I cared more about the fact that you were out there.”
Her words make my stomach burn with the desire to kiss her. I want to wrap my hands through the back of her hair and pull her to my lips, but once again, I don’t know how fast is too fast.
“I know it’s late but would you wanna come over to my apartment? We could talk.”
“I’d love to,” she smiles, reaching for her seatbelt.
chapter twenty-two
Quinn
When I walk through the door of Gavin’s apartment it isn’t at all what I expected. There’s not a single thing out of place. Clean counters, nice aesthetic with a couch that doesn’t look like a bunch of bachelors sleep on it.
“No one is here,” Gavin says, flipping a lamp on. “Levi takes forever after the game talking with the coaches.”
“You don’t have other roommates?”
“Nope. Just me and Levi. We have an extra bedroom in case some of the guys stay over.”
I follow him up the stairs to his room, and feel my heart thrash against my ribcage when he opens the door. I’d never been in a guy’s room that wasn’t situated in their parent’s house. This is Gavin’s room, in his own apartment.
I’m freaking out a little.
The room is clean, like spotless, with different hues of green. There’s even artwork on the wall. Not something I would’ve expected for a nineteen year old college kid.
Like, where’s the football posters? Or posters of half-naked girls?
“You alright?” He asks, pulling me closer to him.
“Your room is really clean. I wasn’t expecting it to be so put together.”
He laughs, “I just don’t like the frat house vibe. It’s not me.”
I get that. With him, honestly, this is exactly the type of room I’d imagine for him. Like Gavin, his room is mature.
I sit down on his bed, and smooth my hand over the comforter. It might be the softest thing I’ve ever touched. I sink into his mattress too, but I might just be delusional, since I’ve basically been sleeping on a piece of plywood in the dorms.
“Your bed is soft,” I state, watching him. “Feels like a fluffy cloud.”
Gavin lifts the blanket off the edge of the bed and pulls it back, “These sheets are the best. I could sleep in here for days.”
“Me too,” I smile.
A wicked grin spreads across his face as he winks, “That could be arranged.”
My cheeks turn a rosy shade of pink as I try my best to hide my smile. Because I would love for that to be arranged, even if it might be too soon.
