Page 75 of Topping the Jock
By the time I left the school, it had started to snow.
One snowflake hit my windshield, followed by another. It came down slowly at first, then gathered and fell heavier. My windshield wipers could barely keep up. Fortunately, I made it home before it started sticking to the roads. A surprise waited when I got there. A silver Kia idled in my driveway.
Quinn.My heart practically sang his damn name.
Smiling, I parked and got out of my truck. His car shut off, and the door opened. My stomach fluttered when I saw him. I had literally just seen him an hour ago, but I had missed him, heart, body, and soul.
I’m such a sap.
“I didn’t know you were stopping by,” I said, standing in front of him.
“Neither did I.” Flurries gathered in his hair, and his cheeks were pink from the cold. “I dropped Dad off, then went home, packed a bag, and headed over here to wait on you. So what do you say? Wanna ride out the storm together?”
“There’s no one else I’d rather ride it out with.”
His gaze darted toward the ground. “Me either.”
“You’re smitten with me,” I said, backing him up against his car. His gaze returned to my face, and a faint smile curved his mouth. “Admit it, Specks.”
“You’re still a moron,” he said before grabbing me by my coat and capturing my lips.
I lifted a hand and slid it through his hair as we kissed beneath a snowy night sky. I knew it was too soon for love… but I loved Quinn. Every part of him.
Chapter Sixteen
Quinn
“Things are getting serious with Monty,” I told Reed the next day.
We had gotten a ton of snow, but the roads had been safe to drive on by noon because of the salt trucks. After spending the morning in Monty’s arms, kissing him and reveling in his every moan and sigh, we had peeled apart, and I’d met Reed at his place for a late lunch. My head was a mess, and I’d needed my best friend to help me sort it all out.
“How serious?” Reed asked, placing a cup of coffee in front of me. He wore an oversized sweatshirt and lounge pants but somehow still looked like a damn model.
“Serious enough for me to have nearly said I loved him this morning.”
Reed’s mouth popped open. “What? Really?”
I nodded and wrapped my hands around the hot cup to warm them.
“Do you?” he asked, drawing my eyes back up. “Love him, that is.”
“I don’t know.” I scrubbed my hands over my face. “I’ve never loved a guy before. It’s hard to know for sure.”
“I’ve loved plenty of guys.” Reed leaned against the counter and sipped coffee out of a hugeThe Nightmare Before Christmasmug. “It’s easy to get infatuation and love mixed up… but when you love someone… likereallylove them, it’s like everything else disappears. You want to make them happy, and when you’re around them, it’s like your soul is at peace. It’s not just about you anymore.”
“When I’m with Monty, I feel like I’m flying,” I said. My heart weighed heavily in my chest as I remembered Monty’s and my conversation on the Ferris wheel, as I remembered the softness of his lips. Pretty sure I had loved him even then. “I do love him.” I glanced up at Reed. “Shit.”
A laugh burst from him. “Why do you look so freaked-out?”
“Because I can’t love Monty.”
“And why the hell not?”
“He doesn’t feel the same,” I said, feeling a little sick to my stomach. Did love always make people feel like they were going to puke their guts out?
“Do you know that for sure?”
“No. But it’s not hard to figure out. We have fun together, and things have become more intimate between us over the past few weeks, but he’ll probably get bored with me soon.”
