Page 24 of Fragile Heart

After about an hour, we stop to rest on a giant boulder on the side of the trail. I unzip the bag and grab one of the extra bottles of water Quinn packed.

Her eyebrows raise as I open the lid and take a giant drink. She keeps looking at me, and I know what she wants.

With an eye roll, I say, “Fine. Thanks for bringing extra water.”

“You’re welcome,” she responds with a satisfied smile.

I also help myself to a protein bar since I’ve only had coffee and a banana today. Quinn reapplies sunscreen, and we take off again.

After another thirty minutes, I start to hear water. Quinn must hear it, too, because she stops walking and looks at me. We veer to the path to our left and walk downhill for a few minutes before coming out at a plunge pool at the bottom of the waterfall.

It’s not the biggest waterfall I’ve ever seen, but it’s beautiful nonetheless. I look over at Quinn, who has the biggest smile on her face.

I climb one of the big boulders in front of the pond and reach my hand out to her. She takes it for me to help her up.

“It’s beautiful,” she says, barely above a whisper. I jump back down from the rock and sit on the ground, inches away from the pond. I remove my socks and shoes and put my feet in the cool water. Behind me, I hear Quinn jump down. She sits next to me and does what I did.

I’m mesmerized by the water crashing into the pond when suddenly I’m splashed, covering the front of my body.

“What the—” I look over and see Quinn laughing. She just splashed me. I use my hand to splash water on her too. She stands and wades into the water until her calves are covered. She looks up at the falls, and I don’t know why, but I follow her.

“Thanks for inviting me today,” she says without glancing my way. “I can’t believe I’ve lived here my entire life and never seen this.”

I nod even though I know she’s not looking at me. I watch her close her eyes and tip her head back so the sun can touch her face. She really is beautiful. Of course, I thought she was attractive when I met her, but she’s not like any of the girls I’ve been around before. She still doesn’t want anything from me.

Besides Jessica, my first and only girlfriend, the only women I’ve been with were random hookups, most of whom I can’t remember their names. We never really talked.

But Quinn is different. Quinn feels like a friend, and I like it. I like it a lot. It’s only been a few days, but I feel like I can trust her.

After a few more minutes in the water, we grab our things and head back to the car. We stop a few times to reapply the bug spray Quinn brought—these mosquitos are no joke—and for me to have another snack.

By the time we get to Quinn’s car, we’re both exhausted. I wish I could drive us home so she could rest, but my license is still suspended for another few weeks, so I’m stuck sliding into the passenger side.

When we get closer to town, I get a sinking feeling that I don’t want to be alone tonight. I know Vaughn went out on a boat with some of our costars today, so the likelihood of him not being completely wasted by now is slim. There isn’t anyone else on set I would want to spend any time with. I’ve tried to distance myself from most of them because I’m there to do a job. I don’t need to become anyone’s best friend, only for them to talk shit about me behind my back. And I know they all do that except for Vaughn.

I look over at Quinn, who’s mouthing the words to whatever song is on the radio, and an idea pops into my head.

“Hey, do you want to stay over for a little? Maybe order some food?”

She pauses her lip-syncing but doesn’t take her eyes off the road. “Oh, um, yeah, sure. That sounds good.”

Satisfied, I turn my gaze back toward the windshield. For the first time in a while, I realize I feel content and almost happy. I don’t feel antsy or on edge. I’m just. . . me.