Page 3 of More than Paper

Present Day

“Areyou able to get the penthouse still?” I ask Vivian. Chase has been shot, and he was supposed to sign for it earlier that day.

“Hopefully.”

I hear his voice.

“Oh my God, Vivian, your face!”

“I’m okay.”

“How is he?” Jamison’s voice is full of worry.

“He’s recovering. He’ll be okay,” Vivian tells him.

He turns to me and relief replaces his worry. “You doing okay?”

Don’t break down, Quinn. This is not the time. You need to forget about him and move on. Don’t give him any further reason to talk to you.

“Yeah. Glad you had a safe flight.” I turn and walk away.

Noah, Piper, Xander, Charlotte, and Vivian’s parents are all at the hospital.

I concentrate on all of them, trying to appear interested in their conversation, but the entire time my insides are shaking, and I remind myself to breathe and not focus on Jamison.

I’m playing my role well. I make it through dinner. I sit as far away from him as possible. I engage in conversation with Vivian’s mom, hoping it’ll be easier not to think about him. I need to pay closer attention to what she says because of her broken English, but having to concentrate on all her words only makes my mind wander more.

“Quinn?” Vivian’s mom puts her hand on mine.

“Oh, sorry. I need to go to the restroom. I’ll see you all back in the waiting room.”

Her mom looks worried. I never could fool her. She always knows when something is wrong with one of us girls.

I don’t need to use the restroom, but I do need to breathe. And I can’t with Jamison around. All I can think of is how much I want him to wrap me in his arms, and that will never happen again.

Once I get inside the restroom, I see no one else is in it. I put my hands on the countertop and inhale a few times, but the tears flow. Seeing him is ripping my heart out, and I don’t know how to stop the bleeding.

I should have locked the door. There are only three stalls, but I should have gone into one or locked the main door. Piper comes in as soon as I start crying.

She rushes over to me and pulls me into her arms. “Quinn, what’s going on?”

I shake my head.

“Quinn, I haven’t pushed you, but enough is enough. What is going on between you and Jamison?”

“Nothing,” I tell her.

It’s the truth.

“Quinn. Something is going on. Why won’t you tell me?”

I blow my nose and avoid looking at her. The shame of it is too much. I’ve known Piper forever, and she’s my closest friend. I’ve never kept anything from her until now.

She pushes. “Why are you avoiding Jamison?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

She grabs me by the shoulders. “Quinn. Enough. You’re hurt. Tell me what is going on!”

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