by Linda Kage
I blushed. “Actually, I did kind of get that memo. But I refused, so my roommate settled for stuffing me into this.”
I wished I were wearing something more like her outfit. Her shirt was oversized with a hole in one sleeve and the shorts were long and paint splattered. She looked so comfortable I was envious.
“Well, thank God you didn’t listen to her, or I’d be feeling totally out of my element right now. Though, I swear, those aren’t swimming suits they’re wearing. Seriously, who would actually swim in one of those things without worrying the first wave to come along would rip it right off you?”
I giggled, totally agreeing.
“And that thing that blonde in the blue is wearing?” she went on, shaking her head with horror. “No. Just…no.”
I grinned but felt compelled to say, “She’s my roommate.”
The blonde flushed hard, her eyes growing wide. “Oh my God. I’m so sorry.”
With a laugh, I waved her apology aside. “No, it’s okay. I love her to death, but I totally agree with you on the outfit. Not over my dead body.”
She set her hand over her heart and blew out a breath. “Whew. Thanks, but I still feel crappy for talking about them all behind their backs.” Then she cleared her throat as she picked up the hose to rinse. “So, you’re Cora’s roommate? You must know Quinn, then?”
My heart sped up at the mention of his name. Keeping my eyes on a bird dropping I was trying to rub off the paint, I murmured, “Yeah, I…I met him last night.”
“He’s such a sweetheart,” Caroline assured me. “Cora has herself the best right there. He’s friends with my brother Noel. They’re on the football team together and they both also work at Forbidden.”
I wasn’t sure what Forbidden was, but I nodded politely. “I’ve only met one other member on the team. Ten, I think his name was.”
My new friend nodded as a strange look lit her eyes. “Yeah. I’ve met him too.”
When she didn’t go on, I cleared my throat. “I haven’t actually been here long. I arrived last night, in fact. I’m going to be a freshman at ESU this year, so Cora’s taking me under her wing.”
“Really?” Her face lit up. “I’m going to be a freshmen too.” Suddenly, she slapped her hand to her forehead and laughed. “Crap, I forgot. I’m Caroline, by the way. Caroline Gamble.”
I laughed because I also hadn’t realized we hadn’t introduced ourselves yet. “Zoey Blakeland.”
“It’s so nice to meet you.”
We both burst out grinning at her dramatically formal greeting as she stuck out her hand and bowed to me. In seconds, the grins turned into laughter. I’m not really sure why we were laughing, but it felt nice.
Business picked up. With Caroline and me working together, we whipped through each car and started getting busier than the guys’ side, which made Cora and her band of sign wavers cheer and hoot, calling out insults to them.
But soon, a bunch of the men ripped off their shirts and sprayed each other down. When Ten and Quinn got into a laughing tussle over the water hose, both Caroline and I had to pause and gape. Quinn kept his shirt on, but he was still absolute perfection. Together, the two guys made the game look like erotic water play.
When a third guy burst in, soaking them both down and breaking them apart, Caroline snorted in disgust. “Noel, you moron,” she said to herself. “Way to ruin a perfectly yummy view.”
I smiled at the tone she used. “I’m going to guess that one’s your brother.”
“Yes,” she muttered with a roll of her eyes, “the one flicking suds at Oren?”
I shook my head. “Oren?”
Her cheeks grew red. “Sorry. Ten. His name’s really Oren Tenning, but everyone calls him Ten.” She tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. “I might be the only person I know who actually uses his first name.”
I nodded. “Oh.” Her brother was one of the better-looking guys. Not as tall and wide as Quinn, or quite as pretty, but he was definitely striking.
“Ugh.” Caroline wrinkled her nose and dropped her washrag into the bucket. “Our bucket of soapy water’s getting gross.”
“I can get a new batch. I know where to get more warm water.”
“Good idea. Warm water would clean much better. Thanks.”
After I dumped the used batch, I lugged the empty bucket back into the storage building.
Inside, it was eerily quiet, sending out a new host of echoes with each step I took. I hurried to the sink in the far corner, ready to get out of there as fast as possible.
Just when I turned off the faucet, the back door opened and crashed sound throughout the entire metal shelf-filled room. I really didn’t want to meet anyone here, especially all by myself. So I ducked out of sight, hoping the newcomer didn’t catch me or linger long so I could escape as soon as they were gone. Crouching, I hid at the end of a tall shelf where the boxes stacked on it kept me hidden.
When Quinn came around the corner, toting a bucket, my breath stalled in my chest.
Pausing when he saw the sink, he turned and glanced toward the doorway, looking confused. After a moment, he shook his head and turned on the water. He held his hand under the stream until it must’ve been warm enough for him to fill his bucket. And I suddenly felt stupid for hiding. I’m sure no one would’ve come through the doorway with nefarious plans. But I’d just been so freaked out.
Yeah, I’d definitely lived with my father far too long.
I couldn’t pop out of hiding now, though, or Quinn would wonder what the heck I was doing, and it was too mortifying to explain what a silly, scared idiot I was.
Just as he finished filling his bucket and lifted it out of the sink, his impressive muscles bunching and pulling under his shirt and making my mouth go dry over the sight, the door to the supply room came open again.
Groaning silently, I rolled my eyes and prayed the misery would end soon. I just wanted to stop hiding and return to the car wash, where I could once again try to act like a normal girl.
Cora skipped inside, which caused Quinn to halt. “What’re you doing in here?”
She sashayed toward him, twisting her hair around her hand and holding it up off the back of her neck. “I saw my incredibly sexy man headed this way, so I had to follow for a quick…snuggle.”
When she reached him, she popped up onto her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her mouth fully against his. Quinn bent his head to meet her lips, but he seemed a little uncertain over what to do with the bucket of water he was holding as some splashed out over the sides and soaked his pant leg.
Keeping his lips attached to hers, he bent just enough to lower the bucket to the ground before he used his newly freed hand to sweep around her waist and pull her up off her feet.
As he smashed them together and I wondered what it’d feel like for a guy to draw me to him like that, Cora squealed. “Oh my God. You’re so wet.” She pushed against his chest, desperate to escape.
He chuckled and set her back down. “What I can’t figure out is how you’re so dry. We’re at a car wash. Everyone should be wet.”
“It’s a talent,” she said as she reached out and grabbed a handful of his shirt. “But what I can’t figure out is why you’re still wearing this dumb ol’ shirt. Most of the other guys took theirs off hours ago. And I know for a fact that you have a better chest than all of them out there. What gives, my big man?”
When she tried to pull his shirt over his head, he gave a nervous laugh and tugged it out of her hands to keep it on. “You know it’s not my chest that’s the problem.”
I wondered what he meant by that when Cora groaned. “Oh, you’re seriously not going to let a couple scars on your back keep all my friends from seeing the yumminess that is your front, are you?”
Scars? Something warm and sympathetic rushed through me. What had happened to his back to scar it?
Ducking his head, Quinn mumbled, “It’s just easier to keep them covered. I never know what to say when
people ask questions.”
“You don’t have to say anything, baby. It’s obvious someone beat you with a belt.”
I swallowed hard. Oh, my…I…I didn’t even know how to process that. I’d felt the lash of my father’s belt more than once. But he’d never hit me so hard that I still had a scar from any of those experiences, except for the one on the back of my leg where he’d forgotten and used the other end. The metal clasp had caught my skin and ripped the flesh open. That had felt bad enough. I couldn’t imagine how much it must have hurt to make lasting scars all over my back.
Grabbing his shirt again, Cora used it to tug Quinn closer. “Now give me another kiss before I start beating you with a belt.”
I frowned at such an insensitive line but was sucked back into eavesdropping when she smashed her mouth to his. Then I leaned a little further out to watch.
I know it was wrong. But watching the way he kissed her was…I wasn’t even sure how to describe it. He carried honest caring and affection for her. I’d been worried after reading so many of Cora’s emails about him. She’d gushed over how perfect and gorgeous and sweet he was, and I had hoped she wasn’t blinded by lust and being used or manipulated by some jerk.
But Quinn seemed to reciprocate her adoration. I was relieved and glad Cora had found a relationship like this, even though I hadn’t known they honestly existed. It made my envy spark until a tiny part of me resented her...just a little bit for finding something so amazing.
She’d always had the nice family, a mother who annoyed her by how much she wanted to be involved in Cora’s life and a father who was one of the gentlest men I’d ever met. And I’d had a widowed father who’d hit me for things like overcooking his fried eggs.
It didn’t seem fair that Cora had gotten the perfect, dedicated boyfriend too. Which only made me choke on my guilt because here I was feeling jealous of the only person who’d ever befriended me while I was perfectly healthy and she was...not.
Oh, man. I was the worst friend in the world.
Quinn was the first to break away from the kiss. His breathing was accelerated, which made his voice sound huskier and in turn made me feel tinglier.
“I should get back,” he said. “The guys are waiting for their soapy water.”
“The guys can just keep waiting,” Cora argued as she kissed her way down his neck. “You need to satisfy your woman.”
He made a groaning sound, letting me know just how tempted he was, even as he set a hand on her hip to nudge her away. “I’ll make it up to you tonight. How about that?”
Cora pulled back and stuck out a fake sulky bottom lip. “Promise?”
He kissed her forehead. “We’d better get going before we’re caught in here together like this.”
“Don’t be such a prude, baby. We’re not doing anything wrong. We still have all our clothes on.”
Quinn just shook his head as he bent to pick up his bucket.
“Okay, fine.” Still in pout mode, Cora set her hands on her hips and spun away to flounce toward the door. “Be a fuddy duddy then. You better make it up to me twice tonight.”
Quinn began to follow her, but glanced over for some reason. I wasn’t expecting him to look my way, but when his gaze latched onto mine, I was caught.
I hunched back deeper into my hiding spot, but he froze and his mouth fell open, letting me know good and well he saw me.
I expected a hailstorm of questions and cringed even more under his gaze, already trying to think up an excuse for why I was here…and why I hadn’t made my presence known.
But he shocked me when his eyes filled with sympathy. Glancing after Cora as if to check if she was paying attention or not, he turned back. Then he pointed at me and mouthed the question, “You okay?”
I blinked.
He wasn’t going to expose me or demand answers? Why wasn’t he going to expose me?
Heart thumping hard, I nodded.
So he pointed after his departing girlfriend and mouthed, “Do you need Cora?”
I smiled a little, charmed that he was so concerned and yet grateful he was keeping my presence private.
When I shook my head, he smiled. After sending me a thumbs-up sign, he followed Cora from the warehouse.
I stayed there another minute, trying to rein in my scattered emotions. I was still mortified about being caught, even though Quinn had been so cool about it. It made me feel like an idiot for hiding in the first place. But most of all, I was ashamed.
Cora was my one and only friend. She’d been the only person to talk to me and introduce herself on my first day of public school after my father finally agreed I could stop using the tutors he paid to homeschool me. She’d been my rock and support every time after he’d punished me. I worshiped the ground she walked on. And now she was hurting, suffering from a debilitating disease. She deserved all the happiness she could get. What the heck was I doing, feeling jealous?
I was still pretty mad at myself by the time I returned to Caroline. But she looked worried out of her mind until she spotted me. Rushing forward, she asked, “Are you okay? I was about to send search and rescue in for you.”
“Oh, I…I…I’m sorry.” I glanced across the parking lot, only to find Quinn watching us.
When he caught sight of me looking back, he turned away. I wondered what was going through his head, what kind of freak he must think I was. I turned to Caroline, slightly sick to my stomach.
“I kind of got stuck in there when Quinn and Cora slipped inside to make out. I guess I should’ve cleared my throat or something to let them know I was there, but—”
Caroline held up a hand and rolled her eyes. “Say no more. I totally get it. I’d hide out for a while too. My brother catches his girlfriend Aspen around the house, all the time, thinking they’re ‘alone,’ and I never know if I should tell them I’m right there or what?”
I let out a silent breath of relief, glad I wasn’t the only person who’d ever gone through that kind of dilemma. “What do you usually do?”
She grinned mischievously. “I usually wait until they’re going really hot and heavy before I make a loud noise and scare the hell out of them.”
With a laugh, I shook my head. “You’re kind of devious, aren’t you?”
Her smile faded. Turning away to focus on scrubbing the last car of the day, waiting on us to clean it, she murmured, “I used to be, I guess.”
Realizing I’d hit some kind of trigger, I sobered and silently got to work rinsing what she’d just cleaned.
But great. Now I had another reason to feel crappy. I’d somehow offended the only person I’d really connected with since moving here.
The guys ended up winning over the girls, washing eight more cars than they had.
Ten led some bizarre victory dance, but I was too busy glancing across the parking lot and checking on Zoey to join in...not that I would’ve anyway. Dancing was not my thing.
It still bothered me that she’d been hiding in the warehouse. Had something scared her? Someone bothered her? I didn’t like remembering how lost and alone she’d looked.
She’d been away from her abusive father for barely a full day. Maybe it had been too soon for Cora to start dragging her around to social events.
Except she looked okay now.
She actually smiled at something Noel’s sister was saying to her and brushed a stray piece of hair out of her face when the wind blew it into her eyes. Her hands motioned as she answered, and Caroline threw her head back before letting out a belly laugh.
Noel straightened at the sound and glanced across the lot to watch them. “Holy shit,” he murmured, stopping at my side. “That’s Caroline. She’s...God, she’s laughing.” The concept seemed completely unheard of to him. Turning to me, he looked utterly amazed as he murmured, “I can’t believe she’s laughing. I haven’t seen her laugh all summer.”
His lips twitched into a relieved kind of smile. “Whoever that blonde talking to her is, I freaking love her.”
&
nbsp; I sucked in a breath, startled by how much I wanted to hurt Noel Gamble, my biggest idol on the planet, in that moment.
Ten chuckled and patted Noel’s shoulder. “Watch what you say, Gam, or Hamilton’s likely to knock your teeth out. Blondie’s here with him today.”
Noel wrinkled his brow before he did a double take, glancing from me to Zoey and back to me again. “Wait. What?”
With a sigh, I sent a brief glare Ten’s way before answering. “Her name’s Zoey. She’s Cora’s new roommate.”
“Really?” Noel brightened. “So, she really did come here with you today?”
I nodded warily, wondering where he was going with this. I knew he hadn’t been literal when he’d said he loved her. But hearing those words come from his mouth while he was looking at her had not struck me the right way.
“Great.” Noel clasped his hands together, grinning madly. “You guys should come get some pizza with us for supper.”
I faltered, not wanting Zoey near him for some reason I couldn’t explain.
As if reading the indecision on my face, he stepped closer. “This is the most alive I’ve seen my sister in months. She’d holed herself up in her room since she moved here. I am not about to let her lose out on her first attempt at making a friend. Please, man. Just see if your Zoey girl can spend a little more time with Caroline.”
“Okay.” I sighed, wondering for the millionth time what had happened to Caroline Gamble. It must’ve really messed her up. And I probably should’ve told Noel not to call her my Zoey, but I didn’t. “I’ll ask Cora and Zoey if that’s okay with them.”
“Hey.” Ten wormed his way between us, scowling. “Where’s my golden invitation to eat pizza with you?”
Noel sniffed and sent him a short frown, throwing Ten’s arm off his shoulder. “I didn’t see you bringing anyone around to befriend my sister.”
“Well…I could befriend her,” Ten started, putting on an offended front as he pressed his hand to his chest.