Across The Hall (10 page)

Sloane joking about how OCD she was.

Reed just laughed at me. “Dude, Kai knows everything.”

“Everything? So you guys told her who I am. Did she tel Sylvia already?” She must have. Why else would they invite me to the picnic if there was

any chance of Sylvia freaking out?

“No. No-one has told her anything yet.”

“Then what about Sylvia? Sloane told me that they were going to tel her tomorrow.” I was confused.

“Sylvia can’t come. She got cal ed in to work or some shit like that, and now she isn’t gonna be there. When Kai told me to come and get you,

Sloane thought it would be okay. You can come hang with us and the girls can get to know you. When we do tel them about you they wil see that

you’re okay and not some psycho out to hurt Sylvia.”

“I guess if you think it wil work. Anything I need to do or bring?” I was hesitant. “How much time until we leave?” I stil had to run to the store for a

few things. I should probably get that done with before Sylvia gets home.

“I’m not sure, maybe 2 hours. We eat around two.” Reed seemed to always know when food was involved.

“I’m going to run a couple errands. I’l be back by then.” I said as I glanced at the clock.

“Oh, we go before that and toss around the Frisbee or shit like that. We used to gril out and shit, but Sylvia always did the cooking. Kai and Kerri

can’t cook worth shit so we’re gettin’ food from somewhere else. Be back by one. You can ride with us.” I glanced at the clock again.

“Yeah, I think I can do that.”

After Reed left, I thought I should wear something slightly better than a plain white t-shirt and shorts I had on. I threw a dark brown button-up shirt

on over my t-shirt and cal ed it good. I wanted to make a good impression on Sylvia’s friends. I rushed around and got al the stuff I needed at the

store and was back with time to spare.

I went down to Reed’s place around one. The girl who opened the door was stunning. Reed hadn’t exaggerated about her at al . “Hel o. You must

be Quinn. I’m Kerrington. Come in. Reed and Sloane are going in Reed’s jeep. You’re riding with them.” Though polite enough, her greeting was

rather cold. I got the feeling that she was reserving her judgment on me and I wondered if that was good or bad.

“Hi Kerrington. Thank you for inviting me along today.” I gave her my most polite smile. It didn’t help.

“Oh, I didn’t invite you. Kai did.” Okay, Kerrington may be a problem.

“Hey, Q, you ready to go?” I cringed at Reed’s shortening of my name.

“Yes,” I answered simply.

As we walked down the hal , Reed opened Sloane’s door and cal ed in “We’re going down to the jeep now.”

Reed led me over to a big red hard-top jeep. It fit him perfectly. I let out a chuckle and Reed turned to me.

“What? This here is my other baby. Kerri first, then Ruby.” I quirked my eyebrow at him. “Ruby Baby.” I real y laughed at that.

After Sloane came down, we al climbed in and headed to the park. Sloane said the girls were taking Kai’s car because they were stopping to

pick up the food. We were supposed to go ahead and find a couple tables to put together.

After we got there, we scouted out a spot and waited at the tables until the girls came. The park was busy. It seemed like everyone was out

enjoying the day. I was surprised to see so many kids at a park near the col ege. In addition to the playground there were basket bal courts,

horseshoe pits and some vol eybal courts. Kai cal ed Sloane and asked where we were, he started waving. They saw us from the street and

parked close by and helped them carry everything over.

Kai sent us off to play Frisbee while she and Kerri set everything up. We threw the Frisbee around for awhile before Kerri came to tel us it was al

ready. I fol owed behind Reed, whose arm was draped over Kerri’s shoulder. He was leaning over and whispering something in her ear and turned

to look back at me. I glanced over at Sloane to see if he knew what was up. He was looking towards the tables where Kai was. I could see Kai and

some guy with black hair that looked vaguely familiar. I came around Reed to get a better look as I heard Kai chirp, “Good news Sylvia!”

Oh fuck. Sylvia was here. My breath hitched and I completely missed the rest of what Kai said as my eyes fel on the wide emerald eyes I had

missed more than I ever thought possible.

Sylvia’s face froze. Her complexion paled, and I noticed a slight tremble to her bottom lip before she bit it. I was trapped, and couldn’t look away.

I’d known, sooner or later, I was going to see her. I had tried to prepare myself for that. There was no preparation for the feelings that hit me. My

heart ached in a way it hadn’t in years. Not even seeing her pictures that night made me feel like this. God, she was beautiful. My Sylvia. I wanted to

run to her and sweep her up in my arms and smother my face in her hair and breathe her in. My knees even twitched as if they were tel ing me to go,

to do it.

I held myself stil . She was not My Sylvia anymore. It took everything I had, but I tore my gaze away from her. That was when I remembered the guy

standing next to her with his arm around her. His eyes narrowed when mine caught them and he pul ed her tighter to his hip. I recognized him as the

guy who was outside her apartment door Tuesday night. My first thought was, ‘I could take him’. Ridiculous, I know.

The sight of Sylvia after al these years left me completely speechless. I looked first at Sloane, who was standing next to me. He was looking at

Kai, who was staring intently back and forth between Sylvia and me. Her brow was furrowed and her eyes were narrowed. Suddenly, they went wide

with understanding. She looked right at me and said, “Oh my God. You’re Quinn Lobato.” Then her eyes flew back to Sylvia. “I swear Sylvia, I didn’t

know.”

Quinn. Quinn Lobato. I stood frozen, my mind fracturing into several conflicting voices. Each voice shouted out its own warnings and advice.

Run. Just turn and run. Get as far away as you can before you lose it. Don’t let him see you cry.

Here’s your chance. Go up and punch him in the bal s. Let him hurt the way you did.

Scream. Let it al out. Let him hear it. Cal him every name you have referred to him as in the last four years.

Ignore him. He’s nothing to you. He cut you out of his life. Don’t let him back in.

Run to him. Throw your arms around him and never let him go again.

Whatever you do, don’t let him see your weakness. Hold it together. Take a deep breath.

The last one is the one that broke through my temporarily frozen state. Somewhere in the fringes of my mind I knew that Kai had said something

to me. I just couldn’t process it. I took that deep breath and looked around. Everyone was staring at me waiting expectantly. I felt Beau next to me,

his grip tighten around my waist. I glanced sideways at him. He wasn’t watching me. He was glaring at Quinn. The atmosphere was thick with the

tension emitting from al of us. I was the only one who could do anything to relieve it.

I exhaled the big breath I had been holding. “Quinn,” I said in a half whispered voice with a nod of acknowledgment. It was al I could get out.

The voices al stopped. I felt like I was on a swing with my eyes closed. I swal owed back the nausea that was building. I leaned into Beau, letting

him support me. He brushed my hair off my neck and whispered in my ear, “Are you okay? Do you want to get out of here?” I could hear the

confusion in his voice, and also a slight bit of hope.

I shook my head and turned to Kai, who was stil looking at me with eyes ful of guilt. “Are we...” my voice cracked a little, so I coughed and started

over. “Are we ready to eat, then?”

Then in a flurry of activity everyone started talking and sitting at the table. I stil stood frozen next to Beau, his grip on me never letting up. In that

moment, I was so thankful that he was there with me. I wasn’t sure my knees would hold me up and I feared that I would col apse if I tried to move on

my own.

I chanced a glance at Quinn; he was stil standing in the same spot trying to look anywhere but at me. When he spoke I closed my eyes and just

basked in the sound that started my heart fluttering. “Thanks for inviting me, but I real y think I should go now.” He was speaking to Kai. I opened my

eyes and looked at him.

“No.” That simple statement had everyone staring at me again. Even Quinn. I gulped and continued in a rush. “I mean you’re already here. You

might as wel stay and eat.” I wasn’t sure why I said that, but I knew I didn’t real y want him to leave yet.

He nodded at me and went to sit next to Reed. Beau gave me another squeeze and kissed my cheek. “Do you want to sit down?” I nodded. He

led me over to the opposite end of the table from Quinn.

Bless Reed. He started regaling everyone with a story about something funny that happened at a family reunion. His family stories were always

entertaining. He was the oldest of five boys and from the sound of it they were al as much trouble as he was, that wasn’t even taking in to

consideration his uncles. While he was talking, I took stock of my feelings. They were stil a jumble of conflicting emotions.

I stil had the urge to run, but I wanted to stay just as much. I let my body work on autopilot as I put food on my plate that I wouldn’t eat. It was real y

him. After al these years, why now? Why here? I looked him over as he sat there, feigning interest in what Reed was saying. I knew him wel enough

to know that he wasn’t real y listening. I wondered what he was thinking about. He glanced over at me and I quickly looked down, blushing at having

been caught.

He was stil Quinn, but he looked different now. He was no longer the awkward, skinny boy that I’d loved. His hair didn’t hang down over his eyes.

It was shorter, sticking up, stil untamed. He must have been wearing contacts because he didn’t have glasses on. His face was even more angular,

having lost any remaining round boyishness in the past few years. Yes, he was stil Quinn. But this Quinn was a man and not a boy. I had the

sneaking suspicion that Quinn the man was even more dangerous to my heart than Quinn the boy had been.

With that thought, I let myself go numb. I wasn’t going to let any more feelings come in. I was just going to block it al out and deal with it later

behind closed doors, alone, where no one could see.

Beau wasn’t eating either. Unlike me, he wasn’t pushing his food around his plate, he wasn’t even paying attention to his. He was openly staring

at Quinn with a heated look. I’m sure he was confused about the tension and suspected that Quinn was the cause of it. I wasn’t sure why he would

feel this possessive of me after just one date, but possessiveness was exactly what he was showing.

I didn’t like it, and I wanted him to let it go. I touched his arm to get his attention. “I forgot to introduce you to everyone.” I spoke up then. “Reed,” I

interrupted. He looked over at me questioningly. “This is Beau Dalton. Beau, the big guy is Reed Walker.” They shared the obligatory ‘hey mans’.

“Sloane. Beau. Beau. Sloane Evans.” I pointed them out to each other. “You met both Kai-ying and Kerrington.” Both gave him a quick wave. And

then I stopped at Quinn not sure what I should do. Beau solved that dilemma for me.

“I take it that is Quinn. Isn’t he your neighbor?” He had his brow furrowed as if was recal ing Tuesday night.

“Apparently he is.” I couldn’t bring myself to make the introduction so I just left it alone.

Sloane came to my rescue. “So, Beau, are you a student here?”

I didn’t pay attention to Beau’s answer or the fol owing conversation. I just stared at my plate and concentrated on holding myself together and

blocking out al thoughts and emotions. Sometimes I could feel Quinn looking at me. I had to fight the urge to look back at him. I wil ed time to speed

up. I just wanted out of there.

After a time Kai came over to me. “I was going to pack everything up. Do you want to help me bring it to the car? Reed brought a footbal and the

boys can go play catch or whatever it is guys do with a footbal .”

I nodded with relief at the thought of being able to escape both Quinn and Beau for a few minutes. “Beau, I’m going to help Kai and Kerri pack up.

You’re welcome to go play footbal with Reed and Sloane.”

“Yeah, man. Come play. Then we can play two on two,” Reed boomed out loudly.

Beau looked over at Quinn with a pointed look and said “I’d be happy to.” He turned to me then and brought his hands up, one cupping the back

of my neck and one against my cheek. He brought his mouth down to me in a strong possessive kiss. I wasn’t expecting it and my mouth was

slightly parted to start with, al owing him to slip his tongue in right away. I held back but he continued coaxing me with his tongue, alternating it with

licking my lips. Final y he gave up, ending it with a couple quick pecks to my now closed lips.

He looked into my eyes. His blue ones glittered with something I couldn’t name. He then turned and looked towards Quinn again but Quinn had

already turned and was walking away with Sloane. Beau took off after them, fol owing close behind Reed.

“I’m surprised he didn’t just whip it out and start pissing on your leg,” Kerri spit out.

“Excuse me?”

“Wel , he was clearly marking his territory.”

“He was just reminding me that he was here for me,” I said lamely. I knew Kerri was probably right, but there was no reason for Beau to be feeling

territorial over me.

“Sure he was,” Kerri replied, sarcasm dripping off her.