by Ellie Wade
“You are so strong,” I tell her, meaning every word.
She hugs me back. “So much for boundaries.” She giggles through her tears and takes a step back.
“Just don’t tell Marty,” I tease. “He would not approve.”
“Oh, definitely not.” She pulls her cell from her back pocket. “We should go. Can we ride together on your bike?” Her voice is hopeful, eyes wide.
I quirk a brow. “I guess, but be prepared for Marty’s side-eye all meeting.”
“Oh, I can handle him.” She huffs before bending down to give Saki some love. The cat purrs as Clem scratches beneath her chin. “I’ll see you later, beautiful.”
Chapter 4
Quinn
Age Twenty
Alma places the remainder of the cut cucumbers on the vegetable tray, where an array of colorful veggies circle around a creamy white dip.
“Look at you being all domestic.” I grin, taking a baby carrot and dunking it in the dip.
“I know. I made the dill dip from scratch, too. It had like a thousand five-star reviews online. You like it?” she asks, a large expectant grin on her face.
“Dill?” I question, the flavorful herbs in my mouth are strong and taste nothing like dill.
She bites her lip, looking off to the side. “Well, I couldn’t find dill. I just used cilantro and basil instead. The little store down on the corner didn’t have much in the way of fresh herbs, so I just bought the two they had. I figured it’d be fine. Is it not good?”
“It’s not that, it’s just…strong. Basil and cilantro have distinct tastes, and I don’t think I’ve ever eaten something with both, at least in such large quantities. It’s different.” I take a swig of water, rinsing down the herb explosion happening in my mouth.
Alma laughs and shakes her head. “Different is a code word for bad.”
“No, not necessarily. I mean, it’s edible, just not what I expected.”
She walks over to the refrigerator and pulls out a white container of store-made vegetable dip. “I blame Lee-Anne for this. If it were green, she threw it into a recipe. I grew up eating the weirdest combinations of flavors, and I’m used to it. But I’m smart enough to be prepared.” She holds up the store-bought dip. “At least I recognize my faults, right?” She chuckles.
“Serve them both. Options are good.”
“Well, this was my attempt at cooking today. I have bags of chips, and then the rest of the food was ordered from a restaurant. So that will be good at least.” She opens a bag of sour cream and onion chips and dumps them into a bowl.
I take another drink of water, then pick a piece of garlic from the dip out of my teeth. I make a mental note to go use some of Alma’s mouthwash as my breath is clearly kicking after that dip.
“Who’s all coming?” I watch as Alma sets out serving trays on the granite countertop. It’s amusing, the life that Leo and Alma have here in this house that is nicer than my parents’ home. Don’t get me wrong, I’m totally happy for her. It’s just always a little bit of culture shock when I hang out with Alma and Leo in this kick-ass house on campus and eat from real dishes. Most parties I attend, I’m served drinks from a red Solo cup that has more than likely been used by several other people before me. At the same time, it suits Alma perfectly. If there were ever a twenty-year-old who could look natural setting up what are most likely silver serving trays for a college game night, it’s Alma. Even when she went to frat parties with me last year, she was never comfortable there. It’s just not her jam, and I get that. She’s the yin to my yang, and that’s why I love her so much.
“The usual. Leo, obviously, and then Amos, Ethan, and Ollie.” She rattles off the names of her and Leo’s closest friends.”
“No Cat?”
“Not today. She’s actually in New York City doing a shoot for…” She furrows her brows in concentration. “Skincare, maybe? I feel horrible. I forgot what she told me. But anyway…she’s working.”
She starts telling me about a new game she got, and I listen for the guys’ arrival.
“We were overdue for a game night. Leo’s been working so hard trying to finish up his business degree. I’m just so proud of him.”
“Yeah, that’s great. Good for him,” I say with sincerity. “And the game sounds fun, Alma. The food will be delicious, and it will be nice to hang out with Ethan and Amos. It’s been such a busy semester, and we haven’t been getting together as much. But you know what I’m looking forward to? What I can’t wait for?” I say with dramatic flair and pucker my lips. “I can’t wait to see Ollie.”
Leo’s sponsor is the hottest man I’ve ever seen. In my life. Period. Ahh…What I could do with him.
“Would you stop?” She playfully hits my arms. “We are not doing this again. He’s off-limits. At thirty-one, he’s way too old for you.”
I protest. “Eleven years isn’t that big of a deal, Alma.”
“It’s not the age gap, Quinn. It’s the stage of life. He’s settled and doing his thing. You’re young, in college, and sowing your wild oats. You’re not in the same place, so it simply wouldn’t work. Plus, Leo needs him. Just don’t, please.” Concern lines her voice.
I place my hand on hers. “First, I would never do anything with him. I know his first priority is to be here for Leo, and I totally respect that. You have nothing to worry about. The fact is, he’s hot, and I just like to look at him. There’s no harm in that. ”
She releases a breath and a small smile.
“Secondly, are you calling me a whore with your whole, sowing your wild oats comment?” I tease.
“No!” Alma huffs out a laugh. “I would never. You’re not a whore, Quinn…just free-spirited.” I go to open my mouth, but Alma stops me before I can respond. “And no, free-spirited doesn’t mean whore, either.” She rolls her eyes.
“That’s not what I was going to say.” It totally was.
“Sure,” Alma quips as the corner of her mouth turns up.
“What’s everyone else been up to? Is Amos dating anyone?” My question is a result of mere curiosity. There are no lingering feelings between Amos and me. He was a fun part of my freshman year, but we weren’t in love with one another. Call me crazy—and I’d never say this out loud at risk of making things awkward—but I feel like he’s in love with Alma. I could be reading everything wrong, of course, but if Alma wasn’t madly in love with Leo, I think Amos would make a move.
“Ethan is the same. He’s still living at the frat house and going to school. He’s over a lot to play video games with Leo. I don’t get the whole video game thing, but they seem to love it.” She shrugs. “Amos hasn’t dated anyone since you. He just studies and goes to class. You know how he is.”
“Yeah.” I nod.
“And Ollie isn’t dating anyone?” I quirk up an eyebrow.
She throws a piece of celery at me. “Quinn!”
“I’m kidding. I’m kidding.”
Leo’s voice can be heard from the living room, talking to the guys as they arrive.
Alma grabs my hand and pulls me into the open living room area.
Ethan, Amos, Ollie, and Leo are sitting on the large leather sectional chatting about something, and my skin starts to prickle. I take a deep breath and allow my gaze to roam over to him, where I know he’ll be watching me.
His ocean blues hold my gaze, and goose bumps cover my arms. He’s so breathtakingly beautiful, it’s hard to take. If I didn’t know he was a full eleven years older than me, I wouldn’t believe it. He has this youthfulness to him. He’s not immature by any means, just simple and carefree. It’s alluring.
I crave his attention though I know I shouldn’t. I meant what I said to Alma. I would never get involved with Ollie, but a little innocent flirtation never hurt anyone. Right?
Walking over to the sofa, I plop myself down between Ethan and Ollie. “What are you guys talking about?” I ask, aware that my leg is up against Ollie’s. My skin burns at the connection even through my jeans.
“The Lions,” Ethan states, mentioning Detroit’s professional football team. Though I grew up in a household where my father watched the Lions every week, I have no interest in football, never have.
I scowl, and Ollie chuckles from beside me. “Not a fan?”
I shake my head. “Nope. The NFL is not my thing. I go to Eastern’s home football games, but honestly, I’m there for the tailgating. I’ve never seen the point of football.”
“Well, the point is to get the football into the end zone and score,” he teases with a hint of a smile.
“I know how it works. I just think it’s boring.”
“I don’t know. I like it, and it’s fun to play.”
I raise a brow. “You weren’t like your high school’s star player, were you?”
He presses his lips in a line and shrugs. “Something like that.”
“No way.” I tap his leg. “I see you out surfing as a high school kid, not sporting pads and a jersey to run a ball around.”
“Well”—he huffs out a laugh—“given the fact that I was born and raised in Michigan, surfing wasn’t too prevalent. I’ve actually never been. I’ve been snowboarding, though. I feel like that’s the closest a Michigan kid gets to surfing.”
“Do you snowboard a lot in the winter?”
“Nah, not since I was young. I have bad knees.”
“You have bad knees?” I repeat with a chuckle. “You sound like an old man when you say that.”
“Compared to you.” He bops my nose with his pointer finger and stands from the sofa. “I am.”
My mouth falls open as I watch him make his way to the bar where Alma has the wings and sliders that were just delivered set up. I can’t get over the feeling that there was weight behind his simple statement. It almost felt like a rejection.
I shake it off and follow Amos to the other side of the room where the food is. He and I make small talk, but there isn’t much to catch up on since the last time I saw him.
Alma laughs at herself as she tells the guys her veggie dip saga and warns them to consume the store-bought kind. Amos and Leo take a big scoop of Alma’s dip, and I can’t help but smile. Leo picks up a glob of dip on a cucumber and plops it in his mouth.
“Cilantro, basil, garlic dip is my new favorite.” He grins down toward Alma. She raises up on her tiptoes and kisses him.
“Yeah, it’s good, Mutt.” Amos uses his childhood term of endearment for Alma.
“You’re both being too nice but thank you,” she says
We all eat and joke around some more before finding our places at the table to try out Alma’s new game. She has us number off by twos for teams, which puts me on a team with Ethan and Ollie.
“The object is to get your team to guess your word based on your clues and not to be the one holding the word finder when the buzzer goes off. Simple, but fun. Right? Any questions?” Alma looks around the table.
“Nope, seems straightforward. Go ahead and start, babe,” Leo says.
I hold my hand over the buzzer. “Ready?”
Alma nods, and I press the timer. She gives one clue, and Amos guesses it immediately, and then she passes the word finder to Ollie, who clicks it to see our team’s word.
“Cold and sweet,” he says.
“Ice cream!” I yell.
He nods and passes the word finder to Amos. Alma guesses Amos’s word with the first clue, and he hands the word finder to me. I click it and have to hold in my laughter when the word surfing comes up.
“Not a sport for the Michigan kid,” I say.
“Surfing,” Ollie answers immediately.
I drink in the way his lips turn up into a smile, and his stare captures mine. He’s sex on a fucking cracker, and I’m enamored. I wish he didn’t affect me so.
The game continues. Clues are given. Words are guessed. The buzzer goes off, and points are earned. It’s fun, fast, and our faces are full of smiles. I don’t fail to notice that Ollie guesses my word every time after the first clue as I do when it’s his turn.
I know he’s eleven years older than me.
I know he’s off-limits.
Yet I can’t deny the connection between us. Something about him pulls me in and completely captivates me. I can guarantee that he kisses like a god, and it makes me sick that I’ll never know what it feels like.
I look at Alma smiling brightly at Leo. The two of them are holding hands underneath the table, so happy and in love. There’s a pit in my stomach because I know I can never venture so much as a simple kiss with Ollie. I’d never do that to Alma or Leo, and to be honest—myself. For a kiss from Ollie wouldn’t be simple. One taste of his lips would send me into a frenzy that’d threaten my friendship.
It’d be magical, and I’d never want to stop.
Chapter 5
Quinn
I glare at the Starbucks cup on the table before me, angry with the wrong—albeit delicious—coffee. The hot bean water in this cup is clearly a caramel macchiato of some sort and not the skinny vanilla latte I ordered.
Nothing has gone right today, and it’s put me in a total funk. I wasn’t surprised when Henry, the Starbuck’s manager, told me that they were out of oat milk, and I had to settle with soy. With the day I’ve had, of course, something would be off with my order. That’s typical Murphy’s law, right? So I accepted the soy even though my sister swears that GMO soy will cause me to sprout another head or something. But then I take my first sip and about choke on the sugary sweet caramel with some sort of toffee chunks. It’s yummy, sure, but I don’t want to chew down my coffee. Who wants to chew their coffee?
“Oh my gosh.” Cassie plops down in the chair across from me. “Did someone run over your cat?”
I pull my glare from the paper cup. “It’s just been one of those days. You know where everything goes wrong?”
Cassie lets out a chuckle. “How did Henry mess up your drink?”
A small grin finds my lips. “I ordered a skinny vanilla latte, and he gave me something with a lot of caramel and toffee.” I pick a piece of the sticky coffee out of my tooth.
She rolls her eyes. “How is he even the manager? Seriously. He sucks. I’m in the back for one minute, and he screws up the simplest of drink orders. Henry!”
I place my hand on hers. “It’s fine, really. I’ll drink it.”
“Henry!” she shrieks again, and I look around, embarrassed. Thankfully, there are only three other patrons in here besides me. The guy in the corner has headphones on and is staring intently at his laptop screen, oblivious to Cassie’s high-pitched squeal. The couple on the other side of the room seems to be engrossed in an argument and are also unaware.
“Yes?” Henry appears beside the table and peers down at Cassie.
“You messed up Quinn’s order. She wanted a skinny vanilla latte with...” She turns to me. “Is soy okay? We’re out of oat milk.”
I nod.
“With soy milk,” she finishes telling Henry my order.
Henry turns to walk away, and Cassie calls out again. “Get her two Ventis. She’s had a day and needs one for the road. Oh, and I’m taking my break.”
Henry whips back around. “You just got off your break.”
“And I need another,” Cassie states. “Thanks, my cutie-patootie.”
Henry sighs with a shake of his head and turns away, continuing on his path toward what might be my correct order.
“You’re lucky you’re dating him.” I grin. “I don’t think multiple breaks would fly otherwise.”
She waves her hand through the air. “Whatever. We’re dead anyway. There’s no one in here. Plus, I practically run this place. He’d be fired without me. What manager messes up every drink order he does?”
I look toward Henry behind the counter and back to Cassie. I’ve never really understood their connection. Cassie is beautiful, and I mean absolutely gorgeous. She’s funny, smart, and overall a really cool person. And Henry is…Henry. They don’t fit, but who am I to judge?
>
Cassie and her best friend Tannon live in the apartment above the Starbucks, across from their guy friends Asher and Everett. All four of them are graduates of the University of Michigan. They graduated a year after I graduated from Eastern. I never met them in college even though I went to a lot of U of M parties.
I started getting my coffee from this location a few years ago when I got my job at the department store, and Cassie and I have been friends since.
“So tell me, what went wrong today?” She clasps her hands together and sets her elbows on the table, leaning toward me.
“What didn’t go wrong? The manager beneath me quit without notice. One of our shipments didn’t come in, and no one seems to know where it is. Then we got a huge delivery of nightwear that is on clearance this weekend for our annual Labor Day sale, and it’s not what was ordered. So I have all these marketing materials out, advertising our sale, and half of the items advertised won’t be available. Do you know how mean bargain shoppers can be when they can’t get the items they want? This weekend is going to be the worst.”
Henry comes back with my two lattes and sets them on the table in front of me.
“That sounds horrible.”
I lower my chin toward Henry in thanks before he turns away. “Oh, and a sweet old lady fell down the escalator today!”
Cassie gasps. “Is she okay?”
I nod. “I think so. She’s a little cut up, and she’ll be sore and bruised. The paramedics came and said they think she’s okay but took her into the ER just to be sure nothing was broken. I haven’t heard anything since. It was a nightmare, though. It was so scary.”
I take a sip of my latte.
“Better?” Cassie nods toward the cup in my grasp.
“Much. Thank you. I’m sorry. I’m being a total whiner.”
“It’s okay. With a day like that, it’s warranted. You want to come by after work this weekend? The guys are having a Labor Day party, of course.” She releases a short laugh. “You can hang out with me and Tannon, have some drinks, and relax.”
