Drowning the Past

16

She didn't know what came over him.

When he took her home, he only handed her wallet and her keys. Her purse was missing.

She didn't even fight with him about it as she stared up at her house. Two stories with a large triple garage. Her dad bought this house for her mom. Her mom never liked it. She always said she'd been happier in something smaller.

When Noah would have taken her hand, she moved it away.

"What are you going to do?"

"Nothing." What could she do?

"I'm quitting football. The guys will be pissed, but it's something I have to do. It means more to my dad than it does to me. I'm tired of doing things to please him. I'm going to support Jake in every way I can. That's more important to me right now."

"Then why go to my dad's party?"

She could feel him looking at her, but she kept her eyes on the house. Whatever had once felt like home about it was gone now.

"You, Quinn. You're the only reason I keep going. We can stop whenever you're ready to."

She couldn't not look at him after that comment. She wanted to see if he was telling the truth. His dark blue eyes said he was.

Quinn reached for the door, but he stopped her. "Promise me you'll let me know you're okay tonight."

"We both know I won't keep that promise. By tonight, there's no telling who I'll be with."

He let her go. "At least promise me you won't hurt yourself."

"If I was going to do that, I would have done it by now." She slammed his truck door and made her way up the driveway without bothering to look back at him.

Once she heard him drive away, she stopped and continued to stare up at her father's showpiece. That's all it was now. That's all she was too.

Her feet refused to take her any farther.

Hearing something, she looked behind her, and it was Noah driving back up the road.

She looked at him for a long time and she felt her heart break a little. Or maybe it wasn't her heart at all, maybe it was the wall she'd built around her heart.

She walked back towards him and leaned into the truck window so she could kiss him. He caught her and pulled her farther in the window as his lips brought her alive. That kiss made her feel more than she had in a long time. The last few days with him, she's felt more than she has in a long time.

"Quinn, you're such a whore. Where have you been?"

He pulled back from her and searched her eyes. "Come with me. If you don't want to go back to my house, we'll drive. I won't say a damn word to you until we're at least two state lines away."

"That wouldn't solve anything. I told you I can't be fixed." She squirmed out of his window. "We're over. I'm done with you. Try to take it like a man."

She turned away from his look to see Piper, Iris, and Rylee watching them. Only one of them looked worried. Her stepsister looked pleased with herself, and Rylee was waving towards Noah.

"Poor, Noah. It's a known fact that hot sex directly after a breakup helps you move on faster. Want me to hop in? Quinn may be hard core, but I don't have a problem with vanilla sex."

"No thanks, Rylee. Once you've had one whore, you've had them all." He drove away.

"Get in, we're going shopping." Piper ordered.

Anything to keep from going into that house. "Fine, but I need a drink. And a party."