Chapter 6

Quinn

Monday morning rolled around and Quinn was in the worst mood. School was starting and he was beyond ready to be done with it and this town for good.

He had indeed ended up fighting the other night and winning - but he was still sore from it. Some of the gang from Eugene had come down and Quinn happened to be there and ready. The problem was the boys from Eugene were not boys at all but men. And Quinn was good but he was still just 18. Some of these guys were pretty big. They were more experienced than a lot of the people he ended up in the ring with, and harder to beat. Quinn never came out of a fight unscathed.

Some of the Eugene bunch had actually taken mixed martial arts for years and sort of knew what they were doing. The result was a lot of bruises, cuts and the occasional broken ribs and busted lips. Therefore it took Quinn a few days to fully recover.

He had a cut on his eye and lip and some bruised ribs. So he was sore as shit when he got up and left for school. He slammed back some Tylenol and not for the first time thought he might need something stronger. Hell he had to have something for the constant pain of fighting every weekend.

Quinn swung by to get Finley on his way and got to school to see the other guys standing outside talking to some of the students. Quinn was suddenly sorry he didn’t tell coach he wasn’t playing football this year. He didn’t care one thing about it. He’d rather spend his free time practicing his MMA or racing on his motorbike. But the team needed him so he had agreed. He didn’t know how he was gonna practice today with broken ribs though.

Soon as he stepped out of the car something seemed off. He had a sudden sense of deja vous and his heart rate seemed to spike.

“What in the fuck” he said out loud just as Finley reached over to grab his hand. A show of affection but Quinn knew she was doing this to show ownership. She wanted to prove to all the people at school that he was hers and she his, even though he wasnt much feeling the same lately.

He hadn’t felt the same about Fin in a while if he was being honest with himself but he was never that forthcoming. The feeling he was having intensified the closer they got to the group of people. He saw Grey and Chase standing there, along with a few other guys from the team and a couple girls he didn’t know. He saw Asher and his annoying twin Aspen. (Who names their kids that). But then Quinn stopped walking. Finleys arm snapped back at the sudden movement and caused their hands to separate. She turned to look at him.

“What’s wrong?” She said. But he wasn’t looking at her. He was staring right into the moon. The girl from the road the other night was standing right in front of him. Quinn couldn’t breathe for a minute. She was here.. why was she here? She was even more beautiful than he thought.

Time stood still as they both stared at each other. She seemed to have felt him approaching too. The world seemed to go on around them but Quinn wasn’t in it. That pain he felt from her in the car the other night was still there. They were connected already- somehow, someway ..

Seconds felt like hours as he stared at the girl. He was finally able to look away from her eyes to take the rest of her in… A perfect nose with a splattering of freckles, and big full lips. Her skin was perfectly perfect. He slowly looked her up and down and god…. that body… She was toned with muscles and tan legs. She must work out constantly to look like that. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.

People were talking to him, he just wasn’t there mentally. He was busy and needed them to shut the fuck up. Finally he snapped out of it when Finley stepped in his eye line covering the girl from view. The spell broke and the tethers snapped.

“What are you doing” she asked, clipped. He had pissed her off but he didn’t much care. He just shook his head and continued walking. No way was he explaining THAT.

When they got up to the group Asher was the first to speak. “Q, glad you finally walked your ass over here dipshit… meet my new neighbor, baby girl, Emerson. Em, this is Quinn.”

Why was he calling her by a nickname and baby girl? Really? and what the fuck, she was Asher’s neighbor? Why is he just now finding this out. A sudden thick veil of red hot jealously spread through Quinn. He didn’t understand it because that had literally never happened before. Not even with Finley, and he knew she had slept with other guys.

But this, this was over taking him as he squeezed his fists and very slightly a tremble moved through him. What was he gonna do punch his best friend? Possibly…

This shit will never do, he thought. He had enough on his plate, his dad and Fin, the fighting and school and football and his fucking brother. No way was he letting this outsider have this affect on him. He barely looked over at her now, gave a curt nod and then ignored her. But Asher was a clever motherfucker and he had put 2 and 2 together.

He snapped his fingers as his eyes got big .

“Ah fuck”. Quinn whispered.

“ Hold up!” Asher yelled. He pointed at Quinn then at the girl. “It was you!”

“What was me?” She asked. Damn. Her voice was amazing too. Kind of deep and gritty and sexy as hell. Not high and annoying like Finleys was.

Son of a bitch he was in trouble.

“From the other night. At the stop light that was you!”

Quinn stole a look at the girl - Emerson. Em apparently as Asher called her. She looked at him and immediately away- her face reddening.

“HO. LEE. SHIT!” I knew you looked familiar. Asher went on and on. “This is fucking great. Oh my god.” He was laughing now. Quinn was getting more and more agitated at his best friend. The other boys were looking back and forth between them. They had witnessed the spectacle too. Finley on the other hand was lost and not happy about it.

“What’s he talking about?” She asked him.

He just shook his head at her and started turning to walk into school. Finley wasn’t letting it go though. She went up to the girl and introduced herself, or marked her territory….. one or the other…. who could fucking tell.

“Hiiii I’m Finely. I’m Q’s girlfriend..” she said in an almost too sweet voice.

Quinn heard Asher’s sister make a gagging noise but he didn’t turn around. He knew Aspen wasn’t a fan of Fins but he didn’t know why. Was this new girl upset about what Finley said? Why did he even care ?

This is just what he needed. He couldn’t get sidetracked by this newcomer. He had too much shit on his plate. He needed to worry about Finley. And what would happen when Hux came back, and stupid fucking football practice.

The first day back was already getting to him. And he knew that by tonight he would be back in the underbelly world, fighting all his demons.