Apparently, they took turns having a crush on each other for the last ten years or so. But they never timed it right and so they never ended up together. Quinn dated Reece’s friend Becca for the last couple of years, although now they’re broken up. But now Reece is with Dante, so the timing still isn’t right. I wonder if Quinn is regretful of that?
He doesn’t seem to be, though, as he takes a bite of soup. I can’t help but notice how big his hands are. He’s absolutely gigantic.
“So, how much trouble did you get into for riding Titan?” he asks, grinning. He isn’t apologetic at all. I like it.
“Not much,” I answer. “Just a lecture. Apparently, I’m supposed to stay away from you, too. But you can see how well that lecture took.”
Marionette mutters under her breath and I can see that she doesn’t approve of my mother. That’s okay. I’m not sure that I do, either. Quinn’s eyes sparkle.
“Am I a bad influence?” he asks with interest. “I think I might like that. I’ve never been the bad boy before. It might be fun.”
“You’ve never been the bad boy?” I ask doubtfully. My eyebrows are raised. Quinn shakes his head.
“Nope. I’m a Midwesterner, remember? Oh, I guess you don’t. Well, I’m from the heartland of America where we’re polite and friendly and never know a stranger. Yes, m’am. No, m’am and all that. Although I am considering a tattoo. I’m guessing your mom wouldn’t approve of that, either.”
He’s smiling now, totally unrepentant and unconcerned. My pulse speeds up yet again. It seems to do that a lot around him.
“A tattoo? Gavin said that he’s going to get one that says, “Always ready.”
Quinn rolls his eyes good-naturedly. “He would. I haven’t decided yet what I want. Maybe you can help me.”
I raise my eyebrow again. “Me? I don’t know you well enough to know what you should get.”
Quinn winks. “Well, maybe that’s part of my diabolical plan. You’ll have to get to know me.”
“Devious,” I grin. “I like it. Well, it might backfire on you. Maybe I’ll get a matching tattoo and then you’ll be tied to me for life.”
“Needy,” he observes. “I like it.”
We laugh and Marionette and Darius laugh, too. I really like them. And I like this kitchen. And I have decided that I’m going to eat in here from now on. My mother can suck it. If she doesn’t want to join us, she can eat out there alone. She can keep up her seemly appearances all on her own.
When we’re finished eating, Quinn walks me out. We pass through the dining room and I see that my mother is gone. She left her dirty dishes, though. Obviously carrying them to the kitchen would be unseemly. I’m really starting to hate that word. I should make a list of the words I’m starting to hate.
Seemly.
Soon.
Apparently.
I can add more later. Right now, I’m preoccupied with Quinn. And his bulging biceps, long fingers and mischievous grin. I stare up at him and smile.
“Do you and Reece get along okay now?” I ask him as we turn onto the staircase leading to the bedrooms. He looks surprised.
“Of course. Why do you ask?”
“Gavin told me about you and Reece’s history. So I just wondered,” I shrug. I’m trying to act nonchalant. I hope it’s coming across that way. In an effort to enhance the act, I make a point of examining the portraits of Giliberti ancestors as we walk past them. Their eyes seem to stare into my back. It’s sort of creepy.
“Why are you so interested?” Quinn raises an eyebrow.
So, I fail.
Epically.
Apparently I wasn’t so nonchalant.
“I don’t know,” I shrug again. “Just curious. I guess I find everything interesting nowadays. Everything seems new.”
Quinn smiles, a real and sincere smile. It’s salt of the earth. Whatever that means.
“I guess that’s one benefit to amnesia,” he tells me, as he lightly guides my elbow around the landing. “You get to start over. If you want,” he adds.
I look at him. “Should I? Start over, I mean. Was the old me something I should re-do?”
He stops.
And cocks his head.
And he is oh-so-sexy.
“No,” he says firmly. “Old Mia was someone who hated the pressure of worrying about what everyone thought. So you hid who you really were. Maybe the new you won’t be so concerned with it.”
I stare at him.
“I thought you didn’t know me that well,” I point out uncertainly. He shrugs.
“It wasn’t difficult to see,” he answers as we resume the climb on the stairs. “Just worry about being who you really are. If you never remember who you were, that’s fine. You’re still you regardless.”
“That’s very profound,” I murmur.
And it is. I’ve been so preoccupied with trying to remember who I was, that I forgot that I’m still me either way. I’m just a me without memories. Interesting. It’s so simple that it’s genius.
We stop in front of my bedroom.
There is an awkward pause. But maybe it’s only awkward to me. Quinn always seems casual. Always relaxed.
He smiles at me now.
“I’m glad you’re here,” he tells me. “I was getting lonely here all by myself.”
“Well, Dante and Reece will be here tomorrow. So, you’ll have even more people to keep you company,” I remind him.
“True,” he acknowledges. “But I’m most happy about you.”
I startle and stare into his chocolate brown eyes. “Really?” I whisper.
He nods. “Really.”
“You don’t hide what you’re feeling much, do you?” I observe. Quinn’s eyes sparkle in response.
“I don’t see the point in it,” he admits. “I don’t like games. I don’t like playing them because I hate to lose.”
“So you’re a sore loser , then?” I ask with a laugh.
But he’s shaking his head. “Nope. I’m not a sore loser. Because I never lose in the first place.”
He dips his head like an old-fashioned cowboy, like something that belongs in a razor commercial or a cologne ad. And then he continues down the hall to his bedroom and I fight the urge to chase after him.
But I don’t and so I’m left standing in shock in the hallway alone.
He doesn’t lose.
What is he trying to win?
I have a feeling that I am going to be the one who loses—hours of sleep tonight—trying to ponder that question.
Chapter Eleven
“Mia!”
There is a squeal, unearthly loud and shrieky, before something lands on my bed. I open my eyes but squeeze them instantly closed again. The sun is too, too bright. And the voice is too, too loud.
And too, too unfamiliar.
But the unfamiliar thing is bouncing.
And ramming its bony elbow into my side.
So I open my eyes again and find the girl from my phone.
“Reece?”
The blonde girl squeals again and hugs me. “You remember me!!”
She’s exuberant and I don’t want to tell her that I don’t. But I kind of have to. She’d figure it out eventually anyway. So I shake my head.
“No. I’m sorry. I don’t remember yet. But your pictures are in my phone.”
The pretty blonde girl- Reece—is dismayed, but she quickly tries to hide it. She’s like a cheerful ray of sunshine and the clouds are covering up her smile. I feel guilty about that.
“I’m really sorry,” I tell her again.
“It’s okay,” she assures me. “You’ll remember soon. I’m just so happy to see you!”
“I’m sure I would be happy to see you, too, if I could remember,” I tell her regretfully. I know it’s true. When I couldn’t sleep last night, I went through my old text messages. I found about a million from me to Reece, demanding that she return to Caberra. Our text conversations had me laughing. She’s pretty funny. I can see why I liked
her.
She’s shaking her head now. “Why are you still in bed? It’s 9:00 a.m.”
And she’s looking at me almost accusingly. I narrow my eyes.
“If you try and tell me that I’m normally a morning person, I’m going to know that you’re on drugs. There’s no way that’s true.”
Reece laughs. “Heck, no. I won’t even try it. I’m actually surprised that you haven’t thrown a pillow at my head yet.”
“Don’t think I haven’t thought about it,” I tell her. “But since we’re just meeting- for the second time- I’m trying to be on my best behavior.”
She laughs again. “You’re the same Mia, even if you don’t remember,” she tells me. “You’ve always had spunk. And you’ve still got it. That’s important, I think.”
“It is?” I stare at her. “I don’t think my mother thinks so.”
Reece smiles. “You and your mom… you’ve been at each other’s throats since the day I met you. I doubt that’s ever going to change.”
“We have?” I ask with interest. “She’s trying hard to make me believe that I’ve always been perfect… perfect manners, perfect behavior, perfect at everything. It didn’t really seem in-line with what I feel.”
Reece laughs now, a tinkling sound in the sunshine of my bedroom. In fact, she laughs until she is gasping for air. I find myself glaring at her.
“I don’t think it was that funny,” I tell her wryly.
“Oh, but it is,” she gasps. “If you could only remember. You would just die about that.”
“I must have been a monster,” I mutter as I swing my legs out of bed. Reece looks at me and sobers up.
“No, of course you weren’t,” she tells me quickly. “You were just feisty. And you didn’t take crap from anyone. And you definitely didn’t try to be perfect for your mother. She has her own ideas about how the perfect family should be that you’ve never agreed with. You’ve never wanted to pretend to be someone that you’re not. I’ve always loved that about you.”
I sigh.
“It’s so good to hear you say that,” I admit to her. “Gavin tells me that I should just fall into rank and do what I’m told because it’s easier that way. And he should know- he’s in the same position as me. But it doesn’t feel right. I don’t want to try and change who I am just to fit an image. But apparently, that’s sort of exactly what I was doing before. It seems that I was deliberately going out of my way to be the opposite of what my parents wanted me to be. I don’t really want to do that either. I just want to figure out who I really am and be that.”
Reece is looking at me sympathetically and I don’t like that.
“Don’t feel sorry for me,” I tell her. “Please. I seriously hate that.”
She tightens up her expression and leans over to give me a hug.
“In that case,” she answers. “I’m glad to see you. Get your butt out of bed. We’ve got things to do and people to scare.”
I laugh and she smirks.
“That’s something you would have said once upon a time,” she tells me. I grin.
“Well, then, let’s go scare some people.”
I get dressed and Reece and I go downstairs for breakfast. When we walk into the kitchen, Dante and Quinn are lounging at the table with freshly squeezed orange juice.
Together.
Which seems odd to me.
Quinn grins lazily at me and I fight the urge to dive into his lap and rub up against him like a cat. That might not go over so well, so I restrain myself.
Dante turns and his entire face lights up when he sees me.
“Mia!” he says happily.
He gets to his feet and I look him over. Yes, he’s exactly as I thought he would be…like a fashion model. He’s wearing khaki slacks and a button-up shirt with rolled up sleeves. The very picture of casual elegance. But he’s sexy as hell with that dimple in his chin and his sparkling eyes. I smile and he hugs me.
“It’s good to see you,” he tells me quietly. “I’ve been so worried about you ever since I heard.”
“It’s good to see you too,” I tell him. “I don’t remember you right now, but I’m hoping that I will soon.”
“You will,” he tells me confidently. “I have faith in that. Everything will be fine.”
Dante has an air of calm around him that is contagious. I feel comforted by his presence, like all will be well because he says it will be. I like that.
He pushes out the chair next to him for me and Reece sits next to Quinn. I can tell that there is no animosity there at all, they’re as comfortable as old friends can be. And Dante is perfectly secure with their relationship. As he should be. It’s apparent to anyone in a five mile radius that Reece is completely in love with him. Any thoughts she ever had about Quinn are long gone.
“How long are you home for?” I ask as I nibble on a fresh croissant. Dante shrugs elegantly.
“We don’t really know yet,” he answers. “As soon as we heard about the quake, we knew that we needed to come and help with the cleanup, especially when we heard about you. We talked my dad into it and here we are. But I don’t know how long he’ll let us stay.”
“How can you miss school in America?” I ask curiously. Dante shrugs again.
“If we’re here too long, we’ll just finish out the year here. I’m not that worried about it.”
I know that Old Mia would be very happy to hear this. And I’m sure that New Mia will be too. Eventually. Soon.
Stupid vague words.
“Reece and I have to go see my father this morning,” Dante tells us. “But this afternoon, we’ve volunteered to help with a clean-up effort in town. Would you like to join us?”
“Of course,” I say. Quinn is nodding too.
“I’d be happy to,” Quinn says. He meets my gaze and my face immediately gets hot. I don’t know why. I’m weird, I guess. That’s a good reason. And also, I think he wants to come because I’ll be there. That’s a good reason, too.
OhMyWord.
That thought makes me flustered.
I’m suddenly finding it hard to breathe. I try to breathe out of my nose like a normal person, not out of my mouth like a weird mouth-breather. But panting makes that difficult.
“So, want to meet here around 2:00?” Dante asks as he stands up. “We can ride together.”
“Sure,” I tell him. He bends down and squeezes my shoulder.
“It really is good to see you, Mi,” he tells me quietly and then gives me a peck on the cheek. I smile at him.
“It’s good to see you too,” I answer. And I mean it. Even if I don’t remember, it is still good to see them. He and Reece are so friendly. And their blue eyes sparkle all of the time. What’s not to like? They’re like friendly, witty Barbie and Ken dolls. They’re a gorgeous matching set.
They leave and Quinn and I are left alone at the table.
“So, what are your plans for the day?” Quinn asks. “Until 2:00, I mean?”
I shrug. “I’m not sure yet. I’m thinking about seeing if Gavin wants to go diving. I’ve got to see if I still know how to swim somehow. I’ve got a deal to uphold.”
Quinn grins. “You sure do. And you don’t strike me as someone who would renege.”
I’m already shaking my head. “Never.”
He laughs and clears his plate, putting it in the sink. I like the fact that he does that. It’s a thoughtful thing, even though it’s small. My gaze flickers to his butt, which is framed perfectly in worn Levi’s. I seriously doubt there is a pair of jeans in the world that doesn’t agree