He tastes of butterscotch and man.
Twenty-five beats of my heart later, he pulls away.
“And?” I breathe.
“You’ll do,” he grins.
I swat at him and he pulls me into his arms, folding me against his chest. It is warm here, where his skin is bathed by the sun. I feel so safe, like he would protect me from anything. But even better, it’s like he knows exactly what to protect me from.
“The old you would never have done that,” he tells me quietly a few minutes later. I sigh.
“Gavin, you’ll never know how tired I am of hearing that,” I tell him. I feel him smile against my shoulder.
“I’m just saying it because it is true. As much as I enjoyed that kiss, I’m thinking that maybe we should hold off on doing it again until you remember a little bit more. Just to be on the safe side. I don’t want you slicing off any of my important body parts later because you’re mad at me for taking advantage of the situation.”
I snuggle closer. “Maybe I’m the one who is taking advantage of you,” I suggest.
“Oh? How so?” Gavin asks. He shifts my weight so that I am lying more comfortably in his lap. I feel evidence of his ‘important body part’ jabbing into me, but I pretend not to notice.
“Maybe I’m using you to jog my memory,” I answer. I don’t open my eyes. It feels too good to keep them closed in the sun.
He laughs. “Well, in that case, feel free to use me in any way that you want. And if you require any of my important body parts for that, say the word. Just remember, I’m always ready.”
I smile.
But then, for a second, one second, Quinn’s lop-sided grin pops into my head and my heart pounds. Why am I in Gavin’s lap and kissing Gavin’s lips when Quinn has the ability to give me heart palpations?
The answer is pretty clear though.
Because I like Gavin’s lips.
And he has the ability to make my heart pound, too.
In a world that is confusing and scary, Gavin is one of the only things that is real and true. He’s steady, like a rock, and I so need that right now.
But is that really a good enough reason to be lying in his lap right now? Maybe he was right and we should wait. I sit up.
“Don’t do that,” Gavin mumbles. “I was just ready to fall asleep again.”
I roll my eyes.
“Maybe you’re right,” I tell him. This pops his eyes wide open.
“What? Say that again. Because you never, ever say that I’m right.”
I roll my eyes again.
“You might be right about this. I don’t even know who I am. So how in the world could I know what I want? I don’t want to screw you over while I’m trying to figure it out. And I definitely, definitely don’t want to ruin our friendship. It’s the best thing in my life right now.”
He arches a dark eyebrow.
“Mi, I’ve always been the best thing in your life.”
He laughs and I laugh with him.
“Seriously, though. You’re not going to ruin our friendship. You’re not going to screw me over, although I think it’s cute that you’re worried about it. How about this—we’ll just play it by ear. We’ll do our thing like we always do. And if things develop like they did this afternoon, we’ll pursue them. Don’t stress about it. You’re not supposed to be stressing. Just relax.”
I twist around and stare at him.
“Just relax and go with the flow?”
He nods. “Exactly.”
I nestle into his chest once again and he tightens his arms around me. The sun beats down on our shoulders, drying my hair and warming my chilled bones. It feels really, really good here with Gavin.
But just as I’m ready to fall asleep in the sun, I see Quinn’s face again. I remember what it felt like when he pressed against me as I was riding Titan. And I hear his charming drawl in my head. My heart quickens in response, like it always does.
I have no idea what I’m doing.
That much is clear.
But as Gavin and I nap in the bottom of The Shining, curled up in the sun and miles away from our nearest problem, it is easy to put it out of my mind. I’m going to try and do what Gavin suggested.
I’m going to go with the flow.
I only hope I’m flowing in the right direction.
Chapter Thirteen
I text Dante from the pier and let him know that Gavin will be dropping me off in town. But then Gavin decides to join us. So I spend the remainder of the drive wondering how weird it will be to have Quinn and Gavin in one place.
But it turns out to not be weird at all.
They joke back and forth like old friends and I realize that somewhere along the line, they’ve become friends since Quinn arrived in Caberra. Gavin treats me like he normally would and no one seems to notice that anything is amiss. No one would ever know that I kissed him on his boat and then took a nap in his arms.
No one except for Reece.
At one point, when Gavin hands me a fresh trash sack, his fingers linger over mine just a little too long. I glance up and smile at him at the same exact time that Reece looks my way. I catch her surprised expression and then her knowing grin. But she doesn’t say anything.
Yet.
I have a feeling that it will come later.
For now, I enjoy watching my friends. They joke and laugh and rough-house. We’re like a little club, tightly-knit and close. I like it. And even though I don’t remember, they don’t treat me like I’m different. I like that, too.
I look around the little park that we are cleaning and can see vast improvement over what it looked like a scant two hours ago when we arrived. The broken wood and trash has all been picked up and bagged and it once again looks like a place where children would play. It’s a good feeling to know that we did this.
We all stand and stare at it for a minute and our five shadows stretch onto the playground, side by side. Quinn’s shadow is the tallest and mine is the smallest. The fact that he is standing next to me at the moment accentuates that fact.
“You really are a tiny tot,” he says, only to me. His voice is low and quiet and instant warmth floods my nether regions. OhGoodLord. I’m a wanton, wanton girl. Because two hours ago, I was lying in Gavin’s lap.
I gulp.
“I can’t help my height,” I tell him indignantly.
“Nope,” he drawls. “No, you can’t. I was just wondering, though, how do you fit that much temper into one tiny body, anyway?”
I glare at him. “I don’t have a temper.”
Everyone cracks up at this, but I don’t see the humor.
“I don’t,” I insist. But no one listens as they gather up all of our things. My look of indignation is lost because no one is looking. I sigh.
“We should go grab some dinner someplace,” Dante suggests. “By the time we get anywhere, it will be dinner time. Anyone up for it?”
“I am,” Reece says, leaning up to kiss Dante’s cheek. He has a dirt smudge there and she wipes it off before she turns to me. “Mia?”
I nod. “Sure. Just let me text my mom and let her know.”
Everyone stares.
“What?” I ask as I pull out my phone. “It would be rude not to let her know.”
They stare more.
“I must have been a horrible monster,” I mutter as I punch the text into my phone and then put it away.
“Not a monster,” Reece tells me. “Just….different.”
“Hmmph,” I grunt as I swing into Gavin’s Land Rover. “Where are we going to meet?” I ask.
Dante rattles off a restaurant in town and Gavin nods. And then Quinn appears in my open door, filling it up with his large frame.
“Do you mind if I catch a ride with you guys?” he asks. I stare at him in surprise. I had just assumed that he would ride with Dante. He grins in their direction.
“They seem like they’d like a little alone time,” he says wryly. Reece is holding Dante’s hand, laughing up
at him and my heart constricts a little bit. I have to admit…I’m a little jealous. They’re so together. They fit just right. I wonder if I was ever jealous of them before?
But I’m saved from thinking about it because I have to move to let Quinn in. I climb in the backseat.
“You’re way too big to fit back here,” I tell him. And it’s true. He could fit, but he wouldn’t be comfortable.
“Thanks, tiny tot,” he tells me as he settles into the front. “But we’ve already had the conversation about how big I am. You just don’t remember it.” He grins impishly and his eyes meet mine in the mirror of his visor. I have the sudden feeling it wasn’t the size of his body that we had talked about. My heart flutters.
“Everyone set?” Gavin asks. And his eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror. His are warm and twinkly because he knows a secret. He knows how we spent the afternoon.
OhGoodLord. How do I get myself into these situations?
I have two gorgeous guys staring at me covertly from the front seat, both with hidden meanings and expressions in their eyes.
So I do what any normal girl would do.
I stare at my hands.
The entire way to the restaurant.
It seems to take forever, but we’re actually there in twenty minutes. Trust me, though, twenty minutes is a long time to stare at your hands. By the time we get there, I am painfully aware that I need a manicure.
We pile out and I walk between Quinn and Gavin as we meet Dante and Reece at the door.
Because Dante is the Prime Minister’s son, we don’t have to wait for a table. We are immediately shown to the best table in the house, actually. It’s situated in front of huge windows overlooking the sea. It’s a beautiful view.
Or it would be if it didn’t offer such a clear view of the city, showcasing the damage from the earthquake. Staring at it is unsettling. Surrounded by the serenity of Giliberti House, it is easy to be removed from the devastation that the quake caused. Not so here. It is readily apparent.
There is rubble everywhere, although streets have been cleared. Trees are down and some power lines too, which means that some people are still without power. It’s the worst earthquake this country has seen in years and years.
“Wow,” Reece breathes as she takes it in. “We don’t have earthquakes where I’m from. Kansas has tornadoes, but not hurricanes or earthquakes. I didn’t know what to expect when we arrived here. But it’s even worse than I thought it would be.”
Dante nods solemnly. “We’re just happy that power has been restored to almost everyone. It’s amazing how we take things like water or power for granted and we can be reminded so quickly of how lucky we are.”
He’s right and everyone at the table is quiet for a minute, probably reflecting on that very thing. No one at the table, other than me, was really affected by the quake. Their homes are intact, they didn’t even lose power and certainly no one else lost their memories. But I’m really happy about that. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
We order and then chat while we wait for our food. I find that I am famished. And I am slightly fidgety. I’m seated between Gavin and Reece and across from Quinn. Every once in a while, Quinn catches my eye. His gaze is sparkling and mischievous at all times. It’s like he is just waiting for something to amuse him.
Every time he stares at me, my cheeks catch on fire.
And Reece notices this, too. She stares at me once, in confusion and then in realization. Not long after, she excuses herself to go to the bathroom.
And then pauses.
“Mia, do you need to go?” From the way she is staring at me, I decide that I’d better go whether I need to or not. I hurry after her and when we reach the bathroom, she turns to me.
“What are you doing?” she demands. “I can see the tension between you and Quinn. And I saw you flirting with Gavin. Seriously flirting, not his usual BS flirting. I’m not trying to interfere, but Mia, you’re supposed to be relaxing so that your memory can come back. I don’t think that adding complications to your life is exactly what your doctor meant.”
Reece means business. Her cheeks are flushed and I think she’s ready to stamp her foot or something.
“Calm down,” I tell her. “It’s not what you think. Or maybe it is. I don’t know. I’m so confused. All I know is that they’re both sexy as hell. And I like them both for different reasons.”
“You never used to like Gavin in that way,” she tells me. “Seriously, you didn’t. I always wondered why, because he’s cute and funny, but you never did. You said it was because you’ve seen him in diapers.”
I stare at her.
“Well, see, that’s the thing. I don’t remember seeing him in diapers now, so that’s no longer a problem. To me, he’s a brand new guy who is sexy as hell and twice as funny. I don’t remember anything. All I know is that he makes me feel safe. And trust me, right now I really need that.”
Reece nods. “I can see where that would be important to you right now. But what about Quinn?”
I smile at the mere thought of Quinn.
“He’s sexy as hell, too,” I tell her. “What girl wouldn’t be interested in him?”
Reece smiles now, knowingly.
“That’s true,” she admits. “Everyone loves Quinn. Back home, he can’t go anywhere without getting a girl’s phone number shoved into his pocket.”
“Hometown football hero?” I guess. There’s just something about him that screams that.
Reece nods. “Pretty much. And back home, Friday night football games are huge. The whole town turns out. Everyone loves Quinn. And the likeable thing about him is that he isn’t very conceited about it. He’s just a normal guy who happens to be gorgeous. He’s always been that way. It’s probably why I used to be totally in love with him.”
She grins now. And I have to smile, too. Oh, to be her. Going from being in love with Quinn to Dante. Rough life. I mention as much to her and she grins again. Every time she smiles, her eyes sparkle. I like it. She’s ornery-sweet, not ornery-bad ass like I’m told that I am. Maybe it’s why we get along. We’re opposites.
“Dante is the one for me,” she shrugs. “For the longest time, I thought it was Quinn. But one look at Dante pretty much changed that. You were here when it happened. You just don’t remember it.”
I sigh.
“What are you going to do?” she asks me now. She glances in the mirror and messes with her blonde hair, pushing one tendril behind her ear. “I’ve never seen Gavin actually serious about someone. I’ve seen him with a lot of girls, but they were never girls he would like to keep. You’re different. You have to know that.”
I sigh again. Because I think I do know that. I know it from the tender tone he had in his voice on his boat. I know it from the soft expression he has in his eyes when he looks at me. I know it from his smile. And I know that I never, ever want to hurt him.
“I don’t know what to do,” I admit. “I really don’t.”
Reece turns to me.
“I think you should just wait it out,” she tells me wisely. “Go on with life and deal with things as they come. Maybe you should just hang out with both of them and see what happens. I think that’s what I would do.”
My shoulders slump. I can’t help it. I’m not good at waiting. Hence my hatred for the words soon and eventually. Reece wraps an arm around them, bolstering me up.
“It’s going to be fine,” she announces. “Seriously. You’re an amazing, funny, sweet person. Everything will work out for you.”
I raise an eyebrow.
“Sweet? You’re the first person who has described me in that way.”
She giggles. “You are sweet. It’s deep down because you try to hide it. But you are a sweet person, Mia. And those of us who know you, know that.”
“Then you’re the only ones who matter,” I tell her stoically. “The ones who know me, I mean.”
“Exactly,” she nods. “We’re the only ones who matter. Family doesn’t have to
mean blood, Mi. We’re your family. And even though your parents give you a hard time, they love you, too. They just don’t understand you.”
I nod. And there is a hard lump that has swelled in my throat and I don’t even know why. Reece hugs me again.
“Wanna go back out?”
I nod, not trusting my voice.