Page 70 of Inked Heart
“It’s high school.”
“That doesn’t make it okay.”
“No,” I admit.“It doesn’t.”
She studies me for a moment.“And now he avoids you.”
“Funny how that works.”A small smile tugs at the corner of my mouth.
“You’re not the same person anymore.”
“Neither is he.”
“Unfortunately.”
I chuckle.“That’s one way to put it.”
Quinn looks out at the lake again.“I wish I had known.”
“Why?”
“I wouldn’t have dated him.”
“That would have been unfortunate.”
“For who?”
“For the version of me that eventually got to meet you.”
Her lips curve slightly.“You’re getting smoother.”
“Don’t tell anyone.”
“I might,” she threatens with a smile of her own.
We fall quiet again and the sun continues drifting lower toward the horizon.Golden light stretches across the water and suddenly the moment feels different.More intimate.More aware.
Quinn shifts slightly on the dock so she’s facing me more directly.
“Do you know what I realized today?”
“What?”
“You never asked me out.”
I blink.“What?”
“This picnic.It was my idea,” she explains.
“But you agreed.”I point out.
“That doesn’t count.”
“It absolutely counts.”I argue.
She shakes her head.“You never said the words.”
“What words?”
