“Shh, take it easy. I’m not telling you to leave.”

“I just need a few days, okay? Let it blow over.”

Tyler stiffened. “You want to go back there?”

“She’s not always like that. If Jake is gone, maybe it won’t be so bad.”

Tyler sighed.

“Please?” she begged. Then she winced. This reminded her of the night she’d been in Nick’s truck, begging him for a place to sleep, too.

“Okay,” Tyler finally said. “We can give it a few days.”

She turned her face up and kissed him.

Tyler pulled back. “Quinn. Stop.”

She froze, then jerked away from him. “Forget it,” she cried, feeling fresh tears on her cheeks. She punched him in the chest. “Forget it. I don’t need charity from—”

He caught her wrists and pinned them behind her back. The motion was so quick, so rough, that she almost cried out. It put her right against his chest, staring up into his eyes. “What do you want?” he said. “Is this how every guy treats you, like you have to pay to play? Tell me, Quinn.”

“Didn’t you hear her?” she said. “This is all I’m good for.”

“It’s not,” he whispered. “I promise you, it’s not.”

“No one wants me. I can’t even make someone want me.”

He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against hers. “You poor, mixed-up girl.”

“Fuck you. If you don’t want me, then let me go.”

“You’re funny. You have no idea how hard it was to act honorably when you were parading around here in your underwear.”

She snorted. “Like you know how to act honorably.”

He froze, then released her. He grabbed the beer from the counter and headed back to the living room. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s watch a movie. Grab some snacks if you want.”

Quinn stared at his retreating back. “A movie? That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

She couldn’t keep up with his rapidly shifting emotions, but maybe he felt exactly the same about her. He was already flipping on the television, searching through the pay-per-view listings.

“What do you feel like?” he said.

“Slasher flick,” she said.

He rolled his eyes and settled on a romantic comedy.

Quinn groaned. “These are cheesy.”

“Sweetheart, I think you’re overdue for something cheesy.”

She hesitated by the couch, but he opened his arms like he’d done on the porch, and she snuggled into the warmth of his body, inhaling the scent of him.

Later, when she was almost asleep on his chest, she murmured, “I’ll keep your secret.”

“You don’t need to.” He stroked a hand through her hair—the most intimate thing he’d done all night. “You keep enough secrets. I’m definitely not asking you to keep mine.”

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 21