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actually believed what she’d told her. If she talked to her

brother and sister about it, then maybe she was less skeptical

than she seemed in the alley.

“I hope that’s okay,” Quinn said.

“Yes. I- they should know too. And your parents. I didn’t

mean for it to be a secret between us. Your family was like my

family and I know that I hurt them by just leaving like that.”

“Billy thought that- that is- he thought that I- that I should

do something about what you told me, but I wasn’t sure what

that meant. I’m here, after I basically bribed Jim Johnson into

telling me how to get here, and I still don’t even know why

I’m here.”

Quinn had this habit of smiling when she was nervous.

She’d always done it and she was doing it now. It was an odd

smile, like her lips were pulling up against her will or without

her even knowing it, a knee jerk reaction to her anxiety, but

Dallas thought that Quinn was beautiful. That her smile was

beautiful. She felt a throbbing ache start between her legs,

even though she knew Quinn was off limits. It was against

some law somewhere that they could ever be friends again.

Anything more than that was unthinkable. But Quinn was still

there. And they were still alone in a hotel room. It made Dallas

wish that everything was different.

That she had never left Topeka. That they were on some

secret rendezvous that wasn’t so secret and wasn’t really a

rendezvous, but was just them taking an afternoon for them.

An afternoon off work. Meeting up in a hotel room to spice

things up. Loving each other on both of those beds because

messing up one just wasn’t nearly as fun. Maybe they’d make

use of the shower too. It was nice and glassed in and definitely