Page 110
Story: Hide and Seek
“It’s not that I don’t understand. I do. At least, I think I do. I don’t blame you for anything. But it still…it hurts. A lot. That you could just…forget me.”
“I didn’t forget you. Not for a single day.”
Andy smiled. “But you did. Of course you did. It’s not like I thought of you every day either. Even believing you’d been murdered.”
Quinn’s face twisted. He turned to stare out the window. “Jesus, Andy.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong. You survived. And I’m—I can’t even put into words how glad I am. That we’re sitting here talking? It means everything to me.” Andy drew a long shaky breath. “But the next time I get involved—fall in love—I want it to be with someone who feels the same way about me that I feel about y—them.”
Quinn gave a quick, tight nod without looking at Andy.
Andy stared at that hard, handsome profile. “I can’t even count how many times I nearly died this week. And the fact thatthatfeels trivial compared to everythingelsethat’s happened, is proof of—I don’t even know what it’s proof of. It’s proof I need some time.” He repeated more firmly, “I need time.”
Quinn gave another jerky nod. He seemed to be speaking to his side mirror as he said, “It’s not the same for you. I already know that. I feel like we—I—got a second chance. But you didn’t—don’t—need or want a second chance.”
That wasn’t what Andy was saying. But it was true, right? So why didn’t itfeeltrue? Why, after his own speech, did Andy find himself wanting to argue? Because for sixteen years—rightup to the point Quinn had suddenly materialized again—he’d have givenanythingfor a second chance.
“We don’t even know each other. Not as adults.”
“No?” Quinn turned to meet Andy’s eyes, and this time his smile was odd. His green gaze seemed to challenge Andy.
Okay, maybe Andy’s last statement had been wrong. Unfair. Given recent events, maybe they knew each other better than Andy was willing to admit. They’d been through more together in four days than most people shared in four years.
But instead of pressing his advantage, Quinn surprised him. “Hey. Andy. Idounderstand. I meant what I said at the start. I wanted to help you. Not just because I owed you for what happened when I left Safehaven. You’re always going to be…special, I guess. But I didn’t start out thinking there could be anything more, and it’s okay if there won’t be anything more.”
Was that supposed to make him feel better?
Given the affection and appreciation in Quinn’s smile, yep, that was probably intended to relieve Andy’s mind, maybe take the pressure off, but honestly, it just confirmed what Andy already knew. This—he—just didn’t matter that much to Quinn.
So why the hell was he still talking, still trying to explain a position he hadn’t even taken yet? “I’ve spent most of the last year trying to figure out how to get out of one relationship. I won’t lie. I’m afraid…”
“You don’t have to explain.” Quinn shrugged. “Really.”
For some reason, thereallyhurt even more than the shrug. Like Andy had been belaboring a point that was no longer relevant. He swallowed the rest of what he’d been about to say. None of it particularly useful, in all likelihood.
“No. Right.” He too had mastered the art of grace under fire. He smiled. Reached for the door handle, saying, “Anyway. Have a very Merry Christmas. And if I don’t see you before New—”
Except he hadn’t unsnapped his seat belt, so instead of gracefully exiting the Land Rover, he got yanked right back into place.
Quinn laughed, not unkindly. “Merry Christmas, Andrew.” He leaned over and kissed Andy. Clearly, it was intended as a brief and friendly kiss between friends. But somehow the moment passed and Quinn was still kissing Andy, kissing him warmly, sweetly, tenderly…lingeringly… Somehow Quinn’s arms were around Andy, and Andy’s arms were wrapped around Quinn, and they were still kissing. A bright, sparkly feeling bloomed in Andy’s chest like the Christmas star itself.
Their lips parted, but that seemed to be a mutually agreed upon bad idea, and they were kissing again, this time their mouths hotter, hungrier. Andy gave himself to that kiss, gave in to his own longing and the terrible pressure of five thousand, eight hundred, and seventy-two wishes denied, and kissed Quinn with all his heart.
It wasn’t so much that the kiss ended as splintered apart. They broke off, gasping for air. Quinn’s, “Andy…” sounded genuinely anguished. It sounded like a protest Quinn was trying not to make.
“I’ll see you,” Andy gasped, and this time he remembered to unlock his seat belt.
It took all his willpower to half fall into the brisk, cold day, close the door of the Land Rover, and walk away.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
He was uneasy about returning to Time in a Bottle.
For one thing, the building had not been released as a crime scene by Safehaven PD. Andy was pretty sure that was a technicality. By now both Safehaven’s police department and the State Police had had opportunity to conduct a secondary survey and log all the evidence.
He suspected the reason for the entire building remaining off-limits was to keep him from returning to remove or tamper with any yet undiscovered evidence. That was back when he and Quinn were the prime suspects in Marcus’s murder. Now that he and Quinn were no longer suspects—or were they still suspects in Chief Millard’s eyes? Had Chief Millard been informed of the recent break in the case? Did Chief Millard know thathewas now a—if notthe—prime suspect? Anyway, hopefully, Andy running up to the apartment to grab some clothes—when he’d fled Captain Rafferty’s house, he’d left his suitcase in the back of Quinn’s Land Rover—and to get the Christmas presents he’d purchased for Uncle C. before ever leaving Philly—would not get him tossed into the hoosegow.
Andy ran quietly up the back stairs and let himself into the apartment.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117