Page 17

Every evening since her first run-in with Quinn, Raelyn had seen him, Chris, and Jett in one way or another.

Mostly they hung out at the bar, with the exception of their spontaneous afternoon at the beach, and perhaps that was for the best. At the bar, the four friends were light-hearted and fun, joking around and teasing as though no time had passed between them and they were back in high school.

Over the years, Raelyn had still seen Chris and Jett frequently, having made a habit of stopping into Trojan Horse any time she and Amira went out for drinks, even if that’s not where they were planning on spending their whole night.

Having Quinn back though was...well, it was a lot of things.

Overwhelming? At first.

Unexpected? Absolutely.

Just what she needed? She was beginning to think so.

After the way they’d left things Raelyn had always assumed seeing him again would be awkward, or maybe that they’d bicker and be confrontational, but that was definitely not the case.

She had tried holding her walls up at the office when he’d come in unannounced, all shy smiles and rippling forearms, but she couldn’t help tearing them down.

He was still Quinn. For years he’d been her safe place, her person, her best friend.

Maybe he had a bit of a reputation these days, but she could tell he was the same guy.

The one who’d always defended her and protected her; the one who’d gotten suspended when he’d taken the blame for something she had actually done, and again when he’d overheard boys making indecent comments about her and reacted rather aggressively.

Now, after that sensual tanning lotion rubdown, she was feeling all sorts of hot and bothered every time she got herself ready to meet up with him again.

If she thought she was sexually frustrated before, it was absolutely nothing compared to how she felt after having his large, sturdy hands cover her body.

The warmth of his bare chest pressed against her back was imprinted in her mind that night as she rushed into her bedroom, unable to flip the lid off her pleasure box fast enough. Yeah...it was intense.

It was Friday night and Raelyn had asked Amira to come along to Trojan Horse this time so she could finally meet Quinn, which her friend was absolutely dying to do. Amira offered to drive and was practically bouncing with excitement when she burst through Raelyn's front door and into her kitchen.

"Who's ready to get their drink on?" Amira sang, drawing out the last two words. She stopped abruptly upon finding Raelyn in the kitchen, filling Harry's food and water bowls, " That's what you're wearing?"

Raelyn looked down at her white t-shirt, ripped skinny jeans, and sparkly sandals, "What's wrong with this?"

"Seriously? It's a Friday night and you're trying to make your old flame wish he'd never even looked at another woman," Amira shook her head and grabbed Raelyn's wrist once the dog bowls were on the floor.

"No, absolutely not. You don't go to the gym five days a week and build up a booty like that to wear blue jeans on a Friday night out. "

Amira dragged Raelyn down the hall to her spacious bedroom and swung open the French doors to the substantial walk-in closet. "All of these clothes and you wear jeans and a t-shirt," Amira sighed then clapped her hands together as if to say “and now, we begin!”

Clothes were getting shoved at Raelyn to try on; skirts, dresses, and sparkly tops that she hadn't worn since before meeting Emerson. Before then, she'd been a casual dater, a regular weekend bar-goer, and had always gotten dressed for the occasion.

She must have tried on a dozen different outfits before Amira clapped her hands together again and gawked with wide eyes, "Yes, this is it! You are going to slay tonight!"

Raelyn stepped in front of the full-length mirror in her closet and even she had to do a double take, looking from herself in the mirror and down at the clothes on her body.

She had on a black cold-shoulder top, a form-fitted, camel-brown leather skirt that fell just above mid-thigh.

Her feet were encased in a pair of black peep-toe booties that gave her an extra four inches of height.

Raelyn spun and checked her reflection from several angles.

"Damn, okay," she nodded. "I don't show off my hard work enough, do I?"

Raelyn had always been slim, but it was more a result of her athleticism.

She wasn't a twig and she never had been.

She simply had toned and defined muscles from all the sports she'd played when she was younger and kept up a relatively strict workout plan as an adult.

And she really loved leg day at the gym.

"Now let's pull this hair down," Amira grabbed the pins holding Raelyn's messy bun up and let the hair cascade down her back. "Oh yeah, he's gonna wish he could wrap his fingers in that and give it a tug."

After grabbing their bags and giving Harry a few goodbye pats and ear scratches, the girls set off, hopping- or more accurately, scooting - into Amira's Mercedes, and cruising downtown.

They were lucky enough to find a parking spot available only two blocks away from their destination, and the walk gave Raelyn some time to get reacquainted with her heels.

It wasn't until they were crossing the street toward the Trojan Horse sign that Raelyn's heart sped up.

"Oh God, I'm nervous," she said out loud as she recognized the emotion swell in her chest and stomach.

"Haven't you seen him every day this week?" Amira asked, looping her arm through Raelyn's in a comforting gesture .

"Yes, but not like this," Raelyn motioned to her outfit. "I mean, I look hot - we look hot. It's like I'm expecting him to make some sort of move."

"You are," Amira shrugged. "And not just him, either. Any guy in there with a functioning set of eyes is going to be goggling that ba-donka-donk!" She slapped her friend's ass and the leather made a resounding smack!

Raelyn giggled, not used to this kind of attention, but expecting nothing less than this level of support from Amira.

"Listen, you need a plan," Amira said, stopping just outside the bar entrance.

"Quinn is used to getting attention from women obviously , but I think it's also obvious that he thinks you're different.

You need to own the situation. Take control of it before he has a chance to charm you.

Be overly confident...it'll throw him off his game.

He can't control you if you let him know you are the prize here, not him. "

"Prize?" Raelyn questioned. She didn’t like being viewed as some object to win.

"You know what I mean," Amira shrugged. "He needs to think there's no way even he can have you. Because you're the best."

Raelyn nodded. She'd never had real issues with self-confidence before, but ever since getting played by Emerson, her ego may have been knocked down a few pegs. Quinn wasn't Emerson, though.

Well... okay, he was also sort of a player, and had previously been able to make Raelyn feel special while not really ponying up to how he claimed to feel about her in return.

She really didn't like that she was able to make this comparison, but nonetheless, it stiffened her resolve that she needed to do exactly what Amira had suggested.

She was the one who needed to be impressed here, not him.

She wasn't about to let another Emerson get the better of her, and she sure as hell wasn't going to gawk at him like some star-struck fan girl .

Raelyn pulled her shoulders back, standing up straighter. With their arms still looped, she gave a quick nod to Amira before they walked through the door.

Unsurprisingly, the bar was more packed than usual. Friday nights in Traverse City, particularly in the summer, came alive with all sorts of partiers: Regulars, sports fans, hipsters looking for the latest craft brew, college students, and bachelorette parties from out of town.

Among the buzz of the crowd, it still didn't take long to spot the head of dark, untamed hair at the bar.

A woman with a trendy, silver-blond bob sat on the bar stool next to him, leaning in with obvious intent in her posture.

She was leaning toward him, placing a flirtatious hand on his splinted arm.

A primal growl rumbled deep in Raelyn’s chest, taking her by surprise. She really had no right to be possessive over Quinn but couldn’t help feeling like she needed to stamp “Mine” in permanent ink all over his obnoxiously handsome face.

Finally, when she was about halfway between Quinn and the entrance, he turned and looked in her direction.

His jaw literally dropped.

Raelyn felt Amira's little elbow nudge of encouragement and had to look down to keep from smiling directly at Quinn. She couldn’t have him feeling too confident just yet.

When she'd contained her smile into a sly grin she looked back up at him, catching as he unsubtly eyed her from head to toe, mouth still wide open, having fully turned his back on the woman at the bar.

Stopping in front of her apparently wonderstruck admirer, Raelyn swept one hand out and cupped his chin in her palm, "Let me get that for you," she said as she pushed his jaw back up to meet the rest of his mouth.

She noticed his eyes seemed stuck somewhere between her knees and the top of her skirt.

In a fully alpha-female moment, Raelyn gave a challenging glance over his shoulder at the blonde woman who immediately recognized that she was being dismissed.

She turned back to focus on Quinn who, after what seemed like an unusually long amount of time, met her gaze seemingly unable to speak.

"This is my friend, Amira," Raelyn said, gesturing to the woman on her arm.

Amira stuck her hand out for Quinn to take and he did just as she said, "Wow, you are absolutely gorgeous."