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CHAPTER TEN

SUTTON

I’d taken a chance renting this place sight unseen, trusting that Quinn wouldn’t steer me wrong.

And I’d been right. More than a decade had passed since we’d been close, but she still knew me.

Proof of that was in how well she’d nailed this.

With its bright yellow kitchen, two decent-sized bedrooms, and a quaint living space, the cottage was perfect.

Well, other than the fact that it was mere yards from an infuriating asshole.

Infuriating because said asshole had given me the best orgasms of my life, only to turn out to be a shitbag.

The latter, apparently, was now required for any man I met, considering I was 0 for 3 in as many months.

Those women-only communes full of tiny houses weren’t looking so bad right about now.

After my run-in with the asshole, Laurel and I had spent the rest of the day getting settled in.

While unpacking was never fun, I loved the process of setting up a new place.

It’d been a while since we’d done that, and I’d missed the ritual of it.

Thankfully, the cottage had come mostly furnished, nearly all of which I actually liked.

There was a feminine touch I appreciated, and I couldn’t help but wonder exactly whose feminine touch had helped with the design.

Before the sudden and completely unwelcome twinge of what absolutely was not jealousy could derail my thoughts, a knock sounded at the door.

“Thank god, I’m starving,” Laurel mumbled from where she sprawled on the couch, making no move to get up.

“No, no, you sit. I’ve got it.” Rolling my eyes, I abandoned my kitchen organization project and headed to the door, opening it to Quinn’s smiling face.

She stood on the front porch, her shoulder-length blond hair haloed by the setting sun, a pizza box in one hand and a bag in the other.

“I have no problem delivering on the pizza, wine, and ice cream, but you two are on your own for the horror movie.”

“Hey.” I grabbed the pizza and handed it off to Laurel before wrapping Quinn in a hug.

“It’s so good to see you.”

“You too,” she said, squeezing me back.

“Two years is too long.”

We’d managed a quick visit a couple years ago when she’d been in Atlanta for a conference, but before that, it had been even longer since we’d seen each other.

I couldn’t deny how nice it was going to be to have a friend so close.

Being a traveling nurse didn’t allot me many of those.

“Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about that for a while.” I stepped back and ushered her inside, closing the door behind her.

“You remember Laurel?”

Quinn smiled at my daughter.

“Of course. You’re looking more and more like your mom when we first met.”

“That’s what people tell me.” Laurel set the pizza box on the coffee table before loading a plate with two slices, swiping a pint of Ben & Jerry’s from the bag Quinn had set down, and heading to her bedroom.

“Thanks for these.”

After the door snicked shut, Quinn turned to me with a raised brow.

“I remember her being a lot friendlier. Both when she was little and a couple years ago.”

“Yeah, that’s my fault.” I made a quick detour to grab the corkscrew and wineglasses I’d just unpacked before sinking down onto the couch with a sigh.

“I’m pretty much the worst parent in existence because I ruined her life by moving here.”

Quinn sat on the cushion next to mine, handing me the bottle of wine she’d brought.

“Right, of course. The whole trying to give your child a better life bullshit. Seriously, would you think of someone other than yourself?”

“I know, right?” I poured a healthy amount of wine for both of us before passing her a glass.

“I was wondering when Laurel and I were going to get to the whole hating-my-existence portion of our relationship. Things had been going too smoothly for too long.”

Quinn laughed, but she still shot me a worried glance over the rim of her wineglass.

“This job isn’t going to cause an issue with you two, is it?”

Settling into the corner of the couch, I shook my head.

“We’ll be fine. She just needs a few days to get over things.”

“I hope so. Otherwise, I’ll feel like an ass for being so grateful this timing worked out. Seriously, I can’t tell you how much I need you at the clinic and to take over the weekly shift at the high school. Ford’s been begging me to hire someone for months and finally threatened to do it himself if I didn’t get on with it.”

“And you couldn’t have that,” I said on a laugh.

I knew her well enough to realize she wouldn’t cede control of her business to anyone, even her husband.

“Absolutely not. He’d probably hire Mabel, and then my clinic would be overrun by sex toys.”

“Wow. So much to unpack in that sentence. Let’s start with, who’s Mabel?”

“The town’s surrogate grandma, among other things. You’ll meet her soon.”

“I better, considering the sex toys part.”

“Don’t worry, she won’t let you get through your first meeting without hawking her goods.”

I snorted.

“You make her sound like a sex toy dealer.”

“That’s exactly what she is. She sells them at any and every town market. She even has a she shed in her backyard called the Pleasure Palace where she hosts parties. I lived with her and her husband for a while when I first moved back, and it was an experience .”

“Well, she sounds like an absolute queen.”

“She’ll probably swing by soon, and you can see for yourself.” Quinn grabbed a slice of pizza and settled back on the couch.

“Speaking of, how do you like the place?”

“It’s amazing. The cottage is going to be perfect for us.” As long as I didn’t have to run into the owner often.

Or ever. “Seriously, thank you for finding it.”

“I didn’t find it so much as worked some serious magic to make it available for you and Laurel. The owner isn’t exactly social, but I can’t blame him. If I had his history, I’d protect my privacy too.”

I froze with my wineglass halfway to my mouth.

“What do you mean, his history?”

“He’s been in the public eye basically his whole life. His dad used to be some big-time rock star. And then, Atlas played in the league for…I don’t know…ten, fifteen years?”

Atlas .

His name didn’t ring a bell, though that wasn’t a surprise, given how little I watched sports.

It fit him, though. As did the profession.

If I’d been thinking clearly, I would’ve connected all the dots before now, considering how we met, how he looked, and the mansion he called home.

But apparently my brain wasn’t firing on all cylinders where he was concerned.

“So, what, he’s some big football legend?”

Quinn shrugged.

“He was . They called him the Mountain.”

“Of course they did.”

A smile twitched at the corner of her mouth.

“Ah, so you’ve met?”

Twice in twenty-four hours, actually.

Memories of our brief hour together at the hotel flashed in my mind, recalling details better left forgotten.

Like how he’d stared up at me from between my legs, his mouth wet from my pussy.

Or how he’d whispered the filthiest things against my ear every time he sank inside.

Or how he’d fucked me from behind, gripping my hair and holding my head so I couldn’t do anything but watch in the mirror as he absolutely ruined me for other men.

I wasn’t exactly closed-lipped around friends when it came to my sex life.

Had never been. But for some reason, I didn’t share any of that with her.

Probably because I wanted to keep what had happened totally separate from my current life.

Better to pretend it took place in an alternate universe.

If for nothing else than to be able to use memories of the hotel room as fap fodder without also recalling how the jerk had answered his front door.

“Unfortunately,” I said.

Quinn laughed. “I think he gets that a lot.”

“I’m not surprised. He’s an ass, and I’d be happy never seeing him again.” Okay, that was a lie.

He was extremely enjoyable to look at.

As long as he didn’t open his stupid mouth.

“How do you think that’ll work out for you?”

“Fine.” I shrugged.

“I might be living in his backyard, but I never ran into my neighbors in Atlanta.”

Quinn raised a brow, amusement written on her face.

“Starlight Cove isn’t Atlanta. Besides that, it’s going to be a little difficult to avoid him.”

I eyed her warily, something in her tone raising my hackles.

“Why?”

“Because Atlas Steele is the high school football coach, and your weekly shift at the school starts on Thursday.”