Love in Slow Motion

17. Reed

17 REED

If I was feeling a bit roguish, I would keep Quinn from leaving, make her explain why she needs to get away so fast. I know it’s because she’s thinking dirty thoughts about me. I know it because she was staring at me like I was covered in whipped cream and she wanted to lick it all off.

And God, does that feel amazing.

But I just got an email, felt my phone buzz in my pocket, and I need to read it.

So I let Quinn go, even though I want to do anything but.

Pulling my phone out of my back pocket, I open the email before I remember that my hands are covered in grease. Oh, well. It’s not the first time I’ve gotten grease all over my phone and my clothes.

Reed, I’m in. I’m thinking 50k. Sound good?

— Jack

My stomach flips. Before I made the choice to disappear for a week to come here, I contacted investors all over Boston and New York that I knew from my years in the business to find out if they wanted to invest in my new restaurant. I don’t have a building or a chef or any idea how I’m going to do this thing on my own, but I know I am going to do it on my own.

My eyes lift to find Quinn and Sabrina by the side of the house. They’re over there talking, Sabrina finally looking more like herself while she and Quinn laugh about something. I want to tell Quinn about the restaurant. I want her to be proud of me, like she always is when something amazing happens in my life, sending me little Congrats! texts that I save in a special folder so they can move from phone to phone with me.

But I can’t tell Quinn that I have investors lined up because I kind of, sort of made Quinn believe that I came here for Mom’s money. And sure, having that $500k would definitely be a big leg up for me. It would mean the difference between a small storefront restaurant with a struggling staff for a year or two and a gorgeous, classy restaurant in a high-rise with enough staff for everyone to be comfortable.

But that’s not why I came here. I would have come with or without my mother’s money as an incentive.

I came here for Quinn.

Like she’s reading my mind, her eyes travel the length of the driveway and find mine. She looks away quick, but Sabrina twists her head and motions for me to come over. I wipe my hands on a rag as I head over to them, and as soon as I’m close enough to hear, Sabrina says, “Hey, we’re going to take the boat out on the lake. Want to come?”

“Sure. Sounds good.”

“Go inside and tell Chase,” Sabrina says, and if she wasn’t looking down at her phone, she wouldn’t have missed the look that Quinn and I shoot each other. She grimaces and I roll my eyes.

We really have to stop this. Quinn has to pretend that everything is absolutely perfect with Chase or Mom is going to catch wind of it.

“I’ll go in and see if Mom feels up to coming.” Sabrina turns for the house, and I lean around Quinn to see that Chase is lounging by the pool.

“Guess I’ll go let him know,” I say, nodding toward Chase.

Quinn just nods, her head bowed. I want to know what she’s thinking, but I don’t think this is the best time to ask. I step around her and head for the pool. When he sees me coming, Chase puts a hand up to block the sun.

“The girls want to take the boat out.”

He chuckles. “And they need the men to set it up for them?”

I just stare at him, my hands in my pockets so I’m not tempted to knock him one. “Sabrina’s been taking the boat out by herself since she was old enough to reach the lock on the boathouse. I don’t think anybody’s inviting you to come along because of your rippling biceps.”

I clearly said the magic word. Chase sits up on his lounge chair and pushes up the sleeve of his unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt. “Are you really going to deny that I have rippling biceps?”

Luckily, I don’t have to answer. The door of the house opens and the women trail out. I’m glad to see my mother in the back of the pack, putting on a pair of sunglasses and settling her big hat on her head. She’s always loved being on the lake. According to legend, she was a rower back when she was in college and then bought this lake house with her first million so that she could row on it whenever she wanted. Her rowing days were mostly behind her by the time I was old enough to have memories.

Chase heads for the boat house, but I wait for Quinn to catch up to me before turning to head down the trail to it, Mom and Sabrina following behind us.

It’s like muscle memory, pulling open the big door to the boat house and untying the skiff. I check to make sure we have life jackets, even though we won’t use them, and that the boat has enough gas. My mom’s old canoe is up on the wall, with the oars criss-crossed in front of it. It shines in the light reflecting off the water, like it’s brand new.

We all pile into the boat, Chase helping our mom into it, and then we rocket out of the big opening of the boat house and onto the lake. Once we’re far from the house, Chase lets the engine die, and we float through the center of the lake.

“Should have brought the fishing gear,” Chase says, but our mother waves him off.

“Isn’t it nice every once in a while, not having any distractions? No cell phones. No social media. No mile-long to-do list. Just a boat full of people you care about, floating on a lake far from civilization.” She leans back on her seat and tilts her head up toward the sun. I smile as I watch her. For someone who has built their entire career off monetizing the internet, she’s really good at disconnecting from it all.

I feel the heat of someone’s eyes and glance over at Quinn, pressed into the seat beside Chase. She smiles at me, and it’s so strangely peaceful and uninhibited that my heart gives a lethal thump in my chest.

“I don’t feel like I know what to do next with my life.” The words come from Sabrina, and we all look to her in tandem. I know that everyone is thinking exactly what I am. We all feel the same way. When she realizes she’s the center of attention, Sabrina shrugs, pulling her legs up onto the seat with her and wrapping her arms around them. “I’ve accomplished so much already, and I’m proud of that, but I don’t know what I really want to do . I can’t keep up with this lifestyle forever.”

Mom, sitting beside Sabrina, puts her arm around her shoulders. “You can do anything you want to. You have all the power inside yourself.”

Sabrina throws her hands up. “I get that, but I don’t know what I want . I didn’t go to school like you guys did.” She motions to the three of us. “I don’t have an empire like you,” she says to our mom. “I’ve just been following opportunities as they arise, but what happens when the invitations stop coming?”

Our mother sits up straighter, pulling her shoulders back, turning into Madison Lynch. “When the invitations stop coming is when the real fun begins. When people stop expecting things from you, you start to listen to yourself more. You start to understand your own desires. Sabrina, my love, you’re twenty-two. It’s okay to have not a single clue what you want to do. No one should be expected to have it all figured out by twenty-two.”

“You did.” Sabrina looks around the boat. “You all did.”

I look to Chase, and he shrugs back at me. She’s not wrong. We both knew exactly what we wanted by the time we left Suffolk.

“I didn’t,” Quinn’s voice pipes in, quiet like she’s hoping no one will hear her. But we all do. She looks around at all of us and then focuses on Sabrina. “I still have no clue what I want to do with my life.” I can see the way she’s choosing her words wisely, trying not to give away that she’s now a single woman, rebuilding her life after a divorce. “I keep hoping that I’ll wake up one day and have it all figured out, but maybe that’s not the point. Maybe what you do isn’t the point. Maybe you just need to focus on who you are .”

My heart races for her. She looks so beautiful in the late morning sun. The light curves along the length of her eyelashes and the jut of her collarbone. I love her, and I’m certain, the way I can be certain that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, that I’ll never love anyone else this way.

And like he’s somehow thinking the same thing, Chase puts an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close and smiling at her. “You know who you are, Quinn,” he says, and I think he genuinely meant it to be comforting, but Quinn clasps her hands together and meets my eye. She looks like Chase spit on her.

“I wonder how fast I can swim back to the boat house.” The words pop out of my mouth. If I was any dumber, I’d have the IQ of a piece of lake moss. But once everyone is looking at me, I know I have to follow through with my idiotic comment. And I will, for Quinn.

I stand on the edge of the skiff and strip my shirt off over my head. I can’t keep myself from glancing at Quinn, feeling mighty proud of myself when her eyes rake over my bare chest. I want it to be her hands. Her mouth.

“No one’s going to challenge me?”

I fully expected Chase to make a play for it. I thought his competitive streak would take over, and I would be able to get him off this boat and away from Quinn. But he doesn’t move. He keeps his arm wrapped around Quinn and watches me. It’s like he has her imprisoned.

I look to Sabrina, thinking that if she joins in, Chase will for sure, but she’s still got her knees pulled up to her chest. When she finally glances up at me, she shakes her head. “I didn’t put on my suit.”

“Neither did I,” Quinn says, but she stands, finally pulling away from Chase. Her foot comes up onto the edge of the boat, and she’s over the side before I know it, still wearing her shorts and tank top.

I don’t hesitate. I catapult myself into the water, even as I hear Chase shout, “What the hell!”

When I come up to the surface, it’s to see Quinn already swimming toward the house. I start in after her, and back in the boat, Chase shouts, “What are we, twelve?”

Contentment settles in the center of my chest. This is how it should always be, me and Quinn against the world.

I overtake her easily, and hear her little grunt of disapproval as I pull ahead. She couldn’t have been expecting to win this. She’s half a foot shorter than me, and I used to swim in high school. I push hard and swim straight into the opening of the boat house, turning in the shadow of the overhang and watching Quinn dive under the water and take the rest of the way under the surface.

She comes up out of the water, wiping it out of her eyes and off her face. Her cheeks are flushed, her mouth pulled into a smile. “Think he’ll follow us?”

I roll my eyes, pressing my back against the wooden slat behind me. “What do you think that was, a quarter mile? There’s no way Muscles back there followed. He’s a terrible swimmer. He knows there’s no way he’d win.”

She’s grinning up at me, bobbing in the water, her hair all stuck around her face, and she’s fucking glowing. “I clearly didn’t stand a chance against you. Probably because you have the wingspan of a pterodactyl.” As if to punctuate her point, she reaches for my arm below the water, her fingers dragging against my stomach as she tries to find my wrist. She’s clearly having too much fun to worry about whether or not she’s accidentally touching my bare skin.

She raises my arm over her head, her face full of joy.

“I only won because Sabrina didn’t come. She’s the fastest swimmer I know.”

She drops my arm, and it makes a huge splash that makes her giggle. She wipes her hand down her face. “Don’t be modest. You’re a fast swimmer. How long were you waiting here for me?”

I shrug. “Not long.” I lean my head back against the wall, my eyes going up to the rafters over our heads. “Jesus, I haven’t been in this boat house in ages.” I lower my eyes, find her watching me. “I loved this lake house as a kid. It was one of the few times all the money didn’t bother me.”

“Why did you stop coming?”

Because I hated seeing you with him.

“Life just got in the way. I was working all the time and trying to make something of myself and—” I cut myself off.

“And trying to prove you were worthy of it all.”

My eyes shoot to hers. Water clings to the lines of her face, dripping gracefully from the point of her chin. She’s always seen through me. That’s the real problem. That’s why coming here and spending a week or more in this house with her every summer was never an option. Because every time I’m with this girl, she finds a way to break me open and look right into my chest.

I have to look away from her, down at the murky water. I can see the distorted shape of her beneath the surface. She’s swimming so close to me that her knees keep bumping into mine. I could move away so she’s not touching me, but I would rather die. “It’s hard being part of this family sometimes. We’re all just trying to live up to the incomparable Madison Lynch.”

“You don’t have to live up to anyone.” She floats closer to me, until the front of her body brushes the front of mine. I hold my breath. I can’t allow myself to move or I’ll pull her against me and beg her to be mine. She tilts her face up to me. “You’re perfect the way you are.”

I can feel her breath on my lips, the puff of it, wet and heavy. Her eyes fall to my mouth, and I hold very still, like she’s a bird that I might startle away from her perch if I so much as twitch.

She grabs hold of my arms, pulls herself up my body, and kisses me.

It’s quick, a simple press of her lips to mine. But when she pulls away, breathing against my mouth, I can’t stop myself. I take her face in my hands and dive back into her.

It’s like breathing for the first time. I haul her up against me, and she doesn’t protest. Her mouth opens under mine, and I get my first taste of her. She tastes like good memories and summer sunshine and everything I’ve ever wanted in my life. I swipe my tongue into her mouth, and she moans, meeting me like we’ve done this a hundred times.

But we haven’t, and we’re both starving. Five years I’ve starved for her. Has she been starving just as long?

One of her legs comes up to wrap around my waist, and I know she can feel that I’m hard for her. I can feel her stomach pressing against me, and as she wraps her arms around my neck, opening her mouth on mine like she’s going to swallow me whole, her body gently rocks once against mine.

I’m about to reach for her ass, pull her up against me and get a rhythm going, when Chase’s voice sounds from nearby.

“Where the hell are they?”

Quinn jerks away from me, ripping her mouth off of mine. I don’t want to let her go, want to tighten my arms around her so she can’t get away, not when it’s finally finally happening. But I let her float away from me, her hands reaching up to cover her mouth like she just realized I’m actually a serial killer.

“Quinn,” I say, but she’s already swimming away from me, moving out of the cover of the boat house and waving as the skiff appears on the horizon.

I stay where I am, my back pressed to the wall, trying to slow the erratic pulsing of my heart.