Love in Slow Motion

49. Quinn

49 QUINN

There are still stragglers trying to get out of the driveway when I reach my car. I’m lucky it’s close by; I want to get out of here as quickly as I can.

“Quinn!”

Something inside my chest cracks open. I can’t take this. It was bad enough that the shit hit the fan in such a spectacular way without Reed refusing to let me go, too. I toss my bag into the backseat and throw open the driver’s side door.

“Quinn, no. You need to talk to me.”

I know he’s right. I know it’s not fair for me to take off like this, but what the hell else am I supposed to do? I can’t face him. I can’t face any of them.

Before I can get in my car, Reed is there. He reaches out and shuts the door, and like a four-year-old, I stamp my foot. “Reed!” I meet his eye, but I can’t read his expression. Angry? Confused? Desperate? Who even knows.

“You can’t just leave like this, Quinn. We can figure this out. This thing between us, you know it means something. I’m not just going to let you walk away because you’re scared.”

A choking noise bursts out of me. “How are we supposed to do this, Reed? You know we can’t do this. Your family?—”

“I don’t care what they think.”

“I do!” This finally gets him to close his mouth. All I can see in my head is Chase’s bleeding lip. The glass on the floor. Their faces red as they scream at each other. “I can’t be the reason anyone in this family hates each other. I won’t be the reason this family isn’t a family anymore.”

When he speaks again, his voice is much quieter. “Chase is the reason this family isn’t a family anymore. Not you.”

He may be right, but there’s never going to be any peace in the Lynch family if I stick around. “You had to know this could never work. You had to know this couldn’t be real after this week. What, we’re supposed to sit across from Chase at Thanksgiving dinner? Show up every summer, having just passed me from one man to the next like hand-me-down clothes?”

His breath bursts out of him. He takes a step closer to me, and I fight not to move away, even though I want to. I don’t want him to touch me. My willpower is hanging on by a thread, and if he touches me, I don’t know if I’ll be strong enough to do what I have to. “Don’t say that. That’s not what this is.”

“This was just sex, Reed.” I force the words out, even though I know they’re a lie. “This was two people stuck together for a week when they were both vulnerable. This was two people who needed to be touched and trusted each other.”

“It wasn’t just sex to me, Quinn.”

It wasn’t just sex to me either, but in this moment, I have to pretend. I have to convince myself because if I can’t, I’ll shatter. I’ll be broken beyond repair. I will never be able to put myself back together again. “I would give anything to have my family back, Reed.” When I meet his eyes, I see the way they shimmer in the moonlight. I know I’m ripping him apart, but he’ll thank me someday. “You owe it to your family to try and heal. And you can’t do that with me around.”

He watches me for a long time before shaking his head. “I love you, Quinn.”

A sob forces its way out of me. Go, I tell myself. Go before it’s too late. “Reed, I can’t. I’m sorry.”

With one more look over his shoulder at the cabin, I see two figures standing in the doorway, dark silhouettes. But I know who they are. Madison and Sabrina. I feel sick to my stomach.

Reed doesn’t try to stop me this time when I get in my car. Without looking at him, I carefully back away from the house and turn out onto the street leading out of town.

I’m halfway to the highway when my phone starts to buzz. Notification after notification comes in, and I glance down in time to see Brooke’s name flash across the screen.

Brooke. God, I’m such an awful friend. I forgot all about Brooke, and now I guess I’ve crossed back into a service area, and all of her texts are coming through, along with social media notifications and emails. I ignore everything and open the texts from Brooke as I crawl down the backroad behind the lake.

What happened last night? Did you kiss Reed again?

Um. Hello! I need an update!

Lady! What the hell is going on??

I can’t believe you made out with your ex’s brother and now you’re not answering any of my texts!

Are you still alive?

Should I call the Lynches?

I stop reading the texts and call her.

The second she picks up, I can’t think of anything to say, and instead, I pull off onto the side of the road and cry.