Secret. Brigid Kemmerer

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      Nick didn’t say anything, just rocked the stone into place.

      “Hmm,” said Quinn. “What did I tell him about you . . . ?”

      Nick’s heart tripped and stumbled along. He waited.

      And waited.

      Finally, he looked up. “There’s a pool around back. Don’t think I won’t drop you in it.”

      Quinn smiled, but it was a little cautious, a little sad. “He asked if you’d be coming with me to the studio anytime soon.”

      She meant the dance studio at the Y, where he’d first met Adam. Nick enjoyed watching Quinn dance, and he loved the way music coursed through the air to seep into his skin. Then he’d seen Adam, and it was like a missing puzzle piece finally snapped into place.

      He’d loved watching Adam dance, too.

      Nick grabbed a hand roller and flattened the next expanse of sand. “I don’t want to be a distraction.”

      “I think you need a little distraction.”

      “What does that mean?”

      “It means you’re completely stressed out.” Quinn rolled off the bench and walked behind him, putting her hands on his shoulders. She dug her thumbs into the muscles there. It almost hurt, but it felt good, too, so he didn’t stop her.

      “Quinn, it’s fine. I have a lot on my mind.”

      Like the fact that he and his brothers were still marked for death for the Elemental abilities they struggled to control.

      Or the fact that a bunch of younger Elementals had nearly destroyed the town a week ago.

      Or maybe that the Guide who’d come to town to kill them all was sitting in a jail cell, and could be released at any time.

      Not to mention the stack of college responses hidden in his desk at home. Or his family’s struggling landscaping business, which was barely turning a profit now, to say nothing of getting through the winter.

      Oh, and the fact that he was gay, and one of the only two people who knew was sitting right here ragging on him about it.

      “Why don’t you come to the studio tonight?” she said.

      “I have a physics test tomorrow. I need to study.”

      “Please. Like you couldn’t pass that in your sleep. And if you really needed to study, why aren’t your brothers doing this job?”

      Nick shook her hands off and reached for another stone. “Hannah was off tonight, and Mike needed a break. I offered.”

      “Of course you did.” She paused. “And Gabriel? Chris?”

      “Busy, and busy.” His youngest brother, Chris, had plans with his girlfriend. And Gabriel, his twin, was trying to catch up on math so he could apply for firefighter school in the spring.

      “Come on,” said Quinn. “You know you want to.”

      He did want to. A lot.

      A lot more than he wanted to admit.

      Too complicated. He shook his head.

      “Come on,” said Quinn. “You could bring your textbook. Wear some glasses. He’d probably think it was sexy.”

      Nick told himself to stop imagining it.

      Quinn grinned. “Nicholas Merrick. You are blushing.”

      “Seriously. Pool. Out back. Get ready to be all wet.”

      “If you don’t come with me, I’m going to tell him to stop pining, because you’re not interested.”

      “You are not going to tell him that.”

      “Yes. I am. In fact—” She pulled out her cell phone. “I’m going to tell him right now.”

      Her hands were flying across the keys. Nick was on his feet yanking it out of her hands before he even knew he was moving. She didn’t fight him.

      Then he looked down at what she’d typed. Not a message to Adam. A message to him.

      You deserve a break, too, Nick.

      He sighed. “I don’t know.”

      Her voice gentled. “I know you still like him.” She paused. “It’s not a date. It’s an hour in the studio.”

      An hour watching Adam dance. He’d almost come undone the first time. But eager butterflies were hanging streamers for a party in his stomach. “All right. I’ll come with you.”

      “Yay!” She clapped.

      “You seem overly enthusiastic. Like you said, it’s an hour in the studio. Nothing might happen.”

      “Oh, it’s not that.” She smiled sweetly. “Really, I needed a ride.”

      Nick grabbed her and flung her over his shoulder. “That’s it. Pool.”

      She laughed. “You’re excited. Come on. Admit it.”

      He set her on her feet, but didn’t let her go. Up close, he could look into the blue of her eyes. She was very pretty, with enough curves to draw attention. She whined about being fat all the time, but dance kept her body toned and muscled.

      After catching him with Adam, she’d offered to continue playing the role of his girlfriend. It let him keep his secret from his brothers, but it also kept her from going out and meeting a guy who would care about what she had to offer.

      This whole setup was so wrong. “I hate using you,” he said.

      “Do you want to have an epic breakup?”

      “You deserve to date a guy who likes you.”

      “So do you.”

      Nick clamped his mouth shut and turned back to the path, slapping the next stone into place.

      “We can stop if you want,” said Quinn. “I’ll go back to nightly screaming matches with my mother, you go back to screwing easy girls so you look like a total player.”

      “Quinn. I was not—”

      “Maybe you weren’t sleeping with them, but you were using them just the same.” At his fierce look, she gave him one right back. “They might not have known the truth about you, but it doesn’t make it any different.”

      “I wasn’t using them.”

      “Yes. You were.”

      Yes. He was. Nick looked at the rock in his hands, then shoved it into line with the others.

      “It’s СКАЧАТЬ