Free Holding On by Meg Jolie Page B

this simply because things were complicated enough.
    “That weekend you helped gather firewood and you insisted on baiting your own hook. You didn’t complain once even though the bugs were awful. A big storm went through that night and we lost electricity. Tara just about had a breakdown. I remember you just twisted your hair into a ponytail and asked what we were going to do that day. You were just so easygoing.”
    Jake laughed. “Actually, remember that morning? While Tara was whining about not being able to shower you and Luke started running around like a couple of preschoolers. At first I just shook my head at you two, acting like kids. You were splashing through the puddles. Then you started picking up night crawlers that had come to the surface due to the heavy rain.”
    Quinn laughed too. “Yeah, I remember that. But I also remember you joined us.”
    “Hell yeah, I did,” Jake agreed. “You made it look so fun. And I was trying to get away from that whining wench. By the time the three of us were done, we were fi lthy. We had to jump in the river to clean off.”
    “It was a fun w eekend,” Quinn reminisced.
    “Yeah, for you. Tara made it clear to me that she hated every second of it. It was after we got home that weekend that I started giving Luke a hard time. That’s when I started telling him I was going after you if he didn’t. I kind of started to feel like if he didn’t go for it that weekend, that he never would. Then…I don’t know…every time I saw you after that I felt myself falling a little bit deeper.”
    Quinn shook her head. “I must be the most oblivious person on earth. I had no idea.”
    “The night of the party, I told him I was going to ask you out if I saw you there. The truth was, I’d been going to places where I thought you’d be. But you never showed up. I wonder now if Luke was purposefully making sure you stayed away. Anyhow…He was dating that Kassandra chick at the time. I thought things were getting serious with them. I thought it would be a good time to go for it. I told him if you showed up at the party with him, that that was it. He brought you anyway.”
    Quinn frowned slightly and shook her head. “You know what…I don’t think he wanted me to come.” In fact, she was sure of it. It was so long ago that she didn’t remember the exact conversation. She did remember that he’d tried to talk her out of going. “Kass and I were friends. Kind of. It was Kass that invited me along.”
    “All I’m saying,” Jake went on, “is that I gave him his chance. He refused to take it. He might’ve been willing to sit on his ass forever. I wasn’t. It’s as simple as that. I mean, what sense was there in neither of us having you? So when I saw you at that party…he was on one side of the room doing his thing…you were on the other side doing yours…Yeah, I jumped at the chance to ask you out. Is that so bad?”
    “No,” she said, honestly feeling it wasn’t. Now that he’d explained his side of things.
    “I swear Quinn, by the time I asked you out, it was because I wanted to. I rode Luke’s ass hard for years and he just…didn’t. Honestly, I don’t think he ever would have. He was willing to let you slip away. I wasn’t. I didn’t realize right away how hard this would be for him. And by the time I realized it, it was too late. I couldn’t give you up. I always knew he liked you as more than a friend. I never realized just how much in love with you he was.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe we’re talking about this the night before our wedding. But the only regret I have about you and I…is that Luke got hurt along the way….”
    He was quiet for a while, watching her but letting her process.
    “Was that so bad?” Jake asked. “Do you wish things had happened differently?”
    “No,” she said quickly as she snuggled a little deeper into his side. “I’m so happy with you. But I feel the same way. I never wanted Luke to get