Free Love Me Crazy by Camden Leigh Page A

high.
    “I was so depressed after he left. Took months for me to want to leave the house. I looked atrocious. Let my hair go and my nails were in shambles. I didn’t wear makeup for weeks, not until . . . until Mom sent me to live at our house in France. She thought the sun and beaches would fix the hole in my chest, but I think it only made it bigger.” She tosses her hand in the air like she’s shooing flies. “None of the guys who rallied for my attention can replace my Quinny.”
    No one can replace the nausea in my pit. Can you say “fake”?
    “That sounds awful.” I appease her thirst for attention. France. The beach. Guys fawning. Looking
atrocious
. Is that even possible? She’s a diamond in this room. Exquisite and graceful. As we stand here, I’ve counted eight guys who haven’t taken their eyes off of her.
    “It was, but I’m back. He’s back. We can start fresh. Many things to forgive but many things to celebrate, too.” Annabeth waves to someone across the room. “And there he is. I must admit, these butterflies make me dizzy.” She places her hand over her stomach.
    I glance at Quinn, who smiles when Annabeth gestures for him to join us.
I
must admit, the butterflies in my stomach make my toes leave the ground and my heart spin in my chest like a carousel on crack.
    “Hello, ladies.” Quinn pecks his sister on the cheek. He makes his rounds, hugging and kissing Annabeth and then me. “Need an escape?” he whispers.
    Do I ever. From him.
    “Quinny, oh my stars, it’s great to see you.” Annabeth links her arm around his though his other hand still lingers on my lower back. Tears make her eyes glisten but none fall. Probably because they’d be slaughtered if they screwed up her mascara.
    “Hi, Annabeth.” He nods. “It’s been awhile.”
    “Too long,” she giggles. “But you’re here now. Care to take a walk with me on the beach?” She glances toward the steps leading to the ocean. “We must catch up.”
    “I’d love to—”
    “Great, let’s grab—”
    “ But I promised Cassidy a tour of the building—she’s into historic architecture. And then I thought I’d show her the ruins down the way.”
    He did? I am? What? “Oh, I can wait. You two have a lot of catching up to do, it seems.”
    He leans into my ear. “A little help here.”
    I rub my neck, then scratch my cheek, trying to appear less flustered than I feel. “But you did tell me to hold you to your . . . promise,” I say in an unintelligible string of syllables.
    “Great. Annabeth, how about we get together later?” Quinn pulls me away from his sister and ex. “Another day? Over coffee or something.”
    “Well, sure, but I have a lot to catch you up on. Please don’t put it off too long, five years is long enough,” she jabs.
    “Ouch,” I whisper.
    “Typical,” Quinn mutters. “Will do.” He rushes me down the steps toward the sand, ignoring the friendly calls thrown his way. He even ignores the girls who walk up to him and make a point to brush their hands along his arm or back. He doesn’t slow until we’re several buildings past the club and out of his ex’s kill zone.
    “Lovely, isn’t she?” he keeps his gaze on the tide.
    “Who, Annabeth or the twenty-odd twentysomething girls who copped a feel? Holy art thou, it appears.”
    He chuckles and rubs his stomach before returning his hand to my back. Casually touchy and very sneaky. “You think I’m hot?”
    “You think you’re not?”
    He presses his lips into a crooked smile. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
    “ To be honest, you’re the best fucking fantastic depressing idea ever. I keep going back and forth about what I think of you. You’re charming, and yes, hot, but I can’t afford to lose my scholarship because your mom fires me for hanging out with you. We really need to keep a distance, but you make it damn near impossible.”
    “
Hmmm
, so how do we remedy that?” He leads me to two Adirondack chairs beaten raw from