Mia
I couldn’t take it anymore. Quinn was the same the following day. He acted like I didn’t exist during breakfast, ignoring me like he always did. The same thing happened at lunch and I couldn’t hold on to my patience anymore.
How could he come over to my place when I wasn’t expecting him, kiss me and still be the one playing hard to get? It just wasn’t right.
Even as a girl, I wasn’t thinking much of boys. It was ironic that my boy problems began when I was in my twenties.
I watched his pace at dinner. I noticed that he was eating his meal quickly again and had decided to leave early. I matched my pace with his and started to rush my food. I planned to finish eating and leave the table before him. I didn’t trust him. I knew I wasn’t going to catch up to him if I allowed him to leave first. I was going to leave and wait for him. He would have no chance of escaping me that way.
“Mia, you seem to have a hearty appetite tonight.” Mum grinned at me.
“The food is good.” I smiled at her, though I was rushing too much to eat that I didn’t taste it.
“Yes, it is.” She agreed. “I’m glad you are eating well. You should look better when you get back to work.”
“Not so fast, mum.” I chuckled. It wasn’t possible that I would gain pounds in two days.
“Is the food that good, Quinn?” She turned to him. “You seem to always rush your meals lately and leave the table.”
I glanced up at him. That meant he just started rushing his meals because I was around. He didn’t have to make it so obvious that he was trying to avoid me when he was the one who caused this trouble. That hurt my feelings a bit. He was the one who made a move on me and was now avoiding me. What a complicated man.
What if he regretted kissing me and was avoiding me because of that? I’d heard stories of people who detested people they admired after a kiss. What if that was what happened between the two of us?
I shuddered, letting go of that thought. It wasn’t comforting at all.
He emitted an awkward chuckle. “Forgive me for that. The food is nice but that isn’t why I’m always in a rush to leave the table.”
I looked at him in surprise, my head snapping up with speed. I couldn’t believe that he was about to say why he had always been leaving early right here, to everyone’s hearing.
What if he blurted out the truth of what happened between us? I couldn’t stay calm. My heart pounded in my chest and I looked down, checking to see if there was an opening in the ground that I could sink into. It was sad that there was none.
“Why do you always leave early?” Albert asked. “I’m curious myself.”
“I’m bored because of the leave we took from work so I’m learning a course online. The time for the class is always by dinner time so that is why I always leave early to catch up with it.”
Mum looked impressed and nodded at him. “That’s good.”
Albert looked at him for a while and then continued with his meal without a word. I didn’t believe him. I didn’t have supernatural skills but I knew a lie when I heard one. That nonsense story he had just said was a lie. I didn’t want to sound like I encouraged prejudice but Quinn didn’t seem like someone who would forego his meal to attend a class. If John had said that, I might have believed but not Quinn. It would have sounded plausible if he had said that he was leaving early to practice on his military skills so he wouldn’t get rusty.
I finished my meal and excused myself from the table. I stood outside, waiting for Quinn. He was out two minutes later and surprised to see me. He made a move to walk past me but I wasn’t going to allow that.
“Don’t we have to talk, Quinn?” I called behind him.
He looked back and walked to my side. He hushed me, placing a finger on his lips. I nodded. I wasn’t going to shout as well. I just wanted his attention. It wasn’t like I wanted everyone to be witnesses to our discussion.
He looked left and right and when he was satisfied that no one was around, he held my hand and dragged me off to his bedroom. I was shocked to be in his bedroom but I figured that was where he could think of that we could talk without being eavesdropped on.
We both knew from experience that it wasn’t safe and private to talk in the corridors and at this time, we needed a whole lot of privacy.
“What do you want?” He asked as soon as he pushed me into his bedroom and closed the door.
I faced him and scoffed. “Are you serious? You kissed me and now ask me what I want. Why are you acting like nothing happened between us?”
“Because I figured that is how you want it. You stormed off in anger that night and didn’t come home last weekend. I assumed that you didn’t want to see me and I’m trying to give you the freedom you need to get that episode behind you if that is what you want.”
He sighed. “Isn’t that what you want? Why are you trying to be difficult?”
I snorted. “Difficult?” I snapped at him. “Don’t you ever try that with me again.”
The smug look I was used to was back on his face. He moved closer to me, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “What should I never try out with you again? Avoiding you or the kiss? I don’t think it’s the kiss because I seem to remember you kissing me back. You want me as much as I want you, Mia.”
I swallowed and inched back, away from him. I had made a mistake. I shouldn’t be here.
“I have to go.” I said to him. “That was all I needed to say to you. I figured that we need to talk about this. I have to tell you that my sentiments hadn’t changed even though I lost them for some moments. That I kissed you back by mistake that night doesn’t mean that I want to kiss you again or that I like you as you believe I do. Don’t kiss me again and let’s try our best to not have any awkward moments between us.”
He chuckled. “Can I kiss you again and see if you wouldn’t respond this time?”
“Quinn.” I called out in a warning tone but he didn’t listen to me. He kept on coming closer to me.
The door burst open and I gasped as I saw Jack and John enter the room. They didn’t seem surprised to see me in Quinn’s room, like they knew I was there.
“The two of you kissed?” John asked, looking from me to his brother.
I groaned, hating the night. They had heard everything. Jack kept on looking at me without a word.
“What are you doing here?” Quinn asked, ignoring their question.
“We wanted to check the course you said you were doing. We should have known that it was a lie.” John sighed.
Quinn winced. “How long have you been by the door?”
“Long enough to hear everything.” Jack responded. “So you shared a kiss with our sister, huh?”
“You already heard everything. Why asking me again?” Quinn growled.
“It seemed like the two of you were about to share another kiss before we entered.” Jack grinned. “For how long have the two of you gotten cozy?” He said, teasing in his usual manner but I could hear an underlying tension in his voice. I wondered if the others could hear it as well.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Jack.” Quinn said.
“Don’t tease her, Jack.” John said.
“Why? I don’t think she minds.” Jack said. “You heard them.”
I sighed and rolled my eyes. I had heard enough. “Goodnight.” I said, excusing myself from their midst.
“Goodnight, Mia.” John replied.
“Goodnight, sister.” Jack drawled.
I ignored them and rushed out of the room. As usual, Quinn didn’t say a word and I wondered why it hurt that he didn’t.
I felt like he didn’t care if I had a goodnight or not and that annoyed me more than Jack’s teases. I was going crazy. There was no doubt about that.
Or was this what they called being madly in love? I snorted at myself for that thought.