Loving Quinn Novel by North Rose

Bonus Chapter: Aaron

(Aaron)

When the man who has been my best friend since we were kids asks me to fly to France to be his best man, that is exactly what I do. Quinn is more than just my best friend, though; he is my brother in every way that counts. We have a bond like brothers do.

That bond started when we were ten years old. My parents had moved us to a small town off Crescent Lake a year before. I was still considered the new kid, an outsider.

I met Quinn at the small pond behind my house. I didn’t even know it was there until the day I met him. My parents told me not to go past the run-down shack to the edge of our property. We all know how well ten-year-old boys listen.

I went into the woods anyway.

Imagine my surprise when I stumble into a clearing with a small pond. I was further surprised by the boy sitting on the ground while throwing rocks into the water. He was dirty and swearing loudly. Words I had only heard in movies.

Bad words I wasn’t allowed to say.

When his head snapped in my direction, I took a step back because the look in his eyes scared me. He was angry. I had never seen that kind of rage in a kid’s eyes before.

I am glad I didn’t run. He asked me if I knew how to fish after I stood my ground. He pointed at the fishing pole on the ground beside him. We spent the rest of the afternoon fishing in silence after I introduced myself.

For the rest of the week, I would pack a large bag full of snacks and then sneak off to the pond to fish with my new friend. A friend who didn’t treat me like the other kids in the neighborhood. Quinn didn’t treat me like an outsider.

The day my father caught me sneaking back into our yard from behind the shack, I had to come clean to my parents. I had never been able to lie to them successfully. That was a trait I would learn as I got older.

My mother demanded to meet the boy I befriended. That made me nervous. Quinn was a very angry boy who didn’t really like or trust adults. I learned why very fast. His home life sucked.

No mom and an alcoholic father who mostly ignored him He was angry at his mother for dying and even angrier at his father for how he handled it. I learned all this in the first few weeks of

Bonus Chapter: Aaron

getting to know him.

My mother took one look at Quinn and was instantly apprehensive of the angry boy. I didn’t blame her at all, as I had the same reaction. Wariness. Just like he was with all of us.

I was happy that feeling

last. That boy became my best friend, my brother, and my

confidant throughout the years. Now here I am at his wedding to the love of his life.

Annora is an amazing woman. I hope the two of them have a long and happy life together. He deserves that kind of life after the messed-up **t he and I both survived in the Army.

Quinn now has the kind of life that one day I can only hope I will have. Love and happiness with an amazing woman I know such a woman, but I am not worthy of her at all. 1

I am not capable of the kind of love she is looking for.

Not yet, at least.

The very woman I am thinking of crosses across my field of vision. I have been sitting alone on the patio since Quinn and Annora left for their honeymoon. Quinn would say that I am avoiding

her, and he would be right.

I am going back home in the morning, so all I have to do is make it through tonight, and then I can go back to successfully avoiding her there. The only problem I have now is my mother. She has been dropping subtle hints that I should date a nice woman like Rylan. This has been going

on for months now.

It was like the second she met Rylan, she decided that I needed a woman. With Quinn now married with children, my mother has a new focus. Me and my life D

“Why are you out here?” Rylan asks. She walks over to me and sits in the chair next to me.

Great, just what I need, her intoxicating perfume to cloud my senses further.

“Just thinking.”

“Brooding is more like it, if the look on your face is anything to go by.”

I was not brooding. Ok, maybe I was just now, but that was because of her. I glance over at her, and my mind goes to a dark and dirty place. The dress she is wearing makes it hard to think of anything other than getting her out of it.

The temptation to run my hands all over every bit of exposed skin is so strong that I stand up and walk to the low stone wall at the edge of the patio. I can see the beach below. If I don’t get further away from Rylan right now, I may do something I will regret later.

Like f**k her right here against the wall until she can’t walk. Have her scream my name in pleasure. The only thing I want her to wear are those strappy little heels she has on.

“Aaron, look at me.”

I glance over my shoulder at her, then quickly look away. If I look into her eyes, I will be in more

trouble than I already am. Her eyes are one of my greatest weaknesses because she looks at me

like I am everything to her.

That is bad for her on so many levels, yet it is all I want at the same time.

I hear her huff out a breath, then hear the distinct clicking of her heels on the stone floor of the

patio coming closer to me. Her perfume swirls around my senses as she steps up next to me. Why does she have to smell so d** good?

“Ignoring me won’t make this thing between us go away. We have barely spoken since the night you came to my house after the fundraiser. I said I would give you time and space. I have done

that.”

“Yet here you are now.”

“We have friends in common, Aaron. We are bound to run into each other at social gatherings like this. What I have stopped doing is actively seeking you out,” she says.

“Yet here you are.”

I have no idea why I am picking a fight with her, but I can’t seem to stop myself. Part of me feels that making her hate me is the only way to save her. It is the only way to keep her away while I deal with my demons.

The other part wants to pull her close and just f**king hold her.

That part of me will not win today or anytime soon.

“Is being near me so hard for you?” There is hurt in her voice, tinged with anger.

I know I will regret my next words, but I am going to say them anyway. If I have to hurt her to get her to stay the hell away from me, then so be it. She is leaving me little choice.

I force a laugh, then look at her. “Hard? No. Annoying, yes. Being around you is nothing more than an irritation.”

As expected, there is hurt in her eyes, but she covers it quickly. Anger replaced the hurt, but it’s gone just as quickly. Her hand flies out and punches me in the mouth before I even have time to react. My head snaps back, and I taste blood in my mouth.

D**n, she has a mean punch.

“You really are an a**hole. I tell you what, as of right here and now, we are strangers. If you see me at Mercy General, you just ignore me or give that blank nod you give to people you don’t know, and I will do the same.”

I move my head to the side and spit the blood out of my mouth. When I look back at her, there is no emotion in her cold, blank stare. I lift my hand to my lip as I look at her. She split my lip open.

F**k me.

“That is what I have wanted you to do for ages now. It is about time you took the hint.”

I see the next punch coming and smoothly dodge it.

Rylan takes a deep breath, then spins on her heels and walks away. When she reaches the sliding glass doors, she turns around briefly. The raw pain in her eyes is a knife to my heart, but I force myself not to react.

“I will email my letter of resignation to Gayle tonight.”

Wait, what? That isn’t what I wanted. I just want her to give me space.

“There is no need for that. Quinn pushed for you to have this job. You are good at it, from what I have been told.”

“He did, but you didn’t. You didn’t want to offer me the job, so I am just going to do us both a favor and leave. I will go back to South Carolina to my old job.”

F**k.

Me.

Sideways.

Quinn will not be happy if I let her walk away. She is the best chance our program has to be what it once was. I have to admit that she is the perfect fit for the job.

“Look, we can be mature about this.”

4/7

Bonus Chapter: Aaron

She laughs, then gives me a scathing glare. “I can, but you obviously can’t.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. This isn’t going how I thought it would. I expected her to be hurt and angry, then just walk away. I should have seen the violent reaction coming. That took me by surprise since she has never been violent with me before.

Verbal sparring has always been her weapon.

Now she is talking about leaving altogether. That isn’t what I really want. I can handle the cold

shoulder act since I give it to her on a regular basis, but I can’t stand the idea of not seeing her at

all.

“Rylan, I just…”

She cuts me off by holding her hand up. “Do us both a favor and just stop talking. I moved to

California for an amazing job and a chance to work with people who needed my help. I will walk

away from that if it means getting the f**k away from you and this,” she gestures between us with

her hands. “Whatever the hell this is.”

I am at a loss for words. This is probably for the best, yet I feel like she will take a piece of me

with her if she goes. Can I live without that piece? Yes, I can, but I am not sure I want to. I am

already struggling to put myself back together after my time in the Army tore me apart.

With a deep sigh, I close the distance between us, grab her arm, and then pull her away from the house. She resists at first but then allows me to drag her towards the beach stairs. Everyone else is

inside, so we will have complete privacy.

Once we are at the bottom of the stairs, I continue to walk towards the gazebo. It seems only fitting to have this conversation there since we had our last deep conversation at a similar one.

Rylan pulls her arm free from my grasp when we reach it. She steps inside, then whirls around to

face me.

The cold, blank stare is making me angry, but I drove her to it, so I guess I have to get over

myself.

“Why the f**k did you drag me down here? I was just going to go to the hotel. I won’t be your

problem for much longer. That is what you obviously want.”

“It really isn’t. I am an a**hole.”

She looks surprised for a moment, but then goes back to staring at me with that same icy stare. I prefer the heat and the anger far more than the ice. This is what is best, so why the f**k am I going to try to convince her to stay on at Mercy General?

“Look, I don’t want you to quit your job. We can coexist in the same social circle. I’m sorry I lashed out at you.”

The look she gives me makes my stomach drop. For the first time since I met her, there is hatred in her eyes. No, no, no. That is not what I wanted at all.

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“Do you expect me to just take your pi***-poor attitude and let it go like it doesn’t hurt me? I think I am done doing that. I am done in general.”

“Rylan, I am sorry I hurt you.”

“Are you, though? I don’t think you are.”

I swear loudly, then close the distance between us. She flinches as I pull her flush against me. A flicker of anger flares in her eyes, and my heartbeat goes crazy. Her anger drives me insane.

It isn’t lost on me that this is exactly what I wanted to happen but should be avoided at all costs. Having her angry and in my arms is a recipe for disaster. Well, for our clothes and the surrounding

area as our sexual tension explodes.

“Like I told you before, I am not what you need.”

“Then let me go.”

I flick my gaze down to her lips, then back to her eyes. My heart and body are at war with my mind right now. If I keep her right here, I will give into the temptation I am trying to prevent.

“I should, but I can’t.”

“Why not? We both know that you don’t want me in your life. I get that loud and clear now.”

She struggles to get free, but I only hold her tighter. I slide one hand up her back to fist it into her hair, then I pull her head back to expose her throat. I will regret this later, but for now I am giving in to my base instinct.

I kiss her neck and feel her shiver as I nibble my way to her ear. Her breath catches as I pull the lobe into my mouth and bite it. My other hand is now firmly on her a**

“I can’t give you what you want, Rylan. Not yet, at least. I am working on it. Stay in California. Don’t leave me.” I whisper in her ear.

“Aaron,” she moans as I blow my breath over her ear.

“I want you, but I don’t deserve you yet.”

“Then just f**k me already, and we will deal with the rest later.”