&
nbsp; "Getting some fresh air," I said. "What did you think? That I'd be spending the night in a jail cell?"
"Well, I know you have all those severed heads in your freezer, so it was a safe bet," Quinn said.
I laughed and got out of my car. "If only it had been that exciting. The cops were pretty disappointed when they didn't find anything at my place."
"What were they looking for?" she asked, leaning against the hood of her car.
"Drugs. You know, gamer smokes pot, that whole stereotype," I said.
"That's terrible. You know, my father's a lawyer. Maybe you should talk to him."
"About what? ‘Hey, Mr. Thomas, you know how you think the worst of me? Well, so do the cops. What should I do?’ I think he'd lobby for locking me up." I joined her on the hood of her car.
"Yeah, maybe not," Quinn said. "But you think maybe someone set you up?"
"Now that I think about it, I should add your father to the list of possible suspects. If you think about it, he makes perfect sense. He hates me. He has connections in the police force, and he'd be able to get a search warrant," I said.
"As much as I could see how that might be true, I think my father has other things on his mind than setting you up," she said. She nudged me with her elbow. "He never forced you and Sienna apart. He just hoped you'd drift apart naturally."
"Yeah, well, he got his wish," I said.
Quinn looked up at me, her chocolate brown eyes wide in the dark. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that Sienna and I drifted apart. You know it’s true, Quinn. It was happening all along, but when she left for UCLA it was real."
"Every couple goes through ups and downs," Quinn said. She inched away from me. "Long distance is hard."
"But it wasn't that," I said. The whole story was on the tip of my tongue. I wanted to pull her back against me and confess it all.
"Sienna was really busy at school, that's all. I barely saw her. She loved you, anyway," Quinn said.
"Sienna loved the idea of me. The real me was a project that never quite fit her standards."
"No. When you're dating someone, you just want them to love everything you love. That's how it is with me and Trent."
"Wait," I said. My hands turned to ice. "Who's Trent?"
"My boyfriend," Quinn said.
CHAPTER FIVE
Quinn
I woke up in the morning and realized just how little sleep I had gotten. Owen had left the parking lot of the Calico Basin Trail shortly after he arrived. The only problem was his words echoed through my head all night.
He and Sienna had drifted apart?
I knew he was telling the truth, I just could not believe he was telling me. There was something so serious in his tone. I knew there was more to it, but I panicked. After so many years of desiring Owen from afar, I was completely terrified by how close and available he was sitting there next to me on the hood of my car.
I worried he was clearing the path and he needed to know there were other big obstacles. I had started dating Trent three months back and had never mentioned it before.
I rolled out of bed and grabbed my phone.
"Hi, sweetie. I was wondering when I was going to hear from you," Trent said.
"Hear from me? You were supposed to be here for the funeral," I said.