Claiming Serenity(18)

The toothpick between his teeth moved side to side, pressed between those thick lips of his as they inched up on one side of his mouth. The smirk was almost identical to the one Declan always gave Autumn, but Quinn’s seemed more dangerous, like there was a promise there only the baser instincts in Layla’s gut would ever consider uncovering.

“You’ve a bit a spark, don’t you, love?”

She wasn’t impressed by him. Not really. She wouldn’t be impressed with anyone who groped his brother’s girlfriend, or tried to. Layla didn’t find the way Quinn’s eyes wandered, how they undressed every female within gawking distance of him to be the mark of a decent guy. He was a pig. He was rich and gorgeous and sinfully sexy, but Quinn O’Malley was still a fucking pig.

“You’ll find that a great many women in Cavanagh have spark, O’Malley.” Layla pushed Quinn’s hand off her knee when he rested it there and frowned at the hard glare she gave him. “It comes from generations of calling assholes on their bullshit.”

“Oy, you calling me an arsehole?”

“If the toothpick fits…”

She expected his attitude, he seemed to hand it out like water at a marathon, but Quinn didn’t get defensive. He looked, in fact, amused by Layla’s attitude, a bit like he appreciated it. “I like bossy women. You want to boss me around a bit?” He leaned so close that Layla could smell the faint hint of tobacco on his breath. “I don’t mind you bossing me, so long as you rough me up a bit. A bit of a spank would be grand.”

Layla snorted, tried to recover the shocked sound with a cough that she knew Quinn didn’t buy. “You are so full of yourself, O’Malley.”

“Aye, maybe, but I’m a good time, love and forgive me for noticing, but you look like a girl who is desperate for a good time.”

“Or a fucking throttling,” Donovan’s gruff voice sounded behind Layla.

A quick jerk around in her seat, eyes roaming over the pink skin, the red rimmed, angry eyes and discolored blonde hair that were compliments of her latest prank, and she shot up from her chair, twisting away from Donovan’s large hands when he grabbed for her.

“Piss off, Donley.”

“Piss off? Are you shitting me?” He followed her around the table, hands reaching, trying to grab her until Autumn and Mollie stood next to her, blocked her from Donovan’s reach, if not his glare.

“You needed a lesson.”

“Layla, seriously?” Mollie said, taking in Donovan’s pasteled coloring. Layla didn’t like the exasperated tone that peppered Mollie’s voice. “This shit has got to stop.”

“Then tell him to stay away from me. Tell him to not even look in my direction!” Layla was grasping straws that had no weight, no reason at all.

“I didn’t do a freakin thing to you, you insane woman!”

“Really? Nothing at all? Do you know how long it took me to get the green dye out of my hair? You’re about to find out, asshole.”

Donovan’s lip curled up and he moved to the other side of the table, only stepping back from Layla when Declan thundered through the door and pulled on his collar.

Then Layla couldn’t keep track of all the noise, the commotion in the tiny café. Donovan’s angry, loud voice as he met every step Layla took; Declan trying to hold his best friend back as Mollie and Autumn shouted at Donovan to get out. Even the haggard-looking balding manager started yelling for everyone to leave by the time Donovan twisted out of Declan’s hold. Quinn sat there, Layla noticed, eyes watching the mayhem unfold with an amused, highly annoying smirk twisting his lips.

“That is enough!”

It was Sayo, who Layla hadn’t seen come in during all the arguing chaos, that silenced the thick, angry shouting. The moment Layla spotted the dark circles under her friend’s eyes, the way Sayo’s normally well-kept, pink hair was twisted into a sloppy bun at the back of her head, she felt an overwhelming knot of shame bubbling in her gut.

“Sayo…”

“No, Layla, this is bullshit.” Layla noticed that the Japanese girl’s dark roots were growing, that she must have been so distracted by her cousin’s illness, she hadn’t had time or cared about doing much in the way of personal grooming. When Sayo’s frown hardened and her dark eyes glared, Layla lowered her head, unable to take the look her friend gave her. “I come in here for caffeine because I haven’t slept, I can’t sleep, and this shit is still going on?”

“I didn’t know…”

Layla closed her mouth the instant Sayo held her palm up. “You will be finishing college next semester.” She looked at Donovan, barely managing a glance at how ridiculous he looked. “Both of you. I don’t give a shit what your problem is with each other. Grow. Up.” Sayo looked between Donovan and Layla, that stern glare making their other friends retreat so that Sayo’s focus was centered on them. “I just came from an eight year old’s bed. She’s dying… she’s…” It took a moment for Sayo to swallow down the apparent knot in her throat, but she recovered quickly, shaking off whatever image in her mind that had her composure slipping. “My little cousin wanted to go to college. She wanted to turn ten. She wanted to come here because she knows how much I love it. She knows how much we all love it here.” Sayo took a step, shaking her head when Autumn touched her shoulder. “That’s not going to happen for her. She’s not going to get the chances that you both have. The opportunities that you are ignoring because you can’t let go of whatever high school bullshit you both are still holding onto.”