Yours at Midnight Read Online Free PDF

travels, could he teach them a few bad words in Japanese?
    Lyric listened to every word Quinn said. He spoke with a warmth and confidence she’d never heard before. Growing up, he’d always been the quieter brother. The less fussed over brother. She knew she was partly to blame for their battered friendship. She’d only ever had eyes for Oliver, with his blond hair, blue eyes, and an ease that made everyone around him comfortable.
    Quinn was different. In looks, in temperament, in attitude. She’d butted heads with him constantly. His teases and put-downs stung, but she’d dished it right back. She knew he’d felt inferior to his brother, and that’s why he lashed out.
    Tonight, though…tonight, he bamboozled her family with stories about his travels, the people he’d met, and the time he’d walked down the wrong street in New York and been mugged. Her heart positively stopped when he mentioned a gun.
    The boys thought it was the coolest thing ever.
    “Did they catch him and arrest him and put him in jail?” Joey asked.
    “They did,” Quinn said.
    “I’m in kindergarten,” Lola said, changing the topic of conversation to her.
    “Kindergarten? That’s the best place to be. What’s your teacher’s name?” Quinn leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and gave Lola his undivided attention.
    “Miss Colby. But she’s getting married and her name is gonna be Miss Becker.”
    “ Mrs . Becker,” Emma corrected.
    Max lifted the bottom of his blue ribbed cotton shirt and put Legos into the pouch it created. He walked over to Quinn, bumped his tummy into Quinn’s knees, and then dumped the Legos into Quinn’s lap. “Wanna make something?”
    “Sure, buddy.” Quinn slid down the front of the couch, careful to keep the Legos in place, and sat on the floor. “What do you want to make?”
    Lyric’s fingertips tingled. Quite possibly someone would need to check for her pulse. Because the tender way Quinn handled Max vanquished every mean thing he’d ever done to her.
    And it took every ounce of strength not to pick Max up and flee the room.
    …
    Quinn couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so much a part of something. Sitting around the large dining room table with good food, lively conversation, and Lyric beside him, he forgot about the years of being second best.
    The Whetstones had always treated him as one of the family, but tonight he’d let himself believe it for the first time—which made him either the smartest or the stupidest man on the planet.
    Lyric had been unusually quiet. A few times her natural sun-kissed complexion had paled, and Quinn wondered if maybe she wasn’t feeling well.
    “That is so not true!” Lyric said, raising her voice for the first time all night. “Just because I’m the baby of the family doesn’t mean you all have a better memory than me.”
    “Just a longer one,” Hank said.
    “And everyone knows longer means better.” Ella winked at Lyric.
    Lyric’s cheeks reddened. She scowled at her sister. The innuendo didn’t go unnoticed by the men around the table. Her brothers and brother-in-law raised their eyebrows.
    Did Lyric and Ella talk about stuff like that all the time? Quinn’s stomach rolled over. Did Ella know about his one night with Lyric? Worse, though, was the thought of other guys with Lyric. The muscles in the back of his neck bunched.
    “Moving on,” Lyric’s brother, Neil said. “I’ll never forget Lyric and Oliver working on their science fair project together, and practically burning the house down.”
    “That’s right!” Ella slapped her hands on the table at the same time Lyric covered her face with hers. “Something with different colored candles. You guys had them all lined up under the wood cabinets on the kitchen counters.”
    Quinn remembered that, too. He’d been upset they hadn’t included him in the project. Their fifth grade teacher had said to work in groups of two or three, and they’d formed a partnership