Grinded

chapter XXI.

What was Quentin doing here?

That's the only thought that floated through Sophie's tipsy mind as she glared at him with a stare that could melt its way through metal. And she didn't ease up, not even when he looked over to her with that sly smirk. The type of smirk Sophie would love to mop the floor with.

Stood there with a pompous smile, hands tucked away into the pockets of his skin-tight faded black jeans, Quentin's entire composure reeked out of smugness. It was practically bleeding out of him, and Sophie didn't bother disguising the vexation painted across her face.

"What're you doing here, Quen?" Sophie demanded impatiently as she crossed her arms.

But Quentin didn't even look phased at the hostility in her voice. Like he was almost expecting her to be on the offensive.

"I asked a question."

Quentin scoffed, pulling his narrowed glare away from Sophie back over to Lily, who stood by Sophie's side while she awkwardly fidgeted with her manicured nails.

"Not even so much as a hello?" Quentin asked, and that fucking arrogant smirk only curled up into a smile. "That's cold, Sophie."

"What are you fucking doing here, Quentin?" Sophie repeated, spitting out each word harshly, her voice void of any respect. "I won't repeat myself again."

Quentin finally pulled his hands free from his pockets, his phone in his right palm, and held them in a jokingly peaceful manner.

"Chill out. Thomas asked me to come over," Quentin finally answered smugly, and Jesus Christ, Sophie wanted to wipe the floor with that fucking smile of his.

When she got past his smile, her attention was drawn to what he'd just said. Her eyes widened before darting over to Lily, who only returned the equally baffled stare.

What the hell was he talking about? There was no way he was being serious. If anything, he probably showed up here to fuck with them. And if he wanted to dick around like that, then Sophie was the exact person to go toe to toe with.

"Wait," Lily chimed in, stepping out from behind Sophie, "what? Tommy invited you?"

Quentin simply shrugged as an answer when his phone lit up in his palm. His eyes edged over towards it, his eyebrows creasing for a split second before he returned his focus to the women.

"Yeah." He slid his phone back into his pocket and relaxed his stance a little more. "Yeah, he did. When he texted me not too long ago. Said he didn't want to third wheel—"

He cut himself off, his face turning sour as though he couldn't even bring himself to say the names of either Freddie or August without looking pressed over how it worked out for them. Not him.

And that was more than enough for Sophie to want to keep him at arm's length. She didn't want to go around and brand someone as a serial killer, but she would be stupid not to at least suspect him.

"Look, I don't want to fight," continued Quentin remorsefully, "I just wanna hang out with Tommy, maybe you guys too, and cut it loose."

Fat chance.

As Sophie parted her lips to object and tell him to beat it, she felt Lily delicately grip her wrist, keeping Sophie in place. After a moment's contemplating, Lily cleared her throat.

"You promise to not go looking for trouble?" asked Lily with raised eyebrows and a stern glare.

Sophie shot her head towards Lily, disbelief washing over her. She thought she'd maybe misheard what Lily had said, but from the side eye she was given, there was no misunderstanding.