QUINN"Let's move Lisa's article to the page two, and then stick the picture from the band competition on the front page." Jake leaned back in his chair, dropped his head and looked at me upside down. "Slow news week."I laughed, and turning back to the computer, focused on dragging the photo onto the right spot on the front page. "Don't worry. If the football team makes it into the playoff games, we'll have pictures and stories for weeks.""Yeah, it's looking good for them." Jake sat up and spun the chair around to face me. "Okay, that's the front page. I think we're just about done. I'll do one final check and send it over to the printer."I sighed and crooked my neck, working out the kinks. "Great. I'll upload it to the email service." We were slowly moving the school newspaper over to a completely paperless format, but in the interim, we released it in both paper and ecopy. "Perfect." Jake stood up, stretching his arms over his head. He leaned over the back of my chair, cagin

LEOQuinn opened for me right away, and then my tongue was in her mouth, exploring, teasing and tasting. She was an intoxicating mix of mint and pure Quinn, and I wanted to lap her up. She moaned deep in her throat, and some frantic, insane part of my mind began scrambling, trying to come up with an idea of where we could go. A place where no one would find us and I could keep touching her, possibly forever. "Mia." I slid my fingers through her hair. "God, you're so beautiful. I've been dying to touch you." I ran my hands down her back, gripping her firm, round ass. She made a small noise of surprise, but she didn't squirm away, so I lifted her up. Her legs wound around me, and she rested her arms on my shoulders, never breaking her mouth away from mine. I realized with surprise that she'd taken control of the kiss. Her tongue stroked the inside of my cheek before circling my tongue, sparring with me in an erotic dance I never dreamed she knew. I moved my hips against her, and she

QUINNBy lunch time, apparently word about Leo and me had swept over the campus. I might not have noticed if it hadn't been for the cheerleaders being more hostile toward me than usual and more than a few curious looks from other students. Still, nothing really bothered me until we were in the cafeteria. Leo met me at my locker, coming up from behind and startling me with a kiss on my neck as his arms circled my waist. "Hi." He released me, grinning. "Did you have a good morning? How was the math quiz?"I smiled back. "Morning was good, quiz was so-so. I hate math so hard."Leo laughed. "Some things never change, huh?" He slid his hand down my arm to link our fingers. "C'mon, let's eat. I'm starved.""Some things never change," I teased back. "Are you still the guy who's going to take my slice of pizza when my back's turned?""No." He touched the tip of my nose with his index finger. "I'm the guy who's going to buy us each an extra slice so I can eat them." He patted his flat

QUINNNighttime football games had a special kind of magic to them, and tonight, the energy was heightened: this was an important game, one that would determine whether or not the Eatonboro Eagles would advance to Round Two of the conference playoffs. We were underdogs, for sure; Gatbury was one of the best teams in our area. Gia had saved me a seat, so I sat on the bleachers about halfway up from the field, mashed between two girls. I wasn't complaining; it was especially chilly tonight, and I was glad for the extra body heat. "So how does it feel to know it's your boyfriend playing out there tonight?" Gia grinned and poked me. "Pretty exciting, huh? Are we going to see some spontaneous cheers about the Lion roaring?"I rolled my eyes. "Don't hold your breath. I might be dating one of the team's stars, but I'm here for the game, not just to moon over the players." "Oh, check her out. It's all business. That's our Quinn-she's a tough cookie." Gia laughed. "Give her a few weeks,

NATEAs it turned out, Leo came over that evening, after he'd dropped Quinn at her own house. I hadn't seen him in weeks, and I couldn't remember the last time he'd actually been at my house. He looked bigger than ever when he appeared in the living room where I was sitting, and that irritated me. Leo had a way of making me painfully aware that although I was technically older than him, I looked younger. I always felt immature and behind the curve when he was around."Nate." He hesitated in the doorway, as though he was afraid I wouldn't let him come all the way in. "You look good.""Thanks." I motioned to the sofa. "You can sit down if you want."He sank into the couch, right in the center, spreading out in that way he had. He just sort of sprawled, then sat forward with his elbows resting on his knees. "I'm glad you're better. You scared the shit out of all of us." I shrugged. "It's all part of the disease." I was echoing what I'd been hearing the doctors say for the last mon