Page 58 of No Cap

HOLLIS

I was such a sad sac.

I should really be at home, not allowing my bad attitude to inflict others, but here I was, riding in Quincy’s truck, heading to places unknown.

“Are you sure you won’t tell me?” I begged.

I wasn’t fit for company right now.

In truth, I shouldn’t be doing anything more than grabbing drive-through Whataburger and asking him to take me back home.

But his presence was… soothing.

The pain and anger I’d felt after leaving my parents’ place was almost… gone.

Just spending time with him had made a whole world of difference.

That didn’t mean I wanted to deal with anything beyond just him, though.

Which was why, when he pulled into a dirt road ten minutes later, without, might I add, answering me, I was relieved.

Maybe he was taking me to…

The thought of being alone flew out the window when we rounded the bend of the dirt road, and I was faced with the fact that there would be no being alone.

Not when there were eight cars parked in front of the house we were pulling up to.

“Quincy…” I hesitated, unsure what to say or do.

On the one hand, I wanted to stay with him. Just being around him was comforting.

But there was no way that wherever we were, I wasn’t about to be bombarded with people.

“I’ll take you home the moment you feel overwhelmed,” he said.

The way he said it, making me more than understand that he truly meant what he said, had me deflating in my seat. “I’m awkward.”

His brows rose. “You do perfectly fine with me.”

I scoffed. “That’s because you are threatening me with arrest half the time. Had you just shown up, smiling at me, I would’ve been a completely different person.”

Speaking of smiling, the front door opened and a little girl, all of three at the most, came barreling out of the house.

She was wearing a leotard with so many sequins on it you could see her from outer space, a smile a mile wide, and bright red cowboy boots.

“You have…” I pointed out the windshield at the little girl. “A little girl barreling toward you at a mile a minute.”

Quincy got out of the truck, a large, welcoming smile on his face, and crouched down.

The little girl hit him so hard that he was forced to stand or fall over.

“Uncle Incy!”

“Addie girl,” I heard Quincy say as I got out of the truck, my eyes huge.

Because now there wasn’t just a little girl outside, but the cutest little toddler, too.

He was pumping his legs, running as fast as could be, and would’ve taken a fall right off the porch had his uncle not caught sight of him and launched himself forward.