Frog and Quinn: Chapter Eleven (Patreon)

I’ve never seen sand like this. White, powdery sand. I keep wiggling my toes into it and smiling like an absolute lunatic. Quinn was laughing, a breath away from an I told you so. It brightened something inside me knowing my text from Scooter wasn’t going to totally ruin this moment.

Sand and Quinn.

Mostly sand. It’s definitely not how Quinn smiled over at me like we were sharing a simple, joyful moment together.

Definitely…not that.

I expel a knotted, confused feeling and focus on the white granules slipping between my bare toes. I want to bottle this sand and fill a bathtub with it. There’s something therapeutic about sinking my feet through the soft layers with the warmth on top and coolness underneath. I’m obsessed. I glance down at the shoreline where Quinn currently stands. He’s at the edge of the ocean talking to Donnelly.

He left my spot on the beach ten minutes ago.

Luna wrings out her dripping wet hair and plops down on the sand beside me. She spent thirty minutes jumping waves with Donnelly, who didn’t change into a swimsuit like she’d done. Without hesitation, he stripped into his black boxer-briefs and ran into the ocean hand-in-hand with Luna. Until he grabbed her around the waist and twirled her into deeper water, plunging into a wave together.

Every second was so epically movie worthy. They were so far out, floating on their backs at one point, that Quinn and I had a bet on when they’d return.  

I lost by five minutes. But I’m just glad that no one has spotted her. That there weren’t strangers on the beach filming what would’ve made a five-star Netflix movie—but was also clearly very personal.

I also don’t know why Luna decided on this spontaneous beach trip.

It hurts to ask because I’m terrified it might be too much for her. Part of me worries pushing for a friendship again is too fast and too soon. I should be one of those bodyguards that’s satisfied without all the reasons behind their client’s decisions. Without the close bond.

I’m not sure that’ll ever be me though.

And look, she chose the beach for me. We could be at the pool. That was a branch of friendship extended toward me, and I want to cling to it like I’ve grown a sudden, over-enthused interest in nature and foliage.

I dig my feet deeper in the sand. About to say something to Luna, but as she pops a can of Fizz Life, her phone rings. She answers her cell on speakerphone, surprising even me. I haven’t had speakerphone privileges since before her amnesia.

Even then, she was very selective. Very private.

“Howdy,” she says. “You’re on speaker. Frog is here.”

“The girl or the amphibian?” Eliot Cobalt asks over the phone, the playfulness in his voice making it easy to identify him.

Luna smiles over at me, and I share it again, and I wouldn’t lie—I feel like I’ve been beamed up on the S.S. Friendship with Luna as the captain. I’m loving this voyage. “Girl,” I answer as she holds the phone closer to me. “Never slimy. Zero warts.”

“A Frog worth knowing,” Luna sing-songs.

“Oui, oui,” Eliot says quickly, sounding more in a hurry. “Have either of you heard from my little brother?”

“Which one?” I ask.

“Ben.”

Luna stiffens. “No.” She hands me the phone while she twists her hair into space buns. “Would Ben contact you?” She’s asking me.

“No, we don’t have much of a relationship outside of me being your bodyguard, and you had a class with him last semester at Penn.” But Ben is transferring to the same college in New York as Luna too. I lift the phone to my lips. “Is Ben in trouble?” I instinctively reach for my radio to change channels to one with Ben’s bodyguard to get the scoop, but I remember…we’re out of comms range to the whole team.

While on this vacay, my radio is only useful for me speaking to Quinn and Quinn speaking to me.

Eliot speaks fast. “I love trouble, but I don’t love this. He’s apparently not moving in with us this summer.” To the Hell’s Kitchen high-rise? Where we all now live.

Luna frowns. “Did he say why?”

“Just that it’s unnecessary. That the semester doesn’t start until August, and he’ll move in then.”

“Where is he staying until August?” I ask, noting the concern that downturns Luna’s lips even further. She stares off at the horizon, unblinking.

“With friends in Philly, he said,” Eliot mentions. “Beckett doesn’t like it. Tom and I—even more so. But at least he’s still moving in. A minor victory is still a victory. Let me know if you hear from him. I was hoping he’d keep in touch with you, even if the semester is over.”

“No, he hasn’t,” Luna says, blinking into focus. “He hasn’t said much to me at all since our college course ended.”

Eliot clicks his tongue, mutters in French, then says a quick, brighter goodbye to us. I hang up, and Luna finishes tying her hair with another contemplative look.

“You’re worried about Ben?” Her nineteen-year-old cousin.

“No…” She slowly shakes her head, as if flinging off the cynicism. “I think he’ll end up where he needs to be. I think we all do in a way.”

I’m pretty sure she has no idea how pessimistic she used to be pre-amnesia. To see her gain a newfound faith in people and the world—it’s uplifting in a way. It makes me want to protect her ten-thousand times more.

Luna Hale cannot be harmed. I will smack someone in the face with my knockoff Gucci handbag before that ever happens. Then I will tase them in the balls, assuming they have testicles, and cart her to safety while radioing for backup.

Because I’m not too proud to call for reinforcements. Private security is a team game.

I peer back at Quinn. His brows do a little “what the hell?” crinkle at Donnelly, who also seems to be talking more serious than usual.

Odd.

“How’s online dating going?” Luna asks, more focused on me than her boyfriend. She knows all about my mission to lose my virginity. That inner circle has been contained between her, Donnelly, and the Oliveiras.

“I’m pausing it.” I pick up a handful of sand, letting it slip between my fingers.

“Because of this trip?”

“No, no,” I say quickly, not wanting her to think it’s her fault. “It’s because I decided a one-night stand might be easier than doing the whole dating thing.”

 “You’re probably right.” She picks up her can of soda she nestled in the sand. “So how can I help? I’m a decent wingwoman on this planet. At least, Eliot and Tom have told me my skills are above average.”

My lungs fill at her offer. Though I tell her, “I’m not at the ‘needing a wingwoman’ stage yet, I don’t think. At least, I’m not about to go pick anyone up at bar tonight.”

Luna nods like that’s reasonable. “Bar folk aren’t your type.”

“They could be, maybe.” I tip my head in thought. “I mean, I’m not totally against it.” I instinctively scan our surroundings and land on Quinn again. Luna is very perceptive, and I can see her adding Quinn + Frog pieces that don’t really exist. So I add, “I’ve just realized I’m overwhelmingly inexperienced in sex, and when it comes to a one-night stand, which I’ve decided on, maybe I should be more experienced. I’m just mentally trying to get there.”

Luna nods heartier. There’s never any judgment coming from her. She’s the kind of girl that has been ridiculed her whole life, and she’d be the last person to do the same to the people she cares about. “You want to get your confidence up?”

 “Yeah.” I swivel towards her, excited to talk to Luna this casually again. “Like, I’ve never even touched a condom. And until last night with Quinn, I’d never even watched porn.”

Her brows shoot up. “You watched porn with Quinn?”

“As research,” I explain like it’s normal because it is our normal we’ve created. “To gain confidence.”

“Mmmmhmm.” Her lips lift into an almost-smile.

“Whatever your otherworldly alien antennas are picking up is purely platonic, friendshipy, coworkery vibes between me and him.” I shrug. “He was just doing the friendly thing of helping me when I asked. Believe me—Quinn could have his pick of girls and he’s not picking me.”

Luna cringes like she ate a sour candy. “Why not?”

“Because it’s messy,” I emphasize, falling back onto my hands with a deep sigh. “Two bodyguards together. It’s not a thing. It can’t be one. It won’t be one.” I nod to myself.

She nods slowly, her frown looking as uncertain as her eyes. “Uh-huh.” She watches me as I lean forward and make a little sand mound on top of my kneecap. “You know you can always come to me if you have any questions about sex. Quinn’s not your only friend.”

Sudden emotion surges through my chest and pricks my eyes. I fight off tears. When I look at her, she seems to be holding her breath. And I realize she’s just as afraid as me.

“Are we friends?” I ask in a soft, small voice.

“We were,” Luna replies in the same timid tone.

“Is it too much if we try to be friends again?” I wonder.

She shakes her head. “I…well…” Her brows furrow, and I feel pain start to compound as I prepare for a rejection. She takes a deeper breath. “As long as you don’t expect it to be exactly the same. Because I’m not exactly the same as I was before my amnesia. I don’t even remember all the times I had sex before Donnelly, so my advice might be different than it would be if I never lost my memories.”

“But you basically lost your virginity twice, so you’re like, doubly experienced.”

She laughs into a bigger smile. “I love your perspective.”

“I love hearing yours too.”

Her eyes glass a little.

I speak quieter. “I know you aren’t totally the same before the assault, the kidnapping, and to be honest, neither am I.”

This eases Luna. “We are,” she breathes, “friends.”

We are friends.

I sit straighter like I’m a balloon being inflated. “Does that mean I can ask you things?” I wonder. “Like are their topics that are ‘off limits’ because we talked about a lot of stuff. And you didn’t care when I asked questions. I’m naturally a curious person. I pry too much I know, and Quinn says I struggle with tact—and he’s not wrong about that.”

Her smile reassures me. “I don’t care as much about what I used to do, but I know that now I’d love to have the kind of friendship where we can ask each other anything, and if it’s a secret or too personal, then we can be honest about that.”

Honesty.

She wasn’t the most honest with me before the accident. She doesn’t remember all the details, but she snuck out a few times without notifying me of her location. A big red flag that a client doesn’t trust their bodyguard. Later I learned that Luna was trying to protect me. She was worried I was going to be hurt on the job and that it’d be her fault. In the end she was the one who got hurt, and I’ll always take fault for it.

“An open and honest friendship.” I survey the beach before looking to her, my heart filling to the brim. “It sounds like the best thing on Earth.”

“Then let’s make an earthly sand pact.” Luna holds up a handful of sand, and I do the same and we shake on it with our sandy piles. “To open and honest friendships.”

My cheeks hurt from smiling at such a strange and uniquely Luna thing to do. I know this doesn’t mean our friendship is suddenly erected like the most beautiful sandcastle on the beach. It’s one bucket of sand. A foundation for hopefully something strong and sturdy in the future.

“So I already have a question,” I say hesitantly. I wince like too fast?

“Hey, I already asked about your sex life. I don’t think you can pry harder.”

Not true.

I’d say that digging into the emotional bits of my life are far more invasive than my non-existent sex life.

“What made you want to take this spontaneous beach trip?” I wonder.

She draws a ringed planet in the sand. “It wasn’t one thing. More like this sudden overwhelming realization that once college starts in the Fall, I’m going to be on the path to becoming Fizzle CEO. It’s not a path I can diverge from or halt or even change my mind about. I chose it, and it’s happening…and I think I just needed some time away from all of it. Away from New York. Away from MVU’s campus. Just to be with Donnelly before it all begins. I wanted to have a cryopod moment with him, I guess, before I face the galaxy.”

“Like the end scene in The Fifth Element—where they get it on in the cryopod thing?”

“Yep.” She smiles up at me. “Did we watch it together?”

“We did.” I didn’t mention it at first because she’s grieved these lost memories before.

“I’m glad,” she mutters under her breath. Then more loudly adds, “It’s a great movie. More people should watch it.”

That’s what she used to say. “You’ve successfully convinced me, and I’m not just saying that because we’re friends. The end scene was definitely the best, so I can see why you’d want to recreate the cryopod moment with your boyfriend in Florida.”

I can’t even imagine the pressure she feels toward being named Fizzle successor. It hasn’t been announced to the world yet, and that’ll be another publicity monster to face. I think she’s handling all of this better than most would. Especially when it wasn’t her life’s dream to be head of her family’s corporation. 

She wipes away the ringed planet she drew. “I’m sorry if I dragged you and Quinn out here at last minute—”

“Whoa!” I hold up a finger. “We shall never use the word dragged when describing my love of following you. Of course, I’m coming out here. And there’s nothing too last minute. My life is way more fun being so spontaneous. I’m ready for anything.”

I flip my sunglasses down to hide my eyes like a cool motherfucker. Maybe I’m just trying to feel older than her. She’s twenty-one. I’m nineteen. My job is to protect her. Not the other way around. But I realize she’s too sweet and empathetic to not consider my feelings.

She shakes her head.

“What?” I ask.

“It’s strange you’re not confident enough for a one-night stand.” Her eyes lift to mine. “You’re the kind of girl who could go up to a polar bear and punch it in the nose.”

“I would definitely do that. At least the kind on the Coca-Cola advertisements.”

Luna claws her fingers in the sand. “You think men are more intimidating than polar bears?”

I watch her, then the beach, then her. “Polar bears aren’t making me feel like I have no clue what I’m doing in bed.”

Luna stares contemplative at scoop of sand. “I’m unsure if I ever met a guy who made me feel that way, but I do know I’m with one now who doesn’t.”

“Donnelly is one-of-a-kind.”

“For me,” Luna says. “We just need to find the one-of-a-kind for you.”

“That’s going to be as easy as finding an earring on PCB’s sandy white beaches.”

“Metal detectors exist.”

“Then as easy as finding a Skittle.”

“There are candy-sniffer animals on my planet. Sugarmoths. I’ll have one shipped here from Thebula.”

Again, she must be protected at all costs. Thankfully I am her Number One Protector and trust my bodyguard abilities more than my bedroom ones.

“I don’t want to take the time to find one-of-a-kind,” I admit to Luna. “I just want to have hot, scorching, I-have-to-take-my-clothes-off-right-now-or-I-might-die sex.”

“Some of the best,” she sing-songs.

I smile, then frown. “But I’m not a vixen. I’m a virgin. It feels more likely that I’ll make things ice cold.”

“Don’t overthink it. Sex isn’t a quiz you can bomb…” She trails off in thought. “Unless it’s pass/fail. Did they come or not come.”

My mouth goes wide. “There’s a scenario where I can’t make them come?”

“Nonono.” She waves a hand like she wants to erase the last three seconds from my memory. “That shouldn’t be a worry.”

Oh, but it is now.   

A phone buzzes on the sand to her left, distracting both of us. It's not her cell. I recognize the simple black phone case as Donnelly’s. Luna flips it over, and I see the caller ID: XANDER HALE.

Thank you so much for reading the next chapter in Frog and Quinn! We hope you enjoyed this one. We love showing Luna and Frog moments. These two have our hearts, and we are obsessed with Luna's Number One Protector 🥰 It's also a lot of fun writing this knowing it takes place in the months RIGHT before Burn Bright. So of course we're going to slide in some Ben Cobalt updates 😏

And since this is our first time doing a serialized style book on Patreon, we know it's different from our normal bonus scenes but we hope you all are liking it so far. We'll be back to bonuses come September, so you'll have a couple more months with "just" Frog and Quinn before you get Ben and Harriet bonus. Thank you all for sticking with us during these in-between releases. It truly means the world to us that you're here! 🩷

And there's more to come this month in the form of podcasts, which should be super fun! Keep on the lookout!!

xoxo Krista & Becca

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MUSIC: We listened to "The Song (Love is All)" by Sadie Sink while writing this chapter.

“Frog and Quinn," Copyright © 2025 by K.B. Ritchie