So now we lay in bed, Quinn’s body curled against mine much like that day weeks ago when she’d had her period. I ran my fingers through her hair, and I lost count of how many kisses I’d pressed against her temple, hoping my comfort was enough to soothe her.
She was always the strong one. She wore an armor with everyone, rarely allowing anyone to see beyond her defenses. But I’d watched her wipe away tears at the clinic. She was hurting. It couldn’t have been easy losing someone on her watch, no matter how big of an asshole he was.
“So…today was a lot,” I said against her hair.
“You don’t know the half of it…” she murmured.
“You don’t have to say anything, but I’m here if you want to.”
She took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. “Not right now.”
I nodded against the top of her head. “Okay, I’ll shut up, and we’ll watch.”
“Actually, would you just…talk? About anything.” Her voice was low…raw. And I wasn’t so sure that if she had asked me to reach into my chest, pull out my heart, and hand it to her, I wouldn’t have done it. I was coming to realize that where Quinn was concerned, there wasn’t much I wouldn’t do. There wasn’tanythingI wouldn’t do.
I hummed, thinking about what I could talk about and decided my siblings would provide nearly endless material. “I don’t think I told you, but Harper came last week to do the follow-up interview for that article and almost ran into Levi at the diner.” I chuckled under my breath, recalling how he’d scurried out the back door just to avoid any confrontation. “I’ve never seen him move so fast in my life.”
“What’s the deal with them? Didn’t they used to hang out every summer?”
“They did, yeah, and I have no idea. Levi’s not saying anything about it.”
She hummed in acknowledgment and tightened her arms around me.
“And I can’t believe it, but Luna actually got Brady to attend a protest with her last weekend.” I pulled out my phone and thumbed to my photos, pulling up the one Luna had sent me. Wearing sunglasses and a scowl, Brady stood in a crowd of people, holding a sign Luna had clearly made. I tipped the phone toward Quinn and said, “Rumor has it, he almost punched another cop for trying to touch Luna, but that’s coming from Mabel, so who knows how accurate it is.”
She laughed softly, her body shaking against mine, and I exhaled a sigh of relief. I’d keep talking for the rest of the night if it lifted her spirits.
“Oh, this will make you laugh. Aiden was traumatized at our last little league game.”
“Why?”
“One of the single moms came up and not so subtly hinted that her kid didn’t have to be the only one to call him Daddy. And by not so subtly hinted, I mean she flat-out said that.”
“Oh my God… What’d he do?”
“Pretended he got a call and then just walked away. No idea how he’s going to handle that at the next practice. And God help him, but Addison’s never gonna let him live it down. The woman who said it graduated high school with her.”
“He should just be glad Mabel didn’t hear about it.”
I snorted, thinking about the fun she’d have with that tiny tidbit of information.
“What else?” she asked, her voice soft.
I hummed, thinking back over the past week. “Everly wanted to adopt a friend for Chuckanut, but Beck swore up and down one dog was his limit. I give it a month before they have dog number two.”
“You ever want one?”
I shrugged. “Maybe. For now, I’m satisfied doggy-sitting for Chuck once in a while. Speaking of, I ran into Mrs. McCaffrey a couple weeks ago when I was walking Chuck at the park. You remember home ec with her?”
Quinn hummed lowly, but that was her only response as her body sank deeper into mine, relaxation finally settling in. I slipped my hand under my T-shirt that she wore, running my fingers lightly up and down her bare back.
“I fucking hated that cake-baking unit. I didn’t want to fail in front of you and give you any more ammunition to flay me alive, so I forced Beck to make it with me four times that week.”
“And it was still awful,” she murmured.
I laughed into her hair. “Soawful. And it definitely gave you ammunition.”
I blew out a heavy sigh and shook my head, thinking back to those years when I’d done just about anything to get her attention. Didn’t matter if it was the wrong kind or not. If she was paying attention to me, I called it a win.
