Piper gave her a look that told Autumn she understood what she was saying, though she wasn’t happy about it.
“Ugh, you’re not wrong.”
“Listen, anything can happen down the road. What’s in front of me right now is this current project. After that, we’ll see. Maybe when I’m done Quinn really will ask me out. Or maybe, she’ll be so inundated with lesbians she won’t know what to do with herself.”
Even as she said the words Autumn knew they weren’t true. Even after knowing Quinn for such a short time Autumn knew, she wouldn’t forget her promise. It would take somethingbig to derail Quinn once she set her mind to something. Piper eyed her with caution. Her friend was clearly trying to figure her out.
“You know it’s rude to stare,” Autumn laughed. Piper huffed.
“I’m just sad that you are once again proving to be the voice of reason,” Piper pouted.
“Yeah, trust me, it isn’t always fun for me either,” Autumn smiled.
Piper reached forward and clinked her glass against Autumn’s.
“Here’s to being adults, I guess.”
“You make being an adult sound atrocious,” Autumn teased.
“Because it is. I long for the days when I could still blindly believe in fairy tales, and I didn’t have to pay a mortgage.”
Autumn simply nodded her agreement, allowing her friend to go on about the state of the world. Autumn’s mind drifted back to earlier in the day. Sitting with Quinn on that bench and looking into her eyes. Nothing in the world had ever felt more right than staring into Quinn’s big dark eyes. Those eyes drew her in every time. Autumn knew that despite her business-like exterior she was in trouble. Despite keepingthings on lock inside of herself, she was at risk of getting lost in her feelings for Quinn. Already, there was a building hope that Quinn would keep her promise to ask her out. Whether she was willing to admit it or not, Autumn knew she would be disappointed if Quinn didn’t follow through on asking her out.
Chapter 11
Quinn could barely contain the excitement she felt. After a month of mockups and decorating her bar was finally ready to open. Thanks to Autumn the aesthetic and the vibe were flawless. Tonight, Lip Smack would have its opening night. She’d hired a skeleton crew to get her through opening night. She couldn’t have gotten here without Autumn.
Per Quinn’s promise she’d kept things between them completely professional over the last few weeks. Inside, she’d been counting the days until she could ask Autumn out. She’d decided that tonight was the night. They’d both be in high spirits, watching their hard work come to life.
She looked around the bar and sucked in a breath. There were teakwood tables to go along with the deep green booths. Outside a patio was lit up with fairy lights. Madison walked through the bar’s doors and ran to her. She threw her arms around Quinn drawing her in for a hug.
“I can’t believe this is finally happening,” Madison smiled.
“I can’t believe I was finally able to move out of your house.”
“I think I’m going to miss you. It’s much quieter when I get home now.”
“I can only imagine,” Quinn’s lips quirked upward into a smile.
“How do you like the new place?”
“I love it. But I’m going to miss you, too. So don’t be a stranger.”
“As if you could ever get rid of me.”
There was a faint buzz inside Quinn’s pocket. She pulled out her phone and saw that she had a few missed messages. She swiped to open them. Quinn almost dropped the phone when she saw Rory’s name attached to the messages. She and Rory hadn’t spoken in months, not since they’d broken up. Rory had moved into the new house with someone new. Quinn had fled to WaterColor. As if sensing the disruption Madison turned to face her.
“Is everything alright?” Madison asked.
“Uh. Yeah. Everything is fine.”
“Umm let me ask a different question. What is wrong? Because clearly something knocked you out of your good mood.”
“Rory texted me,” Quinn said quietly.
“Rory, like your ex?”
“That’s the one.”
