Option one, panic and say something stupid.
Option two, panic quietly and pretend he has everything under control.
Naturally, I choose option two.
Mostly because Quinn Thomas just ended a five-year relationship and the last thing she needs is some overeager idiot trying to claim victory like he won a prize.
She’s not a prize.She’s a person.A person who got hurt tonight.Which means the only smart move here is patience.Again.
Standing in the gravel driveway outside Mason’s house after telling her the truth feels a little like stepping onto a tightrope.Because now she knows and once something like that is said out loud, you can’t exactly shove it back in the box.
“So,” she says after a moment.
“So.”
“This is awkward.”
“A little.”
She laughs softly.At least she’s laughing again.That’s progress.
“I think I should go home.”
“Let me drive you.Please.”I don’t like the idea of her driving after everything she has been through.
She smiles again.God.I like that smile.
“All right,” she says.“Let’s go before I start crying again.”
I nod toward the truck parked along the side of the road.“Your chariot awaits.”
“My chariot looks like a truck.”
“Every great chariot is technically a truck.”
“That’s not historically accurate.”
“Details.”I wave my hand in the air like the details don’t matter when I am one hundred percent a detail guy.
But she huffs a laugh and rolls her eyes and follows me across the gravel and that’s exactly what I wanted.I need her to be thinking of anything but Emette and the fact that her relationship is over.
The night air is cooler now, carrying the faint scent of pine from the trees lining the road.Crickets chirp somewhere in the distance playing the small-town soundtrack we all grew up with.
I open the passenger door for her and she pauses.
“You’re very polite.”
“Mom taught us all manners, even though we don’t always look it.”
“I believe it.”She climbs into the seat and I close the door before walking around to the driver’s side.
The engine starts with a familiar rumble.For a moment neither of us says anything as I pull onto the road leading back toward town.The headlights carve a path through the darkness.
“So,” Quinn says finally.
“So?”
“You’re not going to make this weird, right?”
