AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You okay?” Rebecca asked, snapping Emily back into reality.
Emily blinked twice before responding with a nod. “Yeah,” she said breathlessly, quickly focusing on the menu in front of her to avoid Quinn’s gaze.
She needed a drink. Fast. She’d been in so many high-pressure situations with work, never even considering using alcohol to help her in any way, but this was a whole other situation. Emily’s leg bounced under the table, the realization that she was possibly even more attracted to Quinn now than she’d ever been hitting her with a sudden intensity.
The conversation around the table was light and easy, with Emily being careful to focus on the others rather than Quinn.
They shared a bottle of wine between the four of them, ordering a second as they continued laughing and talking with Emily quickly warming to Lucy, someone she couldn’t remember from her time here.
When the third bottle of wine had been delivered to their table, Lucy was asking Rebecca about a medical story she read online that morning, and both Quinn and Emily seemed to simultaneously tune out of that conversation when things started to get a bit gross.
Quinn gave Emily a half-smile. “I’m not squeamish, but…”
“Oh, I’m not even going to see where that conversation is going to go. Once Rebecca gets started… She’ll have her own story to match that one.”
Emily offered her a quick, sympathetic smile, feeling the heat coming to her cheeks as she now held Quinn’s gaze for the first time, really, since they’d sat down.
Emily sipped her wine. Now that they were only paying attention to one another, Emily couldn’t shake the feeling that this could be a date. It certainly felt like one with the candlelight flickering between them. The alcohol was starting to take effect, that tipsy feeling taking over in the last few minutes, and that meant that Emily might not be able to hide her attraction as easily.
That was if she had even been doing a good job up until that point. Her only strategy was to not look at Quinn.
But now that she was?
Emily struggled in every sense. She absently slid her fingers up and down the stem of her wineglass just to give herself something to do while she tried to think of something intelligent to say that definitely wasn’t anything about how amazing Quinn looked tonight.
“Rebecca mentioned that you were doing up your grandfather’s cabin,” Quinn said, and Emily could only nod as she tried to get her shit together.
“Yeah. I couldn’t really believe it when I found out he left it to me, but yeah, I’m just updating it a bit. It’ll still have a rustic feel, you know, like a cabin.” Emily internally groaned. She was rambling and talking nonsense. Quinn didn’t care about the details. She was probably just making conversation.
“Are you planning on selling it?”
Emily took a deep breath. “I honestly don’t know. Not in the short term. In the future? Maybe. Right now, I’m just focusing on freshening up the place. New appliances, furniture, carpets. I guess renting it out makes the most sense.”
Quinn nodded, and Lucy said something to Quinn, hitting her on the arm and bringing her back into the conversation, but Emily was too focused on Quinn and the way her hair fell across her eyes as she shook her head and laughed with them.
Emily slipped out of the booth and found the restrooms, staring at her reflection in the mirror, wondering how exactly she’d ended up in a worse place than she’d been in college. At least then, Emily knew it was only a fantasy. A crush that would never be acted on.
But now?
Emily could swear there was something in the way Quinn looked at her. She had zero actual evidence. If she tried to explain it to Rebecca? Emily wouldn’t even be able to find the words to describe it, which more than likely meant Emily was seeing what she wanted to see.
She wanted to splash cold water on her face, but she couldn’t without ruining her makeup. She settled for using the bathroom and taking some deep, calming breaths as she washed her hands.
When Emily came back to their table, Rebecca was reaching for her coat. “You’re going?”
“Three glasses and I’m tipsy. See? This is what happens when you only drink two or three times a year.”
Quinn got up as Lucy slid out.
“I’m going to head off as well,” Lucy said, glancing at her phone.
“Hot date?” Quinn asked with a smirk.
Lucy just nodded. “This was nice though. Thanks for letting me crash.” She gave Quinn a long hug, whispering something in her ear while Emily said goodnight to her sister.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” Rebecca said as she put on her jacket.
“You’re staying at home?” Emily asked. “Wow, you really don’t want the flu. Does Zach not feel neglected?”
