She shrugs, not answering as she takes another sip of beer.
“Talk to me, Quinn,” I whisper, closing the distance between us. I put my beer on the counter, my hands moving to her hips as I hold her in front of me.
“Because...because I’m getting older and this is new and...and...well, I don’t know. You probably don’t even want kids. You never even wanted a relationship, so I’m sure it’s not something you’ve ever really thought about.”
She’s rambling, the words falling nervously from her mouth as she takes another sip of her beer, looking anywhere but at me. I take the bottle from her hand, putting it on the counter beside mine before tilting her face back to me.
“I want a relationship with you,” I tell her, our gazes locked.
“I know,” she whispers. “But it’s brand new, Kai. Really new for you. I don’t expect you to even know how you feel about having kids or whether it’s something you want or?—”
“I think I’m in love with you,” I blurt, cutting off her words.
“What?” she asks, her eyes widening.
“Actually, scratch that,” I say, smiling. “I don’t think, I know.”
“You...you do?”
“Well, I didn’t,” I tell her. “Because I’ve never actually been in love before. But then my mom asked me a bunch of questions about you and how I feel and shit, and she told me that that’s what it feels like to be in love, so yeah, I’m in love with you.”
Quinn blinks, swallowing hard before she suddenly bursts into laughter.
“Oh, so that’s funny to you, is it?” I ask, my hands squeezing her hips even as a nervous jolt zips through me at her reaction.
“No,” she says, shaking her head.
“So why are you laughing?”
She rests her hands on my chest, looking up at me. She says, “Because I cannot believe the one-eighty my life has taken these past few weeks. Sometimes it feels like a dream, like I’m gonna wake up and none of this will have happened.”
I slide my hands up to her face, resting them on the sides of her neck, my thumbs brushing along her jaw. “The only thing you’re going to wake up to, babe, is my mouth,” I whisper, leaning in to kiss her.
“Oh?” she murmurs.
“Uh huh,” I confirm, kissing a soft path along her jaw to her ear. “My mouth. On you. Everywhere,” I whisper.
“Kai,” she groans as I kiss the side of her neck before finding her mouth again.
“I’m all in on this, Quinn,” I say between kisses. “I want this with you. I love you.”
“Kai,” she says again, her hands on my chest gently easing me back.
“I know it’s fast. And I know this being my first relationship probably scares you because of who I was before. So I don’t expect you to feel the same way or to say it back. I just wanted you to know where I was at. Wanted you to know that’s how I feel about you and that you don’t need to worry about this, us.”
“I don’t,” she says, smiling up at me now. “I believe you when you say you want this.”
“You do?”
“Yes,” she confirms.
“And do you believe me when I tell you I love you?” I ask, those nerves once again jolting through me. Quinn nods, her bottom lip between her teeth as she looks up at me, a soft smile on her face.
“I do,” she says. “Because I feel the same way.”
“You...” I stop, wondering if I just heard her right, if what she said is what I think it is.
Quinn laughs, pushing up on her toes to kiss me. “I love you too, Kai,” she whispers against my lips.
