Allie nods, wrapping up the recording, before she gives the all-clear and she and Quinn both remove their headphones. “Okay, how do you feel?” she asks.
Quinn smiles, glancing at me quickly before she says, “Good, lighter.”
Allie returns the smile. “Awesome. And that was great, by the way. We got some really good stuff. As I said, once we go through edits, I’ll send you the final cut for any changes or whatever.”
“Thank you,” Quinn replies. “There is one thing I would like to change.”
“Oh?”
She glances at me again before she says, “My name. At the start, you introduced me as Quinn English, but it’s actually Quinn Bateman.”
Allie’s smile widens as she makes a note on the paper in front of her, that feeling in my chest only intensifying. “Absolutely, we can definitely do that.”
We stay for a few more minutes, finalizing the contract and payment, before we say goodbye and head outside to the car. I follow behind Quinn, and when we reach my truck, she turns to look at me.
“So, what did?—”
The rest of her words are silenced as I back her up against the car, crashing my mouth against hers in a hard kiss. My hand cradles her jaw, my hips pressing against hers as I kiss her slowly, deeply, a million different emotions and feelings and thoughts running through me. I feel her smile against my lips, her hands sliding up my stomach to rest on my chest.
Eventually, I pull back, my forehead resting against hers as I whisper, “I am so fucking proud of you.”
Her smile widens, her hands coming up to cup my face now. “Thank you,” she whispers.
I wrap my arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug, wanting to say so many things to her right now. Like how she doesn’t have to feel alone anymore, or that she has a family again here with me, or that I don’t ever want her to feel afraid again.
But I don’t say any of those things. Instead, I say, “You wanna go home?”
“Yes,” she replies, nodding against my chest.
I take her to my place, partly because I know Sean is still here, and after everything that went down in the bar, I don’t want to risk him confronting her again. I’m not afraid of him, but today has been a lot, so I want to minimize the risk of her seeing him.
As we pull into the driveway, I smile when I see my mom’s car and laugh when I see her walking out of the front door, locking it behind her. Eli’s back at work for the next few days, so she must have let herself in.
“Hey, Ma,” I call as we get out of the car.
Mom smiles, looking over at us as she walks toward Quinn and pulls her in for a hug. “I was just dropping off some fish your father caught. It’s in the fridge, a nice fillet of mahi mahi.”
“Awesome, thanks,” I say, pulling her into a hug. “I’m starving.”
“You’re always starving,” my mom says, patting my stomach.
“Maybe,” I reply with a shrug. “You go out on the water with him?” I ask, knowing fishing was something Dad always did with Mitch.
“I did,” Mom says with a smile. “He does tell me my constant questions scare the fish away, but I think he likes the company.”
“He does,” I tell her. “Me and Miles will go next time, maybe take some of the guys too.”
Mom smiles up at me, her arm still wrapped around my waist. “I think he’d love that,” she says, her words quiet. “So, what have you two been up to today?” she asks, just as Quinn’s phone starts to ring.
I watch as she looks at the screen before saying, “It’s Allie. Sorry, I should take this.”
I nod, and she walks up onto the front porch, phone to her ear.
“You’re in love with this one, aren’t you?”
I glance down at my mom, see the soft smile on her face as she looks up at me. Her words weren’t even really a question, more a statement of fact.
“I don’t know,” I say with a shrug. “I’ve never been in love, so I wouldn’t know what it feels like.”
