Page 54 of Turning Back

Quin pushes his cereal away and places his hand on my leg. I look over at him, startled that he’s actually touching me. He slides his hand up my thigh and then presses his fingers against my pussy, stroking me through my jeans as he leans in and kisses me on the mouth.

His lips are cool and sweet and taste like milk. “Have a nice day,” he says, still kissing me. And then—again—just when I begin to kiss him back, he pulls away and slips out of the bench, opening his wallet and throwing down a twenty-dollar bill. “See you guys tonight.”

Bric and I both watch him walk away.

“Did you see that?” I ask, after we sit there in silence for a few seconds.

“Yeah. I think it went well.”

“Are you kidding me?” I ask.

“What?”

“That didn’t go well,” I say. “That was a disaster. He didn’t sit across from me, he sat next to me. He kissed me, but pulled away the second I tried to kiss him back. And he’s not coming to dinner tonight, he’s coming at eight. All he wants is the threesome, Bric.”

“You’re reading way too much into this, Rochelle.”

“Am I?” I snort. “I know him, Bric. I know him very well. And that was a very bad start to this new relationship.”

Bric thinks about this for a second as I take the mushed-up tangerine slice from Adley’s hand, grab a wet nap from my diaper bag, and start cleaning her up. She fusses and balks, trying to bury herself into Bric’s suit coat.

“You’re going to regret holding her,” I say, “when you figure out you’ve got sticky juice on your lapels.”

He grins and looks down, where, yes—there is a dark spot on his lapel. “Might just be drool. But hey, there’s worse things than smelling like a tangerine baby all day.”

“Who are you?” I laugh. “And what have you done with Elias Bricman, hater of children and Christmas?”

He shrugs. “Like I said. I only hate other people’s kids. And I’m looking forward to Adley’s first Christmas. I’ve already started thinking about gifts.”

“She doesn’t need gifts,” I say. What she needs is two parents. And by that, I’m not referring to Bric and me.

But that’s definitely how this is starting out. And I’m beginning to think Elias Bricman has no idea who Quin is anymore. He’s changed. Something about him has changed.

I’m the reason he changed.

“This isn’t going to work,” I say.

“Just stop it, Rochelle. Give it more than one day, all right? He just needs a little time. And don’t worry. We both know he’s into the threesome stuff. So we’ll just enjoy that until he comes around.”

“I guess,” I say, to placate him. But I don’t think he’s right. I think we might be starting something very dangerous. Something that could rip Quin and I apart for good.

“Anyway.” Bric sighs. Like he knows what I’m thinking. Probably does. We’ve been friends for a long time. “What are you guys doing today?”

I shrug and take out a bottle of water from my diaper bag. “I dunno. It’s weird being back here after so much time away. Maybe I’ll drop by the gallery and see Chella?” I pick up a slice of tangerine and squeeze it into the water to flavor it.

“She doesn’t work there anymore,” Bric says.

“Oh,” I say. Of course she doesn’t. Why should anything stay the same?

“But I’m sure she’s probably next door.”

“Why would she be next door?” I ask, reaching for Adley, who is busy patting Bric’s cheeks with the flat of her hands. I cannot believe Elias Bricman is into babies. What were the chances of that happening? Adley fusses when I take her back, but she eagerly accepts the bottle of tangerine water and settles into her seat. I buckle her up and tuck a strand of hair away from her closing eyes.

“We’re opening up a tea room. Turns out, Chella’s dream was to be a pastry chef. And she came up with this tea room idea. You know,” he says, waving a hand in the air. “For the Club women. But open to the public.”

“Oh. Well, that’s sorta cool. I never pictured Chella as a baker.”

“It sorta makes sense to me,” Bric says. “In a weird way.”