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Hailey comes walking down the hallway towards me. She's wearing her sleep shorts and a tank top, but I doubt she was sleeping. Being a night owl, it’s still early for her.
"Look at you getting in at eleven at night. Are you flushed? What have you been up to, Quinn?" Hailey teases with a big grin on her face. I blush even more despite knowing all we did was kiss. Even if that kiss was one of the most passionate encounters I've ever experienced.
"Tell me everything." She squeals as she grabs my hand and drags me to the living room. She turns on the table lamp as we plop down on the couch. It's dark in the house except for the lamp Hailey turned on and the light over the sink in the kitchen.
It's also incredibly quiet. Something I’m starting to love but haven’t quite adjusted to.
After living in New York for so long, I got used to the noise at night. Here, there is a certain level of calm that blankets the town when the sun goes down. The streets are still, the stars shine bright, and the world seems to take a collective deep breath to settle in for the night.
"It was amazing, Hailey. Like World Series level great," I say with a huge smile and a contented sigh. I tuck my feet up under me and get comfortable on the couch. Knowing Hailey, we'll be here until she's satisfied with the amount of detail I give her, which could be a while.
"I need more details. What did you do, where did you go, how many times did you have sex?"
"Hailey, oh my god, we did not have sex." My face is flaming.
"Well, I wouldn't judge you for jumping into those hot pants on the first date. Can you say yummy?" Hailey winks at me.
"You are being ridiculous." I laugh, her outlandish quips still surprise me sometimes. "But Hailey, he's wonderful. He took me out on his boat to get the pictures, and he was so patient the whole time, even though I barely spoke to him. You know how I get when I'm in the zone. I think I spent more time looking at my camera than talking to him. He brought along a picnic dinner, which was really thoughtful, and the sunset was beautiful. I can't wait to start painting."
"Yeah, the sunset is great and all but get to the good stuff," Hailey pushes, and it makes me grin. Replaying the whole evening in my head is almost as good as the night itself. Oh, who am I kidding? It's not even close. I can't wait to see him again.
"After the sun went down and we got back to the marina, he asked if I was ready to go home, and instead of being my normal shy self, I went for it and told him I didn't want him to take me home. He said he wasn't ready either which, of course, made me as giddy as a middle school girl, so we went and got ice cream. We talked the whole time about basically everything, and it was perfect. I've never connected with anyone so quickly. It feels like I've known him my whole life."
"I love that so much. It's one thing to be drop-dead gorgeous. It's another to also be able to hold a conversation," Hailey says with a nod of her head.
"Exactly! We never ran out of things to talk about, and if there was ever a silence or pause, it wasn't an awkward one. It was comfortable."
"This makes me so happy. Okay, continue with the rest of the evening because I know your face didn't get flushed because of conversation."
"Well, he walked me up to the door when we got home and asked me to go to dinner with him, and of course, I agreed because I'm not an idiot. Then he kissed me goodnight, and holy hell, can he kiss. It was soft at first but quickly turned passionate and consuming. I don't even feel like I can describe it very well." I wish he was still here and I could kiss him some more. Possibly horizontally, on my bed, with no clothes on.
"Wow, I don't think I've ever been kissed like that," Hailey says dreamily.
"I definitely hadn't either until tonight. It was the best first date ever.”
“Oh my god!” Hailey gasps. “You guys are so going to get married.”
“What?” I screech. “Are you crazy? We’ve had one date.”
“I’m calling it now. You two are most definitely going to get married, and when you do, I’ll say I told you so,” Hailey says with a smirk, making me roll my eyes at her.
“So how did he leave it?” Hailey asks, thankfully changing the subject.
“He said he'd call me tomorrow. Is it bad that I don't want to wait that long to talk to him again?"
Tonight unequivocally beat all other dates. All of the guys I've dated before—granted there haven't been many—have never made me feel like this. Like the girl in the rom-com who finally gets the guy she’s always dreamed about. I think Cooper has the potential to be that guy. We still have so much to learn about each other but the fact that I felt so comfortable with him tells me all I need to know.
I didn't come to Sonoma looking for a relationship. I wanted to find somewhere to call home. A place I can count on and trust to know will always be there for me. New York was just the place I lived. And maybe I didn't try very hard to make it my home, but I also think in the back of my mind, I knew I'd end up here.
My grandparents' house always felt like home growing up, and that's what I need surrounding my life now. Adding Cooper into the mix is a huge risk but at the same time, I feel like I'm in a place where I'm finally ready to dive in headfirst. No matter the consequences.
"If I got kissed like you did, I wouldn't want to wait for the next chance either, but we both know he’d already be in my bed," Hailey jokes.
We sit in the quiet of the house for a minute, and it's only then I remember Hailey is leaving tomorrow. She won't be around to fill the silence or make me laugh with her crazy antics.
I lean over and wrap my arms around her shoulders. "I'm not ready for you to leave tomorrow," I say. "Have you decided what time you're going to head out?"
"Not yet, but probably pretty early. I need to go into the office and catch up on the stuff I've missed before I start on Monday," Hailey says as she hugs me back.
