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"You're damn right you can do this."
"But what am I going to wear?" All of my courage flies right out of the window.
"Oh, darling, that's why you have me," Hailey says, taking my hand and leading me upstairs to my bedroom.
5
QUINN
Hailey helped me pick out the perfect outfit for tonight. I'm wearing my favorite cutoff shorts and a sleeveless, red gingham shirt that ties at the bottom. It's casual but super cute, and it makes me feel comfortable which is a bonus in these situations. "Hailey, are you ready to go?" I yell as I walk downstairs and into the kitchen.
She comes breezing into the room looking very New York chic with skin-tight black shorts and a sleeveless, white flowing top with a bow at the neck. I wouldn’t have expected anything less from her.
"Yes, primping is done, and I am ready. How are you? Are you ready?"
"Yes, I think I am," I say with a determined nod. For the first time in my life, I have a chance to build friendships, and I am both terrified and thrilled.
"Then let's do this," Hailey cheers.
We walk out to my car and drive the few minutes it takes to get to Todd and Megan's. Pulling onto their street, you can tell they're having a party as several cars are parked around their house already. We find a parking spot and walk up the sidewalk to their gorgeous two-story craftsman-style house. It's got grey siding that almost looks blue, and grey stone wrapping around the bottom. The front porch is lined with columns that are also covered in stone.
We knock on their front door and can hear people talking and music playing inside. Megan opens the door with a wave and a great big smile. "I'm so glad you guys are here. Come in and meet everyone."
"Hi, thanks again for inviting us," I say as we walk into their house. It's completely open, and you can see all the way through to the windows in the back of the house. Two white columns stand in the middle separating the left side from the right. The living room is on the left and opens up to the dining room while the kitchen takes up most of the right side of the house.
Everyone is either standing or sitting around a huge island in the kitchen. The room is warm and inviting in creams and whites with little splotches of black perfectly scattered.
"We brought wine, but it's probably only enough for me to be happy," Hailey says, handing the bottle to Megan.
"That’s perfect. We'll add it to the mix." Megan grins.
She leads us toward the kitchen and people start noticing we've arrived. "Everyone, Quinn and Hailey are here!” They all look up at us as Megan starts pointing to people. “That's Lucy, Max, Todd, Sara, Natalie, and Levi. Cooper, Levi’s brother, was here a minute ago, but I don't know where he went."
They smile at me and Hailey, and I smile back, giving a little half-wave. Todd walks up to me and reaches out to shake my hand. He's tall with dark hair and dark eyes and is incredibly handsome. "It's nice to finally meet you. Cooper went out back to check the grill," he says with a welcoming grin. I shake his hand, and he turns to Hailey and he shakes hers too.
"It's nice to meet you too," Hailey says. "Your house is gorgeous! Are you guys from here originally?"
"Thank you. We bought this house about seven years ago and have done a ton of work on it, but we've lived in Sonoma our whole lives," Todd says.
"Wow, I can't imagine living in one place my whole life. That seems so odd to me," I say.
"Almost all of us have lived here all our lives. I grew up here and met Max at UNC, but we both knew we wanted to move here after we graduated," Lucy says as she shares a smile with Max. She has straight blonde hair that hits her shoulders, and her brown eyes seem kind and genuine. Max looks back at her with dark chocolate eyes full of love for her. "Where are you both from?" she asks.
"I moved here from New York which is where I've lived the longest. My parents are traveling doctors, so I grew up moving all over the place."
"I've never lived anywhere else but New York, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. You just have to walk a few blocks and it'll feel like another country. Trust me," Hailey says, making everyone laugh. God, I wish I had her ease and charm.
"Where are some of the places you’ve lived?" Levi—I think—asks me.
"Oh, um, I've lived in most states across the country. My favorites being Washington and Virginia, but I've also lived in other places across the world like Dubai, London, Sydney… It would probably take most of the evening to tell you all of them," I respond.
"Who's ready to eat?" A booming voice calls as he walks in from the back patio. I turn towards the voice and am suddenly staring at the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen. His eyes are almost amber in color, growing darker towards the middle, and they suck you into their depths. I'm not even standing very close and I feel like I'm drowning in them.
"Oh, there you are, Cooper. Come and meet Quinn and Hailey. Quinn is Dan and Carla Johnson's granddaughter and just moved here from New York. Hailey's here helping Quinn get moved in," Megan says.
Suddenly, I'm panicking. I'm going to have to talk to the most beautiful man I've ever met.
He's got light brown hair that's just long enough on top to run your fingers through it and is shorter on the sides. He has a hint of a five o'clock shadow on his strong jaw and looks like every fantasy man I've ever dreamed of.
