by Moxie North
“Money? Who said anything about money?”
“Whether it’s cash or a steak the transaction has been made. Oh, I know women like to think they aren’t being bought and paid for, but they are.”
“So, if I buy him lunch I’m hiring a prostitute?”
“If you fuck him after you eat—yes.” Quinn’s mom had taken a hands on her hips stance that made her look like she was ready to rumble. “Stop acting like you’re new to this game. This isn’t about what your vagina wants, it’s about what you need to do to protect your hard work.”
“Mom, I don’t know how to explain this to you so you can understand. But whether you believe it or not, there are some decent, good guys out there. I’m not saying they’re standing on every corner, holding up signs that say Available. Just that they might actually want to be around a woman for reasons other than sex, for something deeper.”
“Deeper just means he wants anal.” Her mom dropped down on her bed. “Quinnlynn, if he’s such a paragon of a man, why can’t he wait until you’re finished with school?” Her mother said this with a sigh that sounded like she’d lost her fight. Her mother wasn’t one to give up, so Quinn saw this as just a ruse to get her to let her guard down.
“Because he can’t. He needs me. I can’t explain it, but it’s important enough that we can’t wait,” she said, trying to soften her tone. It was the first time since she was little that she felt like crying with her mom. It had been a mark of honor that she could suck down her tears. Of course, her mother was always reminding her to, “Suck it up,” even when she was hurt. Never show signs of weakness, she said, or people will take advantage of you.
It was a harsh way to raise a kid, but her mom did the best she could. Now she was standing there defending Rain and touting him as the world’s perfect man. And she was also defending their relationship. Shit, they had a relationship. Then again, she hadn’t seen him in a few days, so maybe he was just letting her off slowly. No, that was her mom talking in her head.
“What am I supposed to do? Leave you here with him and watch you self destruct? Quinnlynn, we only have each other in this world. I need you to be okay. I need to know that women like us can get ahead in this world. I know I haven’t said this too many times, but I love you and I want the best for you.”
Quinn felt her brain stop. Her mother just said she loved her. It was apparently the week for declarations of love. There was a vague memory that was floating around in her mind that seemed like it could have been a moment her mother had said she loved her. There was also a vision of Barbie’s and My Little Ponies in the memory so it must have been a really long time ago.
“Mom, if you trusted me to be on my own for all these years. Don’t you think that I’ll be able to manage my life with a boyfriend?”
Her mom made a groaning noise. “Are you really a girlfriend? Like is it official or something? Was there a pin exchange or a pinkie swear?”
“Mom, a pinkie swear?”
“I don’t know what you kids are doing these days. There’s probably an app that you need to update your status on. Just promise you won’t do anything stupid like get tattoos or some kind of duplicate piercing. That’s guaranteed to give you a nasty infection if the sex doesn’t.”
That wasn’t far from the truth. And that was much easier than explaining to her mother that her new shiny boyfriend was also a bear, or at least he said he was one. There was some doubt still in her mind on that little fact. Quinn still wasn’t sure if she really wanted to find out the truth on that point.
“Maybe this will make you feel a little better. He calls me his girlfriend, he says he loves me, and wants to be with me. I haven’t made any such declarations to him. I know what I want and who I need to be to get where I want to go.”
Quinn hoped that telling her mom that she didn’t think of Rain as her boyfriend would help. Instead, it made her feel a little queasy inside. It wasn’t like she was rejecting him, just because she didn’t want to put a label on what they had. She didn’t know if she loved him. He said it so easily with her, but it wasn’t something she thought she’d be saying anytime soon.
“No, not really. But I’ll take it for now. I’m not going back until I’m sure you aren’t throwing your future in the trash,” her mother declared, crossing her arms.
“How long is that going to be? I have classes, work, and uh… other things.”
“Other things like your mountain man?”
Quinn was going to have to start calling him her mountain man, maybe in bed. Shit! Why was she thinking like that in front of her mother? Gross. Her mom had never hid her conquests, which made Quinn want to be even more selective about what she shared.
“Mom… can we just not?”
“Fine, I’m staying at one of those vacation rental places close to here. Can I at least take you to dinner tonight? I need to get out of these bus clothes. They smell like that weird deodorizer they use in those tiny bathrooms. What is that smell and why do they think that is a better smell than shit?”
Quinn almost laughed. “Mom, I can’t begin to understand the vagaries of the busing system’s decision making on toilet deodorizers. But how about you text me when you’ve settled and had a rest and we can figure out dinner.”
“I need a shower anyway, I’ll be back. And don’t go and get married or knocked up before I come back. The last thing I need is to become a grandma at my age.”
Not wanting to call her mother on her supposed age, she stepped away from the door and held it open. Her mom gave her an air kiss and a one armed hug before marching out of the room on her high heels. Her mom straddled the line between hooker and eighties prom queen when it came to her style.
She waited until her mom had walked down the stairs before going back into her room and closing the door. Leaning her head against it, she stayed there for a moment, and then she proceeded to bang her head against it a couple of times.
“Fuck me. Fuck me. Fuck me running.”
Chapter 31
Quinn wanted to call Rain. She wanted to see him, have him give her one of those big strong hugs that he always did. It was hug like he was trying to soak up as much of her as he could before she left.
He said that he was going to call, so she didn’t want to interrupt any of his plans. Then again a little voice inside of her said that he wouldn’t care what he was doing, he’d want her to call him if she needed to. That was counterintuitive to what she was used to doing.
So what if her mom was there. She would see that everything was fine and then she’d leave and go back to Yakima. Then again, the fact she had gotten on a bus, was missing work, and was paying good money for a rental room, spoke volumes about how she was feeling about things.
What it really meant was that even though her mom looked like she had given up, Mona Sutton was not one to concede so easily. No, this was just the first skirmish in a much longer battle to get her to accept Rain.
Giving herself a headache wasn’t helping. She turned and pulled open the bottom drawer of her dresser. It was where she kept her emergency stash of junk food that she didn’t want Lars to eat. It was under her maxi pads and tampons. He’d never delve past those to find the treats below.
Pushing the pads to the side, she found a box of Little Debbie Nutty Bars. She sat down cross-legged on the floor and ripped open the package. Taking a bite, she let the artificial peanut flavor soothe her wounded nerves. Spying a jar in the corner of the drawer she gave a shrug and reached for it. Spinning off the top, Quinn dipped the nutty bar into the soft white sugar.
Taking a big bite she moaned. “Marshmallow fluff…”
So many things in the world could be fixed with judicial application of marshmallow fluff. Not being one to usually eat her feelings, she finished the bar with another dip into the vat of corn sugar perfection before putting it away.
Quinn maneuvered herself so she was leaning against the end of her bed. She let her head fall back against the mattress and stared at the ceiling
.
“Rain hasn’t called, Mom is in town, my friends have abandoned me, and I need to do laundry. My life is just awesome.”
“No, it needs to be not so new.”
Rain had decided that Quinn didn’t need to be walking or taking the bus to work anymore. Having only used his trust fund for school, books, and clothes up to this point, he had taken a chunk of money out and was planning to spend it on his mate.
His parents had set up trust funds for their children that most of them hadn’t even bothered with until they went to school. Money wasn’t something they had ever worried about, and they didn’t have overly expensive tastes, so the money had just accumulated.
Wise investments also meant that the money was always growing. Until now, Rain hadn’t really thought about how he’d ever spend it. Now he saw that it was how he was going to take care of his family. He would still work and make a salary but this money meant that he would have an easier time setting up house for his family. It would help take care of his mate, and cubs when they came along.
“Sir, could you give me a year range? I have mostly new and a few trade-ins on the lot. I’ve got a nice minivan that was just traded.”
The poor man looked harassed. Rain had walked in and told him he was looking for a car. Then he rattled off all the things it had to be. Not new, not old; something safe with good fuel economy that was easy to drive, had good visibility, and was cute. The poor salesman wasn’t sure what to make of him. He tried to talk to Rain about financing and had balked when Rain had said that he’d be paying cash and driving it away today.
That made poor Tony start to sweat. It wasn’t everyday that someone came into the showroom and was willing to throw down cash and guarantee your commission.
“With your list of requirements it’s not an easy vehicle to find. Maybe if we talked about price?”
“Price doesn’t matter, it just has to meet my requirements.”
The man clutched at his chest when Rain said price didn’t matter. Sure, it was a cocky thing to say, but Rain wasn’t joking. It only mattered that the car was right for Quinn.
He figured that she was going to put up a fight anyway, so he had to have enough reasons that she couldn’t refuse it. Rain tried to think of all the excuses she could come up with and that was what built the list he had rattled off for Tony.
“Let me go through my book. Maybe there is something I’ve missed.” The man went back to his desk and started tapping on his computer. Rain was standing in the center of the showroom. The gleaming new cars were calling to him from across the room. He would love to get Quinn a new car. Something that no one else had ever driven, ate in, or left a bag of fries under the seat. But he knew she’d never accept anything so extravagant.
He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, it just had to be right for her.
“Mr. Rochon?” Todd called out to him after a few minutes. Rain walked over to him and took a seat on the other side of the table.
“I have a 2014 Mini Cooper Countryman. It’s a four-door, but still a smaller size car. It’s at our partner dealership. It’s decent price for the year and the condition. It looks brand new.”
“What color?” Because it did matter, it had to be something she’d be proud to drive.
Todd turned his monitor around and showed Rain the picture. It was a light brown color but wasn’t a bad brown.
“It’s listed as light coffee, heh, perfect for Seattle,” the man laughed. He was a quintessential suck up salesman. It didn’t bother Rain, anyone that lived off of commission had to be fake or they’d starve.
“Great, can you get it here today?”
“Sure can, I’ll have someone drive it over. Let me get the paperwork started.”
Rain nodded to the man and stood up to walk around the showroom. He wasn’t going to haggle over the price, he didn’t need to. Instead, he used the time to add her to his car insurance since he wasn’t about to let her take on the cost, he made sure the car would stay under his name until she agreed to mate and marry him. He would have been happy with just being mated to her. But in the real world, he wanted to share everything with her, and that included everything he had financially.
There was a chance she would flat out reject his gift, but he would hold onto it until she saw it was a practical and stylish gift that would help her, not hinder her.
It did make him a little nervous. His mate was fiery and she may not see his good intentions. The paperwork took an hour which always astonished Rain when it happened. What took so long? He wasn’t applying for credit, so they didn’t need to wait on approvals, so what was the hold up?
“Mr. Rochon, the car is on its way. They wanted to give it a detail before bringing it over so it was ready to go.”
“Great, I took the bus here so I could drive it back.” Rain wasn’t going to leave without a car today.
It was another half hour before Rain had signed the papers, got the confirmation of the insurance policy and was behind the wheel of Quinn’s new car.
He was feeling better about his decision. The car was cute, safe, and fun to drive. He thought about calling her to tell her he was coming, but wanted to surprise her.
Rain got back to the school and the Fates were shining on him again as he parked the car on the curb. He locked it and leaned against the side of the car and dialed Quinn’s number.
It rang twice before she picked up.
“Hey, Rain.”
“Hey, baby. Sorry, I couldn’t see you today. How’s your day going?”
“No biggie. I’m sure you were busy. My day has been… interesting.”
Rain could hear the stress in her voice. “Interesting how?”
“Long story, really. What’s up with you?”
“Just wondering where you are?”
“Honestly?”
“Preferably.”
“I’m laying on the floor of my room staring at the ceiling waiting for the stomach cramp to go away from eating too much marshmallow fluff.”
“That tub of white goo? Cassie eats that shit. It’s crack, you know. They have twelve step groups to get people off that stuff.”
He heard her laugh then sigh.
“Yes, but I’m currently unwilling to admit my problem. Where are you?”
“All finished with my errand. I wanted to know if you could come out and meet me on the curb. I have something to show you.”
“Sure, give me a minute to wipe the sugar off my face and I’ll be right down.”
“See you in a few.”
Chapter 32
Since he wasn’t trying to re-enact a scene from Sixteen Candles, he pushed himself off the car and took a few steps onto the sidewalk. He tucked his hands into the pockets of his dark jeans. He found he was taking a little more care in his appearance since meeting Quinn. His charcoal sweater and black leather jacket was probably a little preppy, but he didn’t have any other style than generic catalog model.
It was about ten minutes before he saw her coming down the walkway between the buildings. She was wearing an oversized blue sweater that had sleeves that looked to be twice as long as required. Her hair was messy like she’d run her fingers through it a lot. Her arms were crossed and she was looking down as she walked.
Rain could feel the tension pouring off of her as she got closer. She smelled the same, but she also smelled like anger and frustration. His bear could pick that up easily. It made his hackles rise up instantly and his bear was looking around for whatever was threatening their mate.
As soon as she got close enough to hear him, he opened his arms and said, “Babe, what’s wrong?” She didn’t answer as she crashed into his chest, her arms wrapping around him and squeezing him tight.
He leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of her head. “If you don’t tell me, I’m gonna assume I need to go beat someone up. Do I need to kick someone’s ass?”
“No.” It was muffled into his chest.
“I’m not believing you. You smell stressed
.”
Her head pulled back from his chest. “I smell?”
“Stressed,” he corrected.
“How can you smell that?”
“Instincts. My other half is very good at picking up on physical cues. So you going to tell me what’s going on?”
“Got a visitor today that I wasn’t expecting.” She seemed hesitant to even tell him that much.
Rain raised his eyebrow. “Like one that comes every month?” He knew it was dangerous territory, but he planned on spending the rest of his life with her, so he didn’t mind talking about it.
She rolled her eyes at him. “If you can smell stressed, couldn’t you smell that?”
“I was being delicate,” he explained.
Quinn made a moaning sound. “No. My mother showed up today, unannounced, for the first time in my school career. Got on a bus and came out here to interrogate me... about you.”
“Me? How does she even know about me?”
“Fucking Lars. He’s so stupid. He picked up my phone when she called and told her that I was getting ready for a date and that you were my boyfriend.”
“Well, he wasn’t wrong. Why would your mom care so much about you going out on a date?”
“Because she hasn’t ever known me to be dating anyone. Let alone a full-fledged boyfriend. She came to remind me that all men are evil and will only ruin my life. So, that was nice of her.”
Rain was absentmindedly rubbing her back trying to soothe the tension out of her. “So, you’re saying I need to work to win over your mom?”
Quinn gave a sad laugh and dropped her head back to his chest. Rain moved his hand from her back to cup the back of her head, holding her close to him.
“I’m thinking we just avoid you two meeting forever. That would be best for all involved.”
“Babe, that isn’t going to work. She might need to know that you’re with me. She might notice something over the next fifty years.”
