“Okay,” I say softly and walk over to one of the couches and tuck my feet under me.
“What kind of movie do you like watching?” he asks, and I just shrug.
“It’s safe to say that I’m not up to date with movies, so anything is fine. As long as it’s not scary,” I say, and all he does is nod, and for the first time ever, I fall asleep while watching a movie with a smile on my face.
Chapter 27
Quinn
“What does one expect at a county fair?” Willow asks me from the passenger side of the truck. For the past two weeks, we have been inseparable, and I haven’t been this calm in my whole life. It’s like she brings out the good person in me.
We wake up in the morning and watch the sun rise while we ride our horses. I haven’t told her yet, but Hope is her horse. Even if I didn’t want to give her Hope. Hope has chosen her. She refuses to let anyone near her, except Willow. We’ve taken the routine of going home and cooking together, something that she actually enjoys doing. Most of the time, we have to throw out the food, but the times that it does turn out, it’s really good. My favorite time of the day is when we sit on the swing outside after dinner. We don’t say a word to each other, but with my arm around her shoulders, we watch another day slip away from us. She sleeps under the covers when I check on her. She smiles more, she laughs all day long, and for just one second every single day, I close my eyes to listen to the sound of her talking or laughing.
“There are rides that we can go on,” I start to say. “Food, games, and sometimes even music.”
“Is everyone going to be there?” she asks, and I laugh. She’s been to two Sunday lunches, and each time, she’s come home exhausted from remembering everyone’s name.
“You will definitely see some familiar faces,” I say, turning into the parking lot and seeing that it’s already full. “But Grandma and Grandpa won’t be here.”
“Aww,” she says, looking over at me. “That’s too bad.” My grandparents love everyone. It’s in their nature, but to see Willow just open up to them is something I will never get used to. She probably doesn’t even realize she’s doing it. There is just something about my grandmother that leads everyone to tell her everything.
I park the truck and get out, walking around and seeing her get out of the truck. Ever since she said she would pay me for the clothes, she’s been wearing new stuff. Not every day, but at least once a week, she wears a new shirt or new jeans. Just like today, she’s wearing pink shorts for the first time ever. Showing off her tanned, toned legs has my cock feeling like it is being throttled, with a black and white striped tight shirt showing off how tiny she is. White Converse are on her feet, with her hair blowing loose in the wind.
“Ready?” I say, putting my hand on her back. We walk toward the noise, and once we get close, I look over to see her eyes light up. I see the Ferris wheel going around and hear people laughing close by. I look over and see a couple of kids running around with balloons in their hands.
“Oh my gosh,” she says and looks over at me. “It’s like in the books.” She turns in a circle as she takes in the rides. “Oh, you can win a stuffy.” Her face lights up then she frowns and looks at me. “You told me not to bring money.”
Already, I let her pay me back a hundred dollars a week for her clothes. There was no fucking way I was going to let her bring money here. “I already paid,” I say. “I bought tickets from Harlow.” I look at her and pull out the two hundred dollars’ worth of tickets I bought. “It was for her school.” She just looks at me. “It was for her graduating class.”
“Why do I feel like that is just an excuse?” She looks at me, and I’m saved when I hear someone call my name. I turn and look over to see Gabriel running toward us.
I squat down and grab him up in my arms, looking over at Ethan, who walks beside Emily with his daughter on her shoulders. “I smell food,” I say, kissing Gabriel’s cheek.
“He just inhaled a whole funnel cake,” Emily says as she smiles and goes to hug Willow. Ethan looks at her and nods. We spend a couple of minutes talking before Gabriel squirms out of my arms and asks to go play a game.
“Where do you want to go?” I ask, and she just shrugs.
“Let’s just walk around,” she says, so I walk beside her. Our hands are grazing each other as we walk. My pinky is holding hers longer and longer each time, until I just take the jump and slip my hand into hers. She looks down at our hands and then looks up at me and smiles. If we weren’t in the middle of a fucking zoo, I would ask her if I could kiss her. I would push her hair behind her ear and beg to taste her.
“Oh, look.” She points at a shooting game. “You think you can win?” she asks, and I just side-eye her. “Should I ask Chelsea when we see her?”
“Very funny,” I say, pulling her toward the game. Her laughter fills my soul as I zigzag through the people. “Okay,” I say when I get up to the wooden table. Seven barrels are all the way in the back, and there are targets all over the place. There are circles and squares and a couple of five-star sheets.
“What are we going for?” the man behind the wooden table asks.
“What are the choices?” Willow asks the man.
“We have the small one for one shot.” He points at the small stuffed animals that are in a bin. “The middle one, you have to get three shots.” He points at the regular one. “And the top.” He points at the big stuffed animals hanging on the wall. “That you have to get five star targets.”
“Let’s do the five,” I say, putting money down on the table. He smirks at me and brings me an old gun, putting pellets in there. “Good luck,” he says to me, and I want to wipe the smirk off his face as I turn to look at Willow.
“Which one did you want?” I ask her, and she points at a stuffed dog. I assumed she would go for the teddy bear.
I hold up the gun and aim at one of the stars, shooting it in the middle of the white paper. “You can’t shoot at the same star.”
I look over at him and find the second one I want next. I take the next shot and hit it right in the middle. I snap the third one without thinking twice and also the fourth one. The fifth, though, is a tough one. It’s between two other sheets. If I move just a touch, I’ll hit the circle. “Um, Quinn.” I hear Willow’s voice, and I turn to watch as she comes over. “It’s okay if you don’t win it. We still get the middle one.”
She smiles. I don’t care how many fucking times it takes; I will have to win her that fucking dog. I get back into the zone and take the last shot I have. It whizzes right into the middle of the star, and I hear Willow yell with glee.
I look over and see her with the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on her face. It radiates through her. She jumps up and down, clapping her hands. “Good shot,” the guy says, walking over to the dog and handing it over the wooden desk to her. “Here you go.”
“Oh my goodness,” she says, taking it in her hands, and I would have given everything I had to see that look in her eye. I put the gun down and turn toward her.
I smile at her, and she comes to stand in front of me with the dog in her arms. “You got me a dog.” She looks down at the dog and then up at me, her eyes glistening with tears, but not sad tears. These are happy tears. I know this because the smile on her face is so big it almost reaches her ears. “You got me a dog,” she says again, looking at the dog and then looking at me.
She inches closer until we’re standing almost chest to chest. “No one has ever gotten me anything,” she says, and all the noise in the background fades away from us. It’s like we are the only two people here. My hand comes up to her cheek. I hold her face in my hand, my thumb on her chin, and we both move at the same time. Both of us move toward each other, and here in the middle of the county fair, I finally get what I’ve wished for. She says my name, “Quinn,” right before my lips touch hers.
Chapter 28
Willow
“Quinn,” I whisper his name, the sound of laughter and ringing bells fades off
into the distance, and it’s just him and me. His hand is on my cheek, my eyes on his as I move my lips closer to his.
I hold my breath for fear that he pulls away from me. I have never ever wanted to be kissed in my life, except when I’m around Quinn. I dream about what it would be like to kiss his hand. I dream about what it would feel like to lie on the couch with him. I dream about what it’s like to be loved by him. My breath hitches right before his lips touch mine. I want to keep my eyes open to watch it all. I want to keep my eyes open to make sure that I’m not dreaming. But my eyes close slowly as I take in the taste of him. His tongue slips into my mouth, and I fall into him, holding the stuffed dog in one hand, my other hand on his chest. He wraps a hand around my waist, pulling me closer to him. Our tongues slide with each other, and then he slowly lets me go. My eyes flutter open to see his staring at me. “Do you want to get out of here?” he says, and all I can do is nod. “We can stay if you want.”
“I want to go.” My finger taps his chest as he smiles at me, leaning in again.
He kisses me softly again, stepping away from me, letting my hand fall from his warm chest. He slips his hand into mine as we walk out of the fair. Since the beginning, every single time he’s held my hand, I’ve felt safe. But with our fingers intertwined, I know I have never felt this much peace in my life.
When we got here, it was almost as if I was in a movie. You know the movies that you wish you lived in. When we get to the truck, he opens the door for me. I step in front of him to get into the truck, looking up at him. “Thank you,” I say again. “For making this the best day ever.” I look down, and when I look up, he is over me, kissing me again. But this time, the kiss is not as soft as before. The need to get him even closer to me kicks into me as I arch my back so I can get closer to him.
Again, he is the one to stop the kiss, and I wonder if I’m doing it wrong. “We have to get out of here before I pull you into the back, and we spend all night here.” I look down, trying to hide the fact that my cheeks are burning. I step into the truck and watch as he closes the door.
He gets into the truck, and I turn to look at him when he pulls out of the parking lot. The number of cars has almost doubled since we got here, yet all I saw was Quinn. All I ever see is Quinn. The ride back to his house is quiet. My head goes around and around with things I want to tell him. Things he needs to know. Things I want to share with him.
“I’ve kissed one guy my whole life,” I say, and he looks over at me. “When I turned sixteen.” He doesn’t say anything knowing that I’m not finished. “I kissed him so I could control who I kissed. It was the only thing I got to choose in my life.” I shake my head, thinking about it. “I wasted my first kiss.” I look at him. “I didn’t want to kiss him. But I did anyway. But you, Quinn,” I say his name, and I look up at him. I’m waiting to see him look at me differently. “You, I want to kiss. I want to kiss you all the time. I want to kiss you in the morning when we walk to the barn. I want to kiss you at night when we sit in the swing, and you have your arm around me. I want to kiss you when we sit on the couch, and I watch television,” I admit to him, and now that I’ve let it all out there, I can’t stop. “Also, I hate watching television. I’d rather sit with you and just be with you.”
“Is that so?” he says, chuckling.
“Um, yeah,” I admit. My heart speeds up, and I’m not sure my mouth will listen to my brain when it tells me not to tell him the rest. But my mouth wins out this time. “And I want to hold your hand, but not at the barn because I don’t want people to think I’m trying to lure you to my bed.” He shakes his head and laughs. “It’s not funny, Quinn.”
“Okay,” he says, looking at me with his back to the door of his truck. “Number one, I don’t even know what I put on the television. I put anything that I think will make you stay with me. Number two, I want to wake up with you in my arms every single morning. I want to walk to the barn with you holding your hand. Number three, I don’t give a fuck who sees me hold your hand because I don’t think you’ve been paying attention, Willow,” he says, and I just look at him. “It’s you,” he whispers. “It’s always been you. It will always be you.”
My heart soars in my chest and I can’t help the smile that forms. “Now can we go inside and …”
“And make out?” I ask him, hoping he says yes, I have never been this forward before.
“Oh, we are definitely going to make out,” he says, opening his door and I jump out of the truck, grabbing the dog. He is there as soon as I put my feet on the ground and pushes me against the truck. “If you want to stop,” he says. “All you have to do is say the word.”
“Quinn,” I say as he presses his chest into me. “Kiss me,” I say and he bends his head. He rubs his nose up and down mine before tilting his head to the side and opening his mouth on mine. I wrap my arm around his neck while my tongue comes out to meet his. He wraps his arm around my waist and picks me up as if I weigh two pounds. My feet don’t touch the ground and my lips never leave his as he walks us into the house. Once the door closes behind us, he slowly lowers me to the floor. Once my feet touch the floor, I let go of his lips. Our chests are pounding as I step away from him.
“From the minute that you rescued me, you have never left my side.” I start to tell him, and my hand comes up so I can touch his face. My finger trails his chin. “I didn’t know what to think having you there.” I swallow down the lump in my throat. “But knowing you were there, I felt safe. Which is crazy because I didn’t know you and you didn’t know me, yet I knew that you wouldn’t let anything happen to me.”
“I never ever will let anything happen to you, Willow. Ever.” His hand comes up and he trails his finger over my face. “Ever.”
“I know you won’t,” I tell him, my heart beating so fast in my chest. Not sure if he is going to turn me away or not. I can’t not take the chance with him. “I know you aren’t my first kiss.” My finger traces his lips. “But I want you to be my first with everything else.”
“Willow,” he says my name, and I have to wonder if he even wants me. I’m about to take a step back. “Now I don’t know what you just thought, but I can tell you that it’s probably bullshit.” He looks at me. “What did you just think?”
“I, um …” I try to think of something to say.
“Also, you should know that I know when you’re lying,” he says, and I roll my eyes. “Your eyes turn a touch darker when you are lying.” I stand in front of him shocked he would know this. “And when you’re nervous, you tap your finger over and over again. I’ve watched you for the past two months,” he says. “I’ve watched you build yourself up again. I’ve watched you work every single day to better yourself. I’ve watched you fight the demons away. I’ve watched you silently want things but never ask for it. I’ve watched you every single day.”
“Quinn,” I say his name because I don’t even know what to say. “I haven’t shown anyone the real me, because I don’t know who the real me is. But here. With you. It’s as real as it gets.”
“With you,” he says, shaking his head. “The only place in the world I want to be is with you.”
I smile up at him, dropping the stuffed dog on the floor and taking his hand in mine. I pull him past the bedroom I sleep in, past the living room, and to the one door I’ve never stepped inside. “I’ve thought about what your bedroom looks like,” I admit to him. “I wondered if you lie in bed thinking of me.” My hand goes out to his chest.
“I haven’t slept in the bed since we came home from the hospital,” he admits to me. “I was too afraid I wouldn’t hear you if you needed me.” He pushes the hair behind my ear. “So I stayed on the couch.”
I swallow down the lump in my throat. I could have been lying in a pool of blood, bleeding out and my mother would have walked over my body, and this man who owes me nothing wants to give me everything. “Show me your bed, Quinn,” I say and he bends down to kiss me and picks me up in his arms.
“This is not h
ow I saw this happening,” he says as he walks into his bedroom, and I take it in for the first time. The soft light on from the two lamps on his wooden bedside tables.
His room is massive with the big king-size bed in the middle of the room. The ceiling on top of the bed has pieces of wood on it, leading to a fan. “I wanted to make you dinner and get candles.” He walks over to the bed, and I swear it looks even more comfortable than the bed I sleep in, and that bed is a cloud.
He puts me on the bed, and I sink right in. I open my legs, and he stands between them, pushing my hair from my face. “I am going to cherish every single part of your body,” he says, and all I can do is watch the way his lips move. He bends, and I tilt my head back as he kisses my lips.
I look up at him. “Show me,” I say, taking my shirt and pulling it over my head.
I lie back on his bed, hoping he comes on the bed with me. I watch his hand clench into a fist, the agony all over his face. “Willow, you have no idea what you do to me.”
I lift my hips, slipping the shorts over my hips and tossing them aside. “What do I do to you?” I ask, and he throws his head back to look up at the ceiling.
“I’m afraid to hurt you,” he admits. “I’m afraid I’m going to push you too hard.”
“You won’t hurt me.” I sit up and reach out for one of his hands. I bring his hand to my lips. “These hands will never hurt me.” I kiss his hand. “Piece by piece.” I look up at him. “You put me back together again.”
His hand comes up and cups my cheek. “You are so beautiful,” he says and pushes me back. His body comes over mine, and I can’t believe how lucky I am. His mouth claims mine, and this time, the kiss is all tongue. His tongue fights with mine, and I moan when his fingers trail from my chin to my chest. He stops kissing me, our eyes watching his hand, and he stops at the swell of my breast. “Beautiful isn’t even a good enough word for you.” He slips his hand into the bra, and my nipple waits for his touch. He pushes down the cup of my bra, and his mouth takes my nipple, and if he wasn’t on top of me, I would have jumped up. I feel it all the way to my stomach, and my legs wrap around his hips. He moves to the other nipple, and my head goes back as I take in all the emotions running through me.
Southern Heat Page 16
