Page 52 of Love Marks

Luna blinks up at her. “You’re pretty,” she says. “Are you my uncle’s girlfriend?”

Quinn’s eyes widen and her gaze flickers towards me. “No, no. We’re just friends.”

“Uncle Wes doesn’t ever have a girlfriend. He’s alone every time I come over,” she announces.

I suppress a groan as Quinn smirks from beside me. “Thanks for that, Loon. You don’t have lice, do you?” I pull her backwards, peeling her hair to the side to inspect her scalp, and she pushes me off.

“No. They checked all of us before we left. Maggie is the one with lice and I don’t like playing with her because she licks all the toys,” Luna says.

“Alright. Let me just check in with your teacher before we go. I’ll be right back.” I leave Luna with Quinn and jog over to Ms. Hanson. She confirms that Luna is in the clear and gives me her phone number on a slip of paper in case anything changes. When I get back over to Quinn and Luna, they are playing one of the hand-clapping games that Luna loves.

“Quinn said we can go to the carnival!” Luna shouts, jumping up and down.

I quirk my eyebrow at Quinn, and she chuckles. “I said we’d ask you,” she corrects.

“Carnival?” I ask.

“She just means Coney Island. I mentioned I used to go there a lot when I was a kid. My fault for bringing it up.” Quinn tucks her hair behind her ear, looking apologetic.

“We can go.” I shrug. “Nothing else to do, really.”

Luna squeals in delight, jumping up and down with even more fervor. I push her forward towards where Pete waits for us and sneak a small smile at Quinn.

“What’s that?” She asks, pointing to the small piece of paper pinched between my fingers. I’d forgotten I was holding it.

“Oh. Ms. Hanson gave me her number in case I need it. For Luna,” I say.

Quinn nods and hums, hiding a small smile as she glances away, her lips flat.

“What?” I ask. Luna runs ahead to greet Pete, who gets her car seat set up and starts strapping her in.

Quinn shakes her head, brushing me off. “Come on. What?” I ask again, stopping her before she gets to the car.

“She gave you her number, Wesley. I doubt she does that with all the parents. Or Uncles.” Quinn’s eyes sparkle knowingly as she looks up at me with a soft smile.

She’s trying to say that she was flirting with you, dumbass.

“Right,” I say. “It’s been a while. I’ve kind of forgotten how to flirt, to be honest.”

Quinn makes a face like she doesn’t quite believe me, and Luna starts letting out short, loud screams. We all climb into the car and it’s a tight squeeze. I can feel Quinn’s arm brushing against mine. It’s soft. I imagine running the back of my hand up and down it, watching the goosebumps form along her skin.

This is your employee!

I try to lean away from where our arms are touching, but the car suddenly feels incredibly small. I inhale a breath, but instead of steadying me, I’m suddenly filled with the scent of her, a floral, sweet smell. How good would it feel to be surrounded by it? By her?

“Carnival! Carnival!” Luna chants, breaking me out of my reverie.

For the rest of the car ride, Quinn asks Luna questions about school and her life. Each time, Quinn listens thoughtfully, giving Luna her undivided attention. I spend most of the ride on my phone, sending emails and moving today’s meetings, trying to distract myself from my growing attraction to Quinn.

When we get to Coney Island, it’s somewhat empty, which makes sense since it’s almost noon on a weekday.

“It’s nice today,” Quinn remarks, looking around. She’s right. The sky is the clearest of blues, with only a soft chill in the air. It’s a perfect spring day, the winter almost entirely behind us. I’m stuck staring at her and the way her eyes look over everything in wonder.

“Do you come here a lot?” I ask.

“When I was a kid. I used to ride the train and hangout here all day.” Her eyes crinkle a little and she glances away, clearing her throat.

“Can we get cotton candy?” Luna interrupts, jumping up and down and giving me her best puppy dog eyes.

---