Page 48 of Shuttered Hearts

“Hon, there’s a reason she wants to stay here, close to you. No matter what’s going on with her, she chose you as the person she wants to lean on. It might take her some time to tell you what happened, but that doesn’t say anything about you not being a good big brother.”

“Hon?” I ask, avoiding the subject of my sister. I hear what Quinn is saying, and she makes a good point, but I still wish I knew what was going on with Ava. I want to fix it for her, even if she’s more than capable of doing so herself.

She takes the topic change and rolls with it. “What? You’re the only one allowed to give out nicknames?”

“I thought you would pick something to match ‘Bug’.”

“I’m hoping you’ll change it if I call you sweet names instead.”

A laugh bursts out of me, causing a few people sitting at neighboring tables to look at us. “Not likely, Bug.”

She glares at me, but I can see the gleam in her eye, showing me she’s not upset. I hadn’t planned on the nickname sticking, but the more I use it, the more I like it.

“Oh, you two are so cute,” Rose says as she returns to our table, setting my water down in front of me. “I love seeing young love.” She sighs, continuing before either of us can respond. “What can I get you both?”

Quinn is still stunned by Rose’s comment, so I squeeze her hand still held in mine, and order for both of us. “Can we get our normal?”

“You got it. It’ll be out shortly.” And she’s off again like she didn’t say anything about love.

“You good over there?” I ask, refusing to let go of her hand.

“Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

I laugh softly and pull her hand toward me, causing her to lift her butt out of her seat to meet me halfway over the table,where I give her a quick kiss. “No worrying about what anyone else thinks. This is just for us,” I tell her, keeping her close.

“You’re right.” She presses another kiss to my lips before sitting back in her seat.

“I kind of love thisroutine we have of meeting for dinner every Thursday,” Quinn says as we walk out of The Diner.

“I kind of love it too,” I copy her words, taking her hand in mine.

I don’t know if I was ever a fan of holding hands when I was in a relationship before, but holding Quinn’s hand brings me more joy than I thought it would. The easy way Quinn and I were tonight has me realizing just how wrong Melissa and I had been together.

This effortlessness I feel with Quinn is what a relationship should feel like. I know we’ll fight with each other, and it will take work to make this last, but there should be days where it’s just as easy as tonight was. I can’t remember having a day with Melissa where I felt as peaceful as I do now.

“Where’d you park?” I ask, looking up and down the street for her car.

“I walked.”

“Quinn, it’s freezing out here.”

“Well, it wasn’t this cold when I left the house earlier, and I didn’t think about it.” She scrunches her nose, causing me to laugh.

I bend slightly to give her a quick kiss on the tip of her nose. “I’ll give you a ride home.”

“My knight in shining armor.” She pulls my hand holding hers over her shoulder, and tucks herself into my side as we walk down the street.

When we get to my truck, I open the passenger door for her, helping her in and buckling her seatbelt.

“You know I can do that, right?”

“Yeah, but if I do it, I have an excuse to be close enough to kiss you.” I lean over her and turn my head to press a kiss to her lips, causing her to hum.

“Hmm. Good point,” she whispers against my lips. “But it’s cold out there, so get in the truck.” She laughs, pushing me back from her.

I shake my head, close her door, and jog around the front of the truck to the driver’s side. I start the truck and turn to look at her while I give it a minute to warm up. Her head is tilted back against the headrest, but turned to look at me, a lazy smile on her face.

“What?” I ask, a small smile of my own growing.

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