Page 71 of The One for Forever

My son raps loudly on the door a few feet away.

Fine, I might be panicking a little.

“Dad?”

“I’m here,” I choke out. “Just a second. Everything’s fine.”

“But Quinn…” Cliff’s voice trails off, turning strange at the end. Like he might be having a realization.

I glance at the state of my bedroom. Sheets in a tangled mess, condom wrappers on the floor, roses and candles everywhere. The moment I open that door, it’s going to be obvious what happened in here. Wouldn’t take a cop to put together these clues.

And my sonisa cop.

Fuck.

Quinn pulls me into the en suite bathroom. “Here’s what we’ll do,” she says. “I’ll pretend I was feeling really awful, and you were taking care of me. You had to sleep in here to keep an eye on me. Hide the trash and the flowers under the bed.”

I’m shaking my head. “Quinn, I don’t?—“

“It’ll work. Just go with it. I’ll fix this.” She goes to grab some clothes out of her suitcase. I put a shirt on. Once we’re dressed, I turn her to face me, resting my hands on either side of her waist.

“I am not going to lie. Cliff deserves better than that, and so do you. I’ll tell him the truth.”

“But I don’t want him to be mad at you,” she whispers.

I can’t stand the look of guilt on her face. This is my fault. I never should’ve let something like this happen, and it was all too foreseeable. I’ve been an idiot. Cliff probably called and texted this morning to let me know he was on his way. Why didn’t I just read the damn message?

Because I was avoiding him. Like a man with something to hide.

“I’m not going to treat you like a shameful secret,” I say. “I made my choices. It’s time to accept the consequences.”

She frowns, but nods resignedly. “I’m coming with you. It was my choice too.”

We go to the door. I hold my breath and open it while Quinn stands just behind me, looking past my shoulder.

Cliff is leaning against the wall opposite, arms crossed, a cautious expression on his face. He looks from Quinn to me. From our disheveled state, it’s clear we just got out of bed.

Before I can say anything, Quinn asks, “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to come see how you’re doing. I called when I was on my way. What’s up? Q, why are you in my dad’s room?”

Her nose scrunches. “So, um, the thing is?—”

I can’t let her take responsibility for this. I look at her sternly. “I need to do this. Okay?”

She nods, glancing at the floor.

“What is going on?” Cliff demands.

“Quinn and I are together.”

“What?”

He still seems confused. Maybe he just doesn’t want to believe the evidence in front of him. Guess I’ll have to spell this out, even though it feels like peeling back my skin.

I step out of the doorway, keeping her behind me. “We’re involved. She spent the night with me.”

“But you…she’s…”

---