Page 23 of Whatever It Takes

“What are you doing here, Quinn?”

“I wanted to check on you guys.” That was partially true, but I couldn’t tell her that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her. Or that I needed to see her. I’d gone seven years without her, yet I kept manufacturing reasons and coming up with excuses just to be near her.

She turned the faucet off and spun around. She looked over my shoulder to where Emery sat, oblivious to our conversation.

“We are fine. Thank you for the concern. You don’t need to check-in on us.” She looked at the clock on the microwave. “Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend with your girlfriend.”

Her tone was cold and distant, and not entirely unexpected. The lines between us grew blurrier as each day passed. I couldn’t simply pretend not to care about her any more than I could stand there and have her dismiss me just because her feelings were hurt.

It’s been over seven years for Christ’s sake, so I didn’t feel like I owed her an explanation. I was free to do whatever the hell I wanted, wasn’t I? She had no right to be pissed at me, did she?

I backed away, hating how we were leaving things. “You don’t need to be like that.”

She jutted her chin out. This woman was so fucking stubborn. “Like what?”

“Jealous,” I said, searching her face for a reaction.

She scoffed and tried to nudge around me. “You always were full of yourself.”

I grabbed her by the elbow before she could walk away. I angled my head so I could whisper in her ear. “Stop the bullshit. You feel this between us. I’m still in your head just like you’re still in mine. I’m not sure what that means, but it means something and we’re going to figure it out, one way or another.”

I let go of her elbow and walked over to where Emery was still coloring in her book. “Hey, Peanut. I’m really sorry I can’t go out to dinner with you and your mom tonight.”

She had no idea how much I wanted to go. I was half-tempted to call Bree and tell her not to come, but I couldn’t do that to her. She deserved better.

Emery set her crayon down and handed me the piece of paper she’d been doodling on. “Okay, Quinn, but I want you to have this.” She handed me a picture of a giant pepperoni pizza. My lips pulled up to the side. She was absolutely the cutest thing on the planet. I could easily fall in love with this girl.

I reached over and stroked her back. “I’m going home and putting this on the fridge.”

“You are?” she squealed, clearly liking that idea.

“On one condition,” I said, holding back my laughter when her nose scrunched up. “You save me a piece of pizza tonight. Deal?” I held my hand out for her to shake.

“Deal.” She smiled and shook my hand in return.

I took the picture and walked to the front door. Charlotte stood in the entryway with her arms crossed. I snuck a glance over my shoulder and winked. I wasn’t going to say goodbye, because I had every intention of coming back. I just didn’t know when.

* * *

“I can’t believeyou brought all this shit for one weekend,” I told Bree as I carried her enormous suitcase into my bedroom. My apartment was small; barely big enough to hold my own junk, let alone a steamer trunkful of God knows what she brought with her.

“I wasn’t sure what the weather was going to be like, so I brought a little bit of everything with me.”

I laid the big black suitcase tagged with the orange heavy sticker from the airlines on the floor and unzipped it. She probably had twenty pairs of shoes and three makeup bags and God knows what else. Bree was a beautiful woman, the kind that had any man noticing her when she passed them by on the street. She didn’t need all the extra bells and whistles, but they were important to her, and what the hell did I know about women’s fashion?

“I’m gonna grab a beer out of the fridge. Can I get you anything?”

“You don’t by any chance have any wine, do you?”

“No, but we can stop at a liquor store on our way out to dinner.”

If I was a better boyfriend, I probably would have made sure I had her favorite bottle of Merlot when she visited, but the truth was, I was too preoccupied with everything going on with Charlotte to think about anything else.

I fetched a bottle of Labatt’s Blue Light out of the fridge, feeling on edge. My girlfriend was in the other room, curling her hair, getting all dressed up to impress me for a night out, and there I was thinking about my ex and staring at a picture that her daughter drew me.

When the bathroom door swung open, I was blown away by how gorgeous she was. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous about how the weekend was going to turn out.

I ran my hand through my hair and stared at her. My stomach was in knots, it felt like I was on the verge of throwing up. She had on a little navy dress with a pair of dark brown boots that looked hot as hell on her. Her long blonde hair was falling over her shoulders and her lips were painted a bright red. I waited for my body to react to her, but nothing happened. She looked like just another pretty face to me. Not the one that I wanted.

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