Page 53 of What Happens In Vegas
Chapter 21
Quinn’sroom seemed empty. When Bonni was here yesterday, her presence had permeated every corner. Now, it was just a big, cold, empty hotel room. Gone was the color, the life.Her.
He shook his head and finally admitted what he’d been holding back since Landon had broached the subject earlier that day.
He was falling for her. It astounded him that, in the few short days since they’dmet, when she wasn’t with him, the gaping hole in his life was painfully evident.
Walking over to the mini-fridge, Quinn grabbed a beer and twisted off the cap, tossing it on the counter. He wondered again what she was doing. She still hadn’t texted him. The night ahead seemed endless.
He’d just watch the hockey game, to distract himself. He had no burning desire to go out to any bars.
He didn’twant anyone else. He wanted Bonni. If only she’d get here, so he could tell her so.
Quinn dropped on to the desk chair and propped his feet upon the corner of the desk. Placing the beer on the floor, he grabbed the remote and started cruising through channels out of boredom. He finally changed the channel to the game.
His phone buzzed against the desk and Quinn lunged for it, knocking it tothe floor.
‘Shit.’ Scooping it up, disappointment swept through him at the message on the screen. It was Landon. Not Bonni.
Golden Child:U heard from her?
Q:No. Watching the game.
Golden Child:Come to the bar. Game’s playing on one of the screens and there’s plenty of fish in this sea.
Quinn shook his head. Being around other people was the last thing he wanted to do.
Q:Nope.
GoldenChild:Want company?
Q:No, stay there. At least one of us should have a good time tonight.
Golden Child:Bro, I’m sure she’ll text.
Not feeling like getting into it with his brother, Quinn put his phone back on the desk. His mind kept drifting back to Bonni.
He should text her, flat out ask her if she was still coming by, but what if she was ghosting him? As long as he didn’t ask, there wasalways the possibility that she was still coming. And he wasn’t entirely ready to havethatconversation. Quinn couldn’t even figure out how he’d start it.
Hi, Bonni, glad you’re not ghosting me. Now that you’re finally here, I wanted to let you know that I think I’m falling in love with you and I want to give up my livelihood so I can follow you home to Canada, but don’t worry about having tosupport me because I’m going to work for my brother in the family company and take the job I’ve resisted taking for the last fifteen years. Whaddya say?
Fuck.
As much as he wanted her to be with him, he would never try to pressure her to do something she didn’t want to do. That’s how a guy winds up with jail time and a restraining order, and rightly so.
Quinn didn’t want to scare Bonni. Hewanted to love her.
Double fuck. Who the hell was he right now?
Near the end of the second period, there was a roaring fight. He moved to the end of the bed and leaned closer to watch. On the desk, his phone buzzed again, but he ignored it, figuring it was probably Landon again, and shouted at the television.
‘What are you thinking? Now they’ve got a power play! Damn idiots.’
At the commercial,he took his empty bottle to the recycling bin and grabbed another one, muttering about the stupidity of the hockey players and sitting back down in time for the face-off. He got caught up watching the game for another few minutes before remembering his phone.
He sat upright when he saw it was a text from Bonni.
‘What the fuck?’ Quinn turned his phone, trying to view the image she’d sent. Itlooked like an attempt at a selfie, but it was a disaster. He could see her friends on the fringe of the picture, the side of her head, her hair and her mouth, wide open, laughing.
Quinn smiled, as just seeing her face in the pic made his heart swell. He was glad she was having a good time, and happy that he’d obviously crossed her mind and she’d sent the photo. But he missed her. The whole pointof this trip had been for her to spend time with her friends, and he would never try to come between them, but he wanted her here, with him. His heart tightened, and he wished that, at the very least, he was there having laughs right alongside them.
Anotherbuzz and another photo. Sideways again, but this time she was blowing a kiss into the camera. He chuckled.
‘She’s got to be drunk texting,’he told the empty room. Quinn typed back to her.Take care of yourself, darlin’. Have fun and don’t get into any trouble. Still hoping to see you tonight.
He had the urge to include a heart and, if he hadn’t admitted that he was falling for her, that would’ve been a clear sign that he was a goner. She didn’t answer and, eventually, he put the phone down. He kept it close, though, just in caseshe messaged him again. All she had to do was beckon and he would come running.
