Page 13 of 518 Hope Ave
12
Ezra
"Shit, I'm gonna be late," I blurt out.
"Swear jaaaaaaar!" Cora screeches.
I sigh, quickly take out my wallet, kiss Cora on the forehead, and stick a dollar in the jar by the entrance to the kitchen. "You don't wait up for me, OK? There are leftovers in the fridge, and I'm pretty sure we've still got nuggets in the freezer if you really want something else."
"Yes, yes, yes, I got this,” Lucas says, shooing me away. “Go and have fun. We’ll be fine.”
“OK.” I breathe out a nervous sigh, and Lucas laughs, practically shoving me out the door.
“You’re gonna be fine. Just tell her she’s pretty and use protection.” He cackles as I go bright red. That isnotsomething I want to hear from my younger brother.
“Maybe I should just stay home. Invite her here instead.”
“Oh, my god. Go!” He laughs, blocking the front door by standing in it with Cora hooked under his arm like a little bird.
"Good luuuuck, Ez! Have fun!" Cora yells as I leave the house and head to my newly fixed car—I was finally forced to borrow from the kid’s college funds to get us on the road again. But I plan to replace every penny as soon as possible. I can’t take away from them the future I lost. I’d never forgive myself.
I push my money trouble out of my mind, secure the picnic basket in the back seat of the car, start the engine, and get the heck outta Cherry Falls and make my way to Kissme Bay. I tap my steering wheel nervously at every stoplight, and I’m unable to stop my heart from trying to pound right out of my chest. My mind is racing so fast that I don't even realize that I've driven the whole way in what felt like five minutes. I glance at the clock on the dashboard—half-past six. I’m on time.
Turning into the parking lot near the Kissme Sweet Shop, a car pulls out of a perfect spot and I quickly pull in, cut the engine, and get out of the car, grabbing the picnic basket on the way out. Making my way to the edge of the beach, I peer over the length of it to try to find Quinn. She said she’d meet me here when I texted her last night. But as I slowly peer from edge to edge, a pit forms in my stomach because I can't see her. I take out my phone to check the time and re-read our messages.IknowI'm not late. Oh no, did I fuck upagain? Oh, God...
"Boo!" a voice suddenly sounds from right behind me, and I jump straight out of my skin with a yelp. I turn around quickly to find Quinn giggling her face off.
"Fucking hilarious," I say, laughing nervously as my heart settles down. “I’m gonna need a new pair of pants after that.”
She giggles even harder, and I find myself brushing it all off and laughing along with her. Then we settle into one of our comfortable silences, locking eyes with each other.Fuck, she's absolutely gorgeous.
I have a great urge to reach up and brush those red-brown locks of hers behind her ear, feel the soft touch of her skin against my palm, the sweetness of her lips on my mouth. In a pale blue summer dress and an oversized cardigan, she looks like a breath of fresh air, and I want to chase her around and forget all about the world around us. I want to feel as carefree as her smile is.
“I like this shirt,” she says, touching the buttons of my cherry patterned shirt that Cora found buried in a rack at the thrift store. I’m pretty sure it’s pure polyester, but just wearing it puts me in the mood to have fun and feel different for a while, even if it’s just for one night. “And you brought a picnic basket.” Quinn’s eyes drop to the basket in my hand. “What treat doth lay inside?”
"Oh, this?" I ask, brandishing the basket proudly. "This is our entree, main course, and dessert, Madame, all served upon a bright orange checkered blanket which turned out to be the only thing I had without rips in it.”
"Fancy," she says with a giggle, helping me lay the blanket on the sand. "What's on the menu today?"
"Well," I start, holding out my hand for her to take. "Why don't we find out?"
Helping her to sit on the blanket, I join her and settle the basket in between us. We start things off with Cora's specialty pasta salad before moving onto the main course of some chicken pot pies that I found at the grocer. We enjoy our meal, making easy conversation that never seems forced. We can talk about my siblings, mythical creatures or current events and never skip a beat. As always, just being with her feels like my favorite thing to do, and it’s made even more special when our eyes meet every so often, and we smile or laugh for no reason at all. She makes me feel happy.
For dessert, I take out a bottle of wine, two plastic wine glasses, and a precut, home-baked raspberry crumble. The sight of which makes Quinn's eyes widen in both surprise and total delight.
"Did you make this?" she asks as I pour her a glass of wine.
"I know my way around a kitchen," I say, then I laugh. “Cora was admittedly shocked I could make this too. I don’t tend to make anything too elaborate at home. But I do know how to cook. Mom loved baking.”
“And is this her recipe?”
“It is,” I say with a nod, somehow managing to feel closer to her and closer to my parents at the same time. That’s what’s so special about Quinn, I guess. She has this way of taking the aching pieces of my heart and holding them together, shining her special brand of sunlight on them until they feel warm and whole again.
"To us," Quinn says, holding up her wine glass. “And to your mom for being a great teacher.”
I grin and clink our glasses together. "Cheers."
As we eat, Quinn groans and makes me promise to give her the recipe. I immediately agree because my dick jumps at the way she eats dessert like it’s orgasmic.
