Chapter 28
By the time I made it back to my apartment, the sun had blinked itself to bed by disappearing over the horizon, setting Piper ablaze in the sky with it’s mix of oranges and pinks as night whispered itself into the air.
It’d been a pretty lucrative afternoon for me and my head was in the clouds with elation.
I was giddy as hell over the way my life was being set up going forward and I couldn’t contain the happiness that seemed to be pouring out of me.
When I heard the succession of knocks on the outside of my apartment door, I’d almost forgotten that Qwill had texted me and asked if he could come over today since he was off from work.
I’d gotten the text while I had been meeting with Mr. Sheffield, the owner of the apartment building that I rented from, and I’d had to quickly send him a text back that I’d be delighted to enjoy more of his company.
Now that we were officially boyfriends, my insides felt ready to burst from euphoria, adding to the stockpile of adrenaline unleashing throughout my body since I’d been on the journey of setting up the next phase of my life.
I had so much to tell the people in my life, and I was eager to eliminate telling one person as soon as my boyfriend walked through my door.
Temporarily leaving my jumbled and hyper thoughts, I ambled over to the apartment door and checked through the peephole, confirming that it was Qwill before I pried the door backward. Qwill’s smile was there to greet me.
“Hey, beautiful.” Came his soothing voice, cutting through the space between us and embracing me, the feeling of his strong scaled arms wrapping around me in a womb of comfort.
As I softened into the hug, he tilted his head and kissed my neck before pulling back enough to stare at me. “I missed you.”
My cheeks heated at the compliment and longing combo.
“I missed you too. I have lots of updates to tell you.” And boy did I.
Not only did I have to update him on all the money moves and life changes I’d initiated since we’d last seen each other, but as a storm of realization brewed within me, I had more than I initially thought to share with him.
A swell of emotions hit me then, still caged between my handsome boyfriend’s arms. Over these last few days, we hadn’t really communicated much, much less seen each other while I tried to figure out my next plan of action.
Now that said plans were being set in motion or, more realistically, were closer to being finished than ever, I didn’t realize how supportive Qwill had been.
Even the absence of him texting me and asking me if I was still okay, or allowing me the space to figure my life out, that fact wasn’t lost on me.
This was a new relationship, for both of us, and not every person would have taken the time to allow the other person to go off the grid and extract the details of their life out and expect to return like no distance had passed between them.
In that moment, surrounded by Qwill’s recognizable fresh water scent, I recognized how undeniably fortunate I was.
“Qwill, I want to start by saying thank you.” I started, feeling a lump forming in my throat as the sentiments started building upon each other, begging for me to release them through my tears or sobs or racked breathing.
But I pushed forward, making them quiet themselves for the time being.
“You’ve been amazing through this process of me trying to pick through the debris of my life and it doesn’t go unnoticed.
I know how lucky I am to have you by my side.
” I paused to place a hand over another black shirt that had become his usual attire.
I let my fingers flex over the material, seeing in my mind the hot scaled flesh that waited for my touch underneath.
“I’ve been struggling to figure out my life since we met, it feels like, and having you by my side through most of it has made it so much easier for me to find myself.
I never would have realized why my previous relationships hadn’t panned out if it hadn’t been for you.
” Tears tickled the rims of my eyelids but I begged them to be on their best behavior and to wait.
“I’m so grateful and it means so much to me that you’ve been so understanding. ”
Qwill’s features morphed into a sincere stare with ease.
“Thayer,” My name on his lips, in that deeper than usual husk that was usually reserved for the bedroom went straight to my dick.
He lifted a hand and cupped my jaw. “I’m the lucky one.
I’ve always been the lucky one. Do you know how crazy it is for me, still, to wrap my head around the fact that my feelings for you are even reciprocal? ”
I smiled, nudging him slightly. “Now who’s using an improved vocabulary?” He’d always poked fun at the eloquent way I spoke sometimes, and it was nice to see I’d been a good influence on him.
“What can I say, it’s infectious.” He chuckled.
“Anyway, I never thought I’d have a chance at being on the receiving end of your affection.
I mean, you were very adamant about being straight.
” I winced and looked away with a nervous smile, but he tiled my jaw back to face him.
“But I couldn’t deny the attraction I felt towards you.
I’d felt it the moment I’d laid my eyes on you the first time I’d stepped through the doors of Downpour and it only doubled over when I met you for the first time in that private suite.
There was this overwhelming magnetism we had and I’ll forever be floored by the fact that you felt it too.
” He pushed forward, pressing his lips against mine in the softest, most heartfelt kiss I’d ever experienced.
When he pulled back and our eyes locked again, I thought I was going to cry from the sheer adoration reflecting back at me in Qwill’s golden eyes. “I’ll always be the lucky one.”
The flood gates on my emotions were throttling toward high voltage overload, and I needed to let Qwill know exactly how I felt about him.
In the past several weeks we’d started this journey of seeing where our mutual attraction would lead, I’d fallen helplessly head over heels for him.
He was more than my boyfriend, and even though it absolutely scared the shit out of me to even mentally admit that to myself, I had to tell Qwill.
If I didn’t tell him right now, in this perfect moment we’d curated, I feared it was going to eat me alive from the inside out.
“Qwill, I—”
And then a new series of knocks littered my door, pulling both of our focus to the closed door of my apartment as we stood there in-between the kitchen and the living room, still holding on to each other like our lives depended on it.
He chuckled, leaning down to kiss my cheek before unraveling our limbs from each other. “Hold that thought.”
I scrambled out of his hold, albeit begrudgingly, and made my way back over to the door.
Checking through the peephole only set my mind on edge.
As quickly as I could, I pulled the door open and stared back at my twin with confused features.
I really wanted to get back to my conversation with Qwill as it started burning a line through my brain.
“Troian, now’s not a good time—”
“I’m sorry to barge in, but it’s really important.
” Without waiting for the invitation, my brother stormed beyond me and let himself into the apartment.
Rolling my eyes to myself, I closed the door and whipped my head back just in time to see Troian realize that I wasn’t alone.
His stare lolled back and forth between me and Qwill.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt, but it’s about Madison. ”
Just hearing her name set my teeth on edge, bringing me back to reality that I still had to face whatever future was waiting for me in regards to what the Rhodes family might do to me next. Qwill stepped forward as I walked back over to him and stood by his side.
After glancing at my boyfriend, I shook my head at my brother. “Now really isn’t the time.”
“Thayer, this is important.” I’d expected to hear this from Troian, but this came from Qwill.
He nodded at me to prove his point. He had no idea that I was about to confess my love for him, so I had to smile.
He looked so sweet and innocent and eager to learn of the newest development regarding the Rhodeses that I couldn’t burst his bubble, even if it would’ve benefited both of us.
But first my brother needed to leave. This was the kind of declaration that I’d envisioned only Qwill and I confronting together.
“Alright,” I blew out an annoyed breath so that I could replace it with a more understanding one. “What happened?”
Troian nodded, getting all the approval he needed to tell his tale.
“Well, you know how I haven’t heard from Madison since that day after you got home?
” I didn’t have to speak to acknowledge, an unspoken twin thing that was simply understood as he kept going.
“I was getting kind of worried that it’d been a couple days and that I hadn’t heard from her.
But then I thought, you know, she’s dealing with the fact that two of her sisters are MIA and one of her sisters was just arrested for kidnapping Orbs.
So I thought she’s probably busy and needs a couple days in order to even remember that we spoke. ”
“Troian, you’re rambling.” I scoffed in jest.
“Right.” His grin grew wide before his face reset to neutral. “But then I heard from her this morning.”
“And?” Qwill chimed in.
“And she texted me saying she was going to be in Piper soon and wanted to know where we could meet.”
I shook my head in confusion. “She went from not answering to immediately hopping a flight to Piper?”
Troian nodded. “I know, it’s a lot. Which is why I’m sorry that I went ahead and gave her your address.”
Scoffing, I stared at my brother like he’d just suddenly taken up a foreign language and was fluent without any practice. “You told her to come here?”
“I mean, I could have given her the address to my hotel room, but you have more space than I do.” My brother said, oh so matter-of-factly.
I scoffed incredulously, my hands flying up in the air in protest before allowing them to rest on my hips.
I glared at Qwill as I saw him twist away from us followed by the sounds of laughter muffled by his hand.
Troian was trying to hide his smile and I squinted my eyes at Qwill as he turned back around to face the pair of us.
My slacked jaw told him how annoyed I was at him. I was only half serious, which was read by the inevitable upturn of my lips.
“I’m sorry,” Qwill finally said after he’d halted his guffaws. “It’s just sweet, seeing you two like this. I’m an only child so it’s entertaining to see brothers being brothers. And with how much your relationship has changed, it’s a beautiful thing.”
Troian and I gave each other a glare, but it turned into a mutually admirable gaze paired with lazy smiles.
I wasn’t really that mad, just a little surprised by the abruptness of his announcement with Madison’s impending arrival.
It was a gift that we’d been given, Troian and I.
Five year ago, we’d been less than strangers to one another.
We hadn’t spoken, hadn’t tried to reconcile.
And though I felt valid in my determination to remain no contact with him after everything that had transpired, I was ecstatic that we’d found our way back to each other, being real brothers again.
“Fine, she can come here.” I stated, gesturing to my twin. “Did she say when she was landing?”
He shook his head. “She never responded after I gave her your address.”
A third installment of knocks rapped against my apartment door, the most action and attention it’d seen in one day in, well, ever.
Exhausted by the amount of interruptions I’d had this evening when I was supposed to be enjoying a lovely night with my boyfriend, I ripped across the threshold of my apartment and swung the door open without checking the peephole this time.
Considering all I’d been through, it wasn’t a smart move.
As luck would have it, waiting for me on the other side of the door was a petite woman with curled dirty blonde hair, styled to the tens and dressed to the nines.
Her blazer skirt combo was embellished with colored jewels, looking like a somehow okay version of something Delores Umbridge would have worn.
“Hi there,” she said, looking beyond me and seeing my present company before regarding me with a wide smile. “You must be Thayer. I’ve heard so much about you.” She held out her hand for me to shake. “Madison Cross.”