Chapter 23 Twenty-Two
Twenty-Two
Wyatt
Quinn
Please tell me you saw that!
Me
You’re going to hate me more than you already do…
Quinn
YOU MISSED IT.
Me
I didn’t mean to.
Quinn
Hartwell…
Me
*sends mirror selfie*
Quinn
Okay, fine. I accept for wedding things. But Wyatt! 13.8!
Me
Fuck yeah, Compton.
“Who are you smiling at?” Cash’s reflection came up behind me, stretching his neck to look at my phone.
Lachlan, Cash, and I came to the small men’s shop, the same one that fitted my dad for his wedding, and Lachlan for his.
Henry Collerwood still ran the shop. Though it was updated to fit the times, he still ran things the same way.
Currently, I stood on a pedestal, three mirrors surrounding me, allowing me to see all my best views.
I had on gray slacks, a black belt, and a white button-down layered with a gray vest hanging open to reveal the deep, vibrant purple tie.
Cash was donning the same ensemble, but topped with a white hat, the black rim around the crown replaced with the same color purple.
When Lachlan stepped out of his dressing room, his sleeves were slightly rolled up, showing off his tattoos, and tie undone.
You could see it in his face that he was not thrilled with the color selection.
“How come we have purple, and the girls have turquoise?” He grumbled, shoving his hands in his slack pockets.
Not dropping my phone, I snapped a photo of Lachlan and sent it right off to Quinn.
Quinn
Damn, he’s looking good. Remind me, is he single?
Me
And too damn old for you.
“Quinn picked the turquoise from what I hear, and it worked on both her and Kyla.” Cash turned to the mirror and began fiddling with his tie.
“Quinn looks amazing in anything,” I replied absent-mindedly, watching those little dots dance on my screen.
“So it’s Quinn that got you all smiley over there?” Cash nodded his head in my direction. At the same time, a text came through.
Quinn
I’m all for an age gap romance. Give him my number.
Me
Fuck. No.
“We’re texting. Is that a bad thing?” I shrugged, stepping off the platform at the same time Lachlan stepped up.
“Seeing as the woman has shot you down more times than you care to admit, it’s a bit strange. What changed?” Lachlan worked on his sleeves once more, rolling them up to his elbows before moving to his tie.
What had changed? If I were to rewind the clock to when my fist hit Archie’s nose…
the world seemed to slow down. Even though I was trying to act like nothing was different, life moved in slow motion.
It wasn’t until I accepted it that I finally broke, not entirely sure what was going on with my life, until she raced back in it in January.
These past months with her were as if everything was being pieced back together.
Rodeos, pizza, sushi, TV shows—she was bringing me back to life without even knowing it.
Everything made sense with Quinn. Natural even.
I couldn’t help but flirt; I couldn’t help but stare and push down that urge to kiss her, but she had become so much more than a girl I wanted.
She had become what I would consider a close friend, and by the way she was texting me—by the way she hugged me that night—I’d say I was a close friend to her, too.
Everything changed, but at the same time, everything stayed the same.
“Nothing changed,” I settled on admitting, locking my phone before I had a chance to read her reply.
“You’re not playing her along, are you?” Cash asked, furrowing his brow at me in the mirror.
“God, not you, too. Abi and I already talked about this.” I slumped my shoulders.
“Well.” Lachlan turned. “How many women have you been with in the past two years?”
I squinted and tried to pull up a number. It wasn’t massive by any means, but the number was up there. “Am I counting repeats as one?”
Cash and Lachlan froze, both staring at me with an eyebrow raised.
“I’m kidding—”
“Are you?” Lachlan stepped off the platform.
“You can’t blame us for worrying about her. She’s young and doesn’t need to be—”
“I’m not playing her.” I held out my hands, stopping Cash from saying anything else.
“The last girl I had over was Melanie…and if I remember correctly, Cash, you had no issues with her being over. This is Quinn. This is different. I haven’t been with anyone since she came back into town, and I don’t plan on seeing anyone else.
I need to talk to her, tell her how I really feel, and see what happens. ”
Cash narrowed his eyes. “Hold up. How you really feel?”
“Don’t act like Abi hasn’t told you.” I folded my arms and looked at my soon-to-be brother-in-law.
“She hasn’t. I don’t pry. She tells me things if she needs to. When it comes to you, she’s pretty private—she was even shocked when I told her I wanted you by my side at the wedding. She’s pretty sure we still hate each other.”
“Yeah, well, right now, I do,” I clipped.
“Can we circle back to this how you really feel thing, because that’s new.” Lachlan spun his finger in a circle in front of him, rewinding the last ten seconds. “I thought you were just hitting on her like you’ve always done.”
“I mean…it may have started that way, but now—” I heaved a sigh.
“I really…really…really like her. I don’t want to say the other word quite yet, even though I know damn sure that’s where it’s headed.
I don’t know if she feels the same or if she really sees me as a friend, but…
” I dropped my arms and looked at them. Cash done up to the nines, looking exactly as he will in a few weeks.
Lachlan a scruffy ‘nice’ mess with his tie half done, his sleeves rolled up, and a glare on his face.
They both eagerly waited for me to finish.
“I want to tell her how I feel soon, and we’ll see what happens.
If she’ll have me, I’m hers. If she wants me as a friend, I’ll be that, too. ”
The thought of telling Quinn how I felt came as easy as deciding to announce at a rodeo.
Every time I was with her, I was warm. Whenever she smiled, I felt a buzz fly through my body.
That spark of electricity happened whenever she touched my skin, even if it was a light brush, it was there.
When her arms wrapped around my neck, I inhaled her coconut scent and fell a little harder each time.
I waited for her texts to come and counted down the minutes until I was next to her again.
I wanted all of her, and I hoped she wanted all of me.
I just had to tell her.