Chapter 33 Thirty-Two
Thirty-Two
Wyatt
“Okay…I can’t handle this anymore.” I placed my hands on my hips and glowered.
“Can’t handle what exactly?” Quinn questioned, her voice trailing while her eyebrows raised as high as her hairline.
I met her gaze, my own lips curling when I caught the way she bit her bottom lip.
“All the damn boots.” I opened my arms and swung my torso.
Yet again, I found myself surrounded by her many pairs of boots.
One time, I had counted, but I swore, looking at them now, scattered everywhere, more had joined the fold, including a green suede pair with fringe galore.
“I can’t believe you do this every single time you travel.
You pull them all out and then put them all back, only to do it again in a week.
I can’t take it anymore.” I tried my hardest to pull disappointment in my voice, show the smallest amount of annoyance, but Quinn’s growing smile and the blush on her cheeks made that physically impossible.
“I have to see all my options.” She grinned.
“You’ve told me that, but why every single time?”
“We’re going to be gone for a while this time.
Days of '47, Frontier Days, Denver—we’re in for an adventure before it settles for the fall, so I have to make sure I have everything I need.
Don’t worry,” she added as she flipped her hair over her shoulder, twisting on her heel to put her back to me.
“There will be plenty of room for your one duffel bag. That’s all you need, right? ”
Circling my lips in an O, I let out a breath. “That’s a low blow, Compton. I may have to up it and decide to pack every hat I own just to spite you.”
“You mean your one hat?” She glanced at me over her shoulder, her eyes bringing on the tease.
Narrowing my eyes, I stepped over three pairs of boots. “I have more than one hat. I’ll pack every single one of them in a huge hat box so your boots won’t hurt them and bend the rims.”
“You’re gonna to need to stack them because my boot boxes will be taking up the entire back seat, so there will be no room for your three hats.” She spun again, leaning against the kitchen island, that same teasing gleam in her eyes.
“Or,” I sing-songed. “You can bring three pairs of boots like a normal person.” I kicked over a pair of boots, and the gasp that Quinn let out was utterly adorable. Her jaw dropped, and her cheeks flushed.
The playful banter over boots quickly left my brain space, and all that was left there was her.
My breath stopped as I stared at her. Her lips moved as she forced the smile to stay down; keeping the annoyance on her face must have been harder than even she anticipated, and the sparkle in her emerald eyes only gave away that she wanted to play.
I had gotten to know her more in the past month since we started…
dating? Is that what we were doing? Our nights of Once Upon a Time had turned into multiple episodes, kisses on the couch, and her leading me up to her bedroom every single night.
I hadn’t slept in my bunk house in weeks.
I had yet to make any sort of lasting move on her, always stopping before things got too far, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t tease.
I touched, I licked, I savored every inch of her.
I loved finding different ways to hear her moan, make her come—and yet I still had yet to be inside her.
It was absolute torture. Yet, she was worth the wait in every way.
I didn’t want to rush her. Rush us.
I needed her to know she was more than that to me—more than what I was known for.
Every night before she fell asleep in my arms, I would remind her.
We have more than tonight. She would repeat it, snuggle into me, and drift off.
I would fall asleep shortly after, and more often than not, we woke up in the same position even before our alarm clocks rang. I had never slept so deeply.
Quinn scrunched her nose at me; the attempt to stay mad completely failed.
I strode over to her, clearing the distance between us in no time.
With ease, I lifted her onto the island, her knees quickly parting for me to step in and bring her chest flush with mine.
Her arms rested on my shoulders, and our noses brushed together.
“We’re fighting over boots.” She giggled.
“Light bantering. I wouldn’t call it fighting. I just love seeing you get riled up.”
She hummed, tilting her head back, her hair falling down her back. “There are more ways to get me riled up, you know.”
“Oh, I know.” I kissed the bottom of her chin. “I can think of plenty.” I softly nipped her neck, giving her a light kiss where I bit.
“I love it when you do that,” she whispered. “There’s so much I want you to do.”
“Compton…” I said huskily.
“I know, Hartwell. We have more than tonight.” She cocked her head and mimicked my voice, hitting the deep tone perfectly, might I add. “That’s your catchphrase.”
“It’s a good one.”
“It is.”
Before I could answer, she kissed me, deep and raw. Her hands slid into the hair at the nape of my neck as she pulled me closer.
Fuck this, I thought. We did have more time, but that didn’t mean we had to wait…and wait…and wait.
There was no screwing this up anymore. I was in this, and I knew Quinn was, too. What was the point of waiting? She knew she was more to me…
“Quinn,” I whispered into her. “How about—”
The loud, shrill sound from Quinn’s phone made me stop and offer up a truly annoyed eye roll. Lowering my head to her shoulder, I tried to ignore the ring so once it was done, I could scoop her up and run upstairs…finally make her…
“It’s a FaceTime,” she said, her hands sliding down my back. “My dad.”
I gave her a soft kiss and stepped back. “I’ll pick your boots.” I used my thumb to point behind me at the mess, just as Quinn jumped off the counter to reach for her phone.
“Don’t you dare.” She glared at me, pointing at me with her index finger. “Hey, Dad.” Her tone changed the moment the vroop signaled the start of the call.
“Hey, pumpkin,” her dad’s voice was a lot deeper than I imagined, but unlike her mom, I could hear the smile he was giving her.
At least one parent cares.
“Hey, Dad,” she repeated, her tone more melancholy than it was two seconds ago. “What’s up?”
“Just wanted to check in on you. You have a big week coming up, don’t you?”
Quinn walked into the kitchen, setting her phone down on her little stand as she reached for a glass.
I went back into the living room, right in the middle of all the boots, and studied them, trying to keep my focus on the boots and not the conversation with her father.
I didn’t know the man, heard her talk about him rarely—was he going to crush her like her mother did?
“I have the app ready to go. I can’t wait to watch. You going for the gold?”
“Of course, what else would I go for?”
“Any plans afterwards? We’d love to have you up here for your birthday.”
I pinched my brow. Birthday? How did it just now occur to me that I didn’t know her birthday?
I knew this woman’s favorite foods. Favorite colors.
Favorite books and shows. I knew how to make her laugh and ways to make her mad.
I knew almost everything there was to know about her—except her damn birthday.
“No, I have so many events after…I need to be here to train and make sure I’m ready. I only have a few more rodeos to count towards the NFR. August and September are going to be really busy. In October, I should slow down a bit. You know how it is.”
I glanced at her in the kitchen as she filled her glass with water from the tap before she grabbed her phone again.
“I’m packing now, see?” She flipped her phone so the camera faced me. I saw an older man, gray hair neatly styled, with emerald eyes and a full beard. Lance Compton waved at me through the screen, his smile just as wide and as bright as Quinn’s.
“Wyatt’s helping me pack.”
“More like helping you narrow down which boots you can donate,” I shouted.
“None of them!” Quinn shot back.
“You must be the boyfriend Helen told me about. I hate to tell you, but she picked up that trick from her mom.”
Quinn dropped her arm, the phone going with it as she shook her head, letting out a long sigh before raising her phone again. “Thanks for that, Dad. But yes—Wyatt—”
“The boyfriend. I like that better.” I pointed at her, keeping my eyes on a pair of boots I hadn’t seen her wear before.
“—My boyfriend is here to help. We leave in a few days for Utah. But I really should help him before he starts to throw out my boots.”
“Alright. I’ll watch you in Utah and text you then. Consider coming up for your birthday, okay? We miss ya.”
Quinn tightened her lips and nodded. “Maybe. I’ll talk to you later, ok?”
“Love ya, pumpkin.”
“Love you, too.”
The vroop sounded again, and Quinn tossed her phone on the couch, plopping down after it.
I stepped over a pair of boots, taking my seat next to her.
Picking up her hand, I turned it so I held her palm.
I ran my fingers over her lifelines, noticing the way her fingers twitched. She smiled and cuddled into me.
“We can leave the boots out and just order pizza and watch Once Upon a Time…right?”
“We can clean up the boots while we wait for the pizza, but yes. I like that pair, by the way.” I pointed to the black pair with blue and turquoise embroidered flowers that sat in the corner. “I’ve never seen you wear them.”
“Those are one of my favorite pairs. I have a matching hat.”
“Take them? To wear on Gold Medal night?”
She sighed and turned her hand, grasping onto mine to bring it to her lips. She kissed my fingers. “Okay.”
“So…” I started. “Am I allowed to know your birthday?”
She puffed. “August second.”
“And we’re not celebrating…why?”
“Nothing really to celebrate. Twenty-three is no big deal.”
“Every birthday of yours is a big deal.”
“You turned thirty without telling me.” She rested her chin on my shoulder, glaring at me.
“Ha…okay, I’ll give you that.”
“I don’t want or need to celebrate it. All I want is to be with you on my birthday. Okay? Can we do that? With burgers, and sushi, and ice cream, and pizza—”
“Pretty much the entire town’s takeout menu?” I looked down at her.
“And you.”
“And you.” I kissed her nose. “Okay. Deal. No celebration. Just me, you, a shit ton of food, and Once Upon a Time.”
“Deal.”
Then we sealed it with a kiss.