Chapter 31
I hadn’t even processed who he was talking to or even what they said. All I could think about was what was happening at my home. Ravik was gone, and my life was no longer in danger. I had to go home. I didn’t know what that meant for Quinn and me, but Aspen was a priority. She had to be.
We climbed into the car. With the backseats full, Callie rode with Hyder.
He had to bring our stuff to Quinn’s home.
I knew he had a small two-bedroom home that he shared with Callie.
Callie already told us that she was planning to move back to Louisiana after we figured everything out.
Lina had offered to teach her midwifery.
She felt that it was her birthright to do that.
“I need to go home, Quinn,” I said.
“I was afraid of that,” he said.
“You know that was always the goal. I need to see Aspen. I don’t know what’s going on over there. I took care of everything, and I haven’t been home in six months,” I said.
“I know, but does it have to be tonight?” he asked.
“Yes, as soon as I can,” I replied.
He didn’t say anything, but his face said everything. His lips were pursed, brows furrowed.
After a long minute of silence, he sighed. “Can we talk about it once we get to the house and get everything unpacked?”
“Okay,” I said.
The rest of the ride was quiet. I knew that for both of us it was a taxing day. We took down Ravik, not just took him down—I killed him. He may have hated him, but he was still his uncle.
Quinn lived off of 331, closer to Pigeon Forge.
We turned onto a dirt road and very shortly pulled into a driveway.
It was a small two-bedroom brick ranch house.
Within a couple of minutes, Hyder pulled in behind us.
Quinn got out and ran to the other side to open my door.
The times I opened the door and got out before him, he gave me a look.
He didn’t say anything, but I knew it bothered him.
He wanted me to wait for him, wanting to be a gentleman.
I resigned myself to letting him. It made him happy.
I stepped out of the car. He tilted his head at me and gave me a slight smile. I pressed my lips together, curving them at the edges.
“Let’s do a tour, it’s small, but… I like it,” he said.
“Alright,” I said.
I knew he didn’t want me to leave, but he also knew I needed to. I didn’t want to leave him either. I wanted to stay right with him. I wanted to sleep in his arms every night as I had the last few weeks. I wanted him to devour me as he did earlier.
We walked up a couple of concrete stairs onto a small concrete porch that had a metal fence wrapped around it. We walked into the living room. There was an archway where a dining room sat.
“This is the living room. It’s not much, but there’s furniture, bookshelves, and a TV. All of our favorite things,” he said.
“You do enjoy reading,” I said, nodding toward the three bookshelves that lined the one wall.
He shrugged. “Some of it’s Callie’s, too.”
“Uh-huh, sure,” I teased.
He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the dining room.
“The dining and kitchen are really just one area, but here it is. It’s a bit bigger than the cabin,” he said.
He turned around and headed down the hall, pulling me along.
He opened the first door on the right.
“And this is the laundry room,” he said, motioning into the room.
Then, he took a step to the left of the hallway and opened the door.
“This is the very small guest bathroom,” he said.
“It is indeed,” I replied.
There was a sink and a toilet.
“Don’t worry, whoever built this house was thinking right.” He walked to the next door on the left and opened it.
“This is Callie’s domain. She has her own bathroom in there. We do not enter without permission,” he said.
I raised my right eyebrow at him, let go of his hand, and walked into the room.
“Oh… yeah, I’m not doing that,” he said, standing in the doorway.
I walked in, taking everything in. The bed sat in the middle, dark blue bedding with red roses. On the side, in front of the window, there was a vanity.
“She’s coming,” he muttered.
“And? You're a man…”
“She’s right… She’s welcome… ya know, girls only club,” she said.
“You see, I’m standing in the hall, not breaking any cardinal rules,” he said.
“Your room is cute,” I told her.
“Thanks,” she said.
I headed out of the room.
“And last but not least, my room,” he said, as he opened the door.
It was much larger than Callie’s. His eyes darted around the room.
“Callie!” he shouted.
“It's only a one-way rule, Quinn,” she shouted back.
“Oof, what’s missing?” I asked.
“Oh… maybe some books, one of my pillows, and I’m sure many other things. I haven’t even walked into the bathroom,” he said, laughing.
He walked to the other door, opening it.
“This is my bathroom, and apparently, it supplies Callie as she desires.”
I laughed as I looked into the bathroom. There was a large walk-in shower with a glass surround. There was the standard toilet, with a long counter with a sink in the middle.
“No bath to soak in?” I asked.
“No… no… but I have something on the back porch you might like,” he said.
He grabbed my hand, pulled me up the hall, and back into the kitchen. We went out the back door and onto a covered porch. The porch was almost enclosed. In the corner, there was a large covered hot tub.
“Why weren’t the parties at your house?” I asked.
“Because my house is my peace, and drunken idiots breaking shit piss me off,” he said.
I laughed. “That’s fair.”
“Besides, we’ve had small get-togethers here, just no big things,” he said.
There was a glass table with some chairs. I slumped down in one of the chairs. Quinn pulled a chair over and sat next to me.
“I guess we should talk about the elephant in the room,” Quinn said.
“Yeah…” I said.
“What’s your plan when you get there?” he asked.
“I don’t know… assess the situation. Take care of things,” I said.
“So, staying there?” he asked.
“Yes… I don’t know… maybe,” I said.
“Damn it,” he muttered.
“If I stay there, it doesn’t change anything between us,” I said.
“I know, but part of me is… scared that you won’t come back,” he said.
“Our story has just begun, and I know I’m not ready for it to be over, but I also know Aspen has to be my number one priority, even if we have to be on the back burner, for the moment,” I told him.
“I know… even if it’s hard to hear, but Aspen is a child, and she should be the priority,” he said.
I nodded at him. It felt like we were breaking up, before we’d even thrown a label on this.
“Do you want me to go with you?” he asked.
“No, I need to do this alone, but I’m gonna need a ride,” I said.
“You can have the car in the garage,” he said.
“The car in the garage?” I asked.
“Yeah… I might have another vehicle…”
“Thanks… I guess… I promise to treat it well,” I said.
“It’s just a little Pontiac Grand-Am, but it’s nice,” he said.
“Alright… I also need the number to get a hold of you,” I said.
“Yeah, that would be helpful. Let’s get you going,” he said.
“I promise I don’t really want to, but I have to,” I said.
We both stood up. He stepped closer to me, closing the gap. He put his hands on my sides and pulled me into him. His amber brown eyes pierced into mine.
“Zalayuh, will you be my one and only mate?” he asked.
“Yes. It’s about time you asked,” I said.
“Figured since you told me I was being dumb and hadn’t asked, I’d ask, especially before you leave,” he said.
I reached out and pulled his face to mine, our lips joining together. Moments passed as we held our lips together. He finally pulled away, cupping my cheeks.
“My house is your house. We have already lived together, and you can bring Aspen here if you need,” he said.
I didn’t know what to say to that. I nodded.
He let go, grabbed my hand, and pulled me back into the kitchen toward another door that was in the corner, close to the living room wall. He grabbed a set of keys from the key rack on the wall. He opened the door. I instantly looked at the car parked in the garage. It was a four-door, sleek black.
We walked down the three stairs into the garage. He pressed the button on the wall, and the garage door opened. He opened the car door and slid into the seat, starting the car. The exhaust echoed in the garage. It was much louder than I thought it would be.
He got out of the car and looked at me, then tilted his head slightly.
“Do you remember how to get home?” he asked.
“Yeah… you don’t live down a whole bunch of dirt roads,” I replied.
“Okay… God… this is gonna be harder than I thought,” he said.
“Is it?”
“No… you’re right, I knew it was gonna be hard, but to stare at you and know that I’m gonna say bye… well, it fucking sucks,” he said.
“It’s not goodbye… it’s see you later,” I told him, flashing him a smile.
“And if I show up to your house… unannounced?”
“Fine… except tonight,” I told him.
“Okay… I’ll be good… tonight,” he said.
He walked over to the wall where there was a wooden block counter. He grabbed a pen, a pad of paper, wrote his number down, and then ripped it off the pad.
“What’s yours?” he asked.
I rattled off the number for him as he wrote it down. He folded the other paper as he walked toward me. He pulled me closer and then tucked it into my front pants pocket.
“Call me anytime, day or night, or two a.m.—I don’t care—call me. I’ll be there in minutes,” he said.
“Minutes, huh? You teleport, too?” I teased.
“Haha, I just drive like a bat out of hell,” he said.
He pulled me into a tight hug.
“I love you, my little doe,” he said.