I sit on the edge of the bed, petting Neville until Quinn comes out of the shower. Her hair is twisted in a messy bun on the top of her head, and she's wearing a loose-fitting t-shirt that barely covers her ass. She’s not wearing pants, and her pink and black panties show when she walks.
I swallow hard, looking her over. She’s so fucking gorgeous, even when she’s sick. She comes to the bed, sitting heavily, and lays back.
“Is this okay?” she asks, reaching for the blanket.
“What do you mean?” I pull the blankets over both of us.
“Wearing this. I mean…you’ve seen me naked before. I’ve seen you naked. But we’re not…we’re not dating,” she says, almost wincing at the words. “And I wasn’t sure if I should put on pants or not. I either just wear underwear or shorts to bed.”
“Oh, right. I, uh, don’t know. I’m fine with it as long as you’re comfortable.”
She rolls over, facing the humidifier. “I’m comfortable. Around you, I mean.”
I lay down next to her, spooning my body next to hers, and put my hand over her abdomen. Quinn’s hand lands on top of mine, and she lets out a deep breath.
“Archer?” she says softly.
“Yeah?”
“I’m glad you’re here.”
I kiss the back of her neck. “Me too.”
Waking up with Quinn in my arms is the best feeling in the world. The sun is setting, and we’ve both been asleep for hours. Quinn is still asleep, snoring slightly through her stuffy nose. I brush loose strands of her hair back from her face and kiss her softly.
Slowly, I get up and use the bathroom, then climb back into bed with Quinn. In her sleep, she rolls over and wraps her arm around me. I hold her close, never wanting to let go.
Then she starts coughing, waking herself up. Groaning, she sits up and reaches for the glass of water, but hesitates. I smile, remembering her saying she won’t drink out of a glass that’s been sitting unattended.
“I’ll get you a fresh glass,” I offer and get out of bed. I go into the kitchen, Neville winding around my feet the whole way, and get a clean glass from the cabinet.
“Thanks,” Quinn says when I get back, taking the water from me.
“How are you feeling?”
“I think a little better. I don’t have a headache anymore.”
“That’s good. Are you hungry?”
“Kind of. I don’t really have an appetite. Though I do want Sour Patch Kids.” She sets the glass down and lays back in my arms. I kiss her neck and pull her onto my chest.
“I like this,” she says softly, blushing as if I’m going to think it’s stupid.
“I do too, Quinn.” Taking a breath, I look into her eyes. “I like being with you, and I’m not saying that because you’re pregnant,” I add. “I should have called you. You have no idea how much I regret not calling you.”
Her brows pinch together, and she nods and splays her fingers over my chest. “I wished you called. I got mad at you when you didn’t.”
“I noticed,” I say with a smile, thinking back to seeing her walk into her parents’ house over the past weekend.
“And I feel like I should still be mad at you, but there’s so much else going on I don’t have the energy to.”
“I guess that’s good for me? If you want to be mad, I can’t blame you. But if you want to give this a shot—give us a shot—it’d make me really happy.”
She sits up, looking into my eyes. “You mean like be a couple?”
“Yes.”
Quinn bites her lip, considering my words. “Are you sure you want to date me?”
“Hmmm…let me think about it. Okay, thought about it. Yes.”
Quinn smiles. “I feel like you’re only getting half of me though and it won’t be a fair representation of who I really am.”
“What are you talking about?” I run my hand up the back of her thigh.
“I can be really annoying when I’m drunk. And I can’t drink.”
My fingers edge along the hem of her panties. “I don’t think that will be a determining factor. At all. You don’t drink very often, right?”
“No.”
“See? Not a problem at all.”
She smiles. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to be with me because I’m pregnant.”
“I don’t at all. I know I left and didn’t call and that doesn’t help my case, but I promise you, Quinn, I wouldn’t have slept with you the first time if I didn’t like you.” I swallow hard, heart beating fast. “I kind of panicked after.”
“Really?” Quinn lifts her head up, looking at me incredulously.
“Really. Dean’s been my best friend for over a decade. Your family is like my family, and I knew the mess it would make if they found out about us.”
Quinn lets out a strangled snort of laughter. “Oh, it’s going to be very messy. Dean’s not going to be happy to hear that we’re dating, let alone that you knocked me up.”
“I know.” I slide my hand over her ass and close my eyes. “But it’s worth it, Quinn. You’re worth it. I mean, we have a lot at stake now.”
“Yeah, we do.”
“I want to raise this child together.” Because I love you.
“Me too.” She rests her head back on my chest. “You said you work next weekend, right?”
“Yeah, why?”
“We need to tell my family.”
The thought makes my stomach knot up. “Yeah. We do.”
“Maybe we can take it in stages. Tell them we’re dating first, then drop the baby-bomb.”
“Good idea.” I squeeze Quinn’s ass again. She’s finally my girlfriend, and though it didn’t happen the way I thought, I have a good feeling about us. “I work Saturday and Sunday, but I’m off Thursday evening and all of Friday.”
“I can leave early Thursday and take Friday off.”
“So, dinner at your parents’ Thursday night?”
Quinn lifts her head, looking into my eyes. “Yeah. We’ll tell everyone in a week.”
23
Quinn
I wake up in Archer’s arms, and for the first time since I found out I’m pregnant, everything feels like it’s going to be okay. He made me dinner last night, and went out and got me more Sour Patch Kids before we went to sleep.
I carefully roll over, moving closer to him. It feels so good to have him next to me. Physically, his presence is comforting on its own. But having him here for everything else is almost enough to do me in.
We jumped into a relationship and need to take things slow. He said he likes me but held off moving forward out of respect to Dean, but things are bigger than their friendship now. We have less than a week before we drop the bomb on my family, and I’m fairly sure all four of my brothers are going to have a few choice words for Archer.
Early morning sun filters through the large windows. I forgot to close the blinds last night, and the light is shining right in on Archer. I reach over and take my phone from the nightstand. My blinds are powered, and I can open and close them with an app on my phone.
The room darkens, and I lay back down next to Archer. Two of the cats are in bed with us, and it might be silly to take it as a sign, but I do: the cats like Archer. I’m completely aware of how much I’m becoming a crazy cat lady, but hey, at least I’m not currently single. That has to count for something, right?
“Quinn?” Archer asks softly some time later. I hadn’t quite fallen back asleep on account of an overactive mind. All those things I didn’t want to think about kept popping into my brain. “Are you awake?”
I tighten my arm around him and tip my head up. “Yeah.”
He smiles and kisses my forehead. “I like waking up next to you.”
“I like it too. But you, not me. Because saying I like it too means I like waking up next to myself, right?”
He laughs softly. “Sure. Are you hungry? I’ll make breakfast. Just tell me what you want.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Breakfast and
I don’t really get along too well at the moment.”
“Oh, right.”
“But a smoothie sounds good, and easy to digest.”
“I can go get you one.” He smooths my hair back. Neither of us makes a move to get up. Lounging around in bed with Archer—who’s now my boyfriend—feels so damn good.