Quinn
I woke up cuddled up with Cody the next morning, wide-eyed with one thought running through my mind.
Why did my dad need the Childers to get him into the senate?
Shifters were the hottest topic in the country, and had been since the walls that kept them contained in half of Washington went down two years earlier. Why did he need the Childers when he had something so much better?
He had me and Cody.
If he campaigned with shifter acceptance and inclusion as his emphasis, using his daughter and son-in-law as proof, he would win by a landslide. There were plenty of people who still didn’t approve of shifters being a part of human society, but the vast majority did.
I just needed to prove that to my dad.
My phone was plugged in about a foot away from my head, so I barely had to reach at all to grab it. Half of me was already sprawled across Cody’s bare, muscley chest so taking a cute picture was simple.
With his neck turned the right way, showing off his cotie, along with his fantastic shoulders and pecs, he looked perfect. I fixed my hair a little and opened my eyes, curling my lips up into a slight smile before I snapped the picture.
Propping myself up on a little on his chest, I typed out a quick caption and post that said:
Feeling so lucky to have this sexy man as my SOULMATE. Did you know that being soulmates with a shifter turns you into one?
After I added a few hashtags, I posted it across all of my social media pages on every platform.
Cody’s phone had been plugged in next to mine, and before I was even finished posting on all of my sites, a text dinged and lit up his screen. I didn’t snoop at first, but when three more followed it after I finished posting, I couldn’t help it.
I took a guess at the passcode, and when I got it wrong, squinted to try to figure out what picture Emma had sent.
“It’s 1232.” Cody murmured. A quick glance showed a small smile pulling up the corners of his mouth.
I typed in the code and then clicked on the messages app, where I opened what looked like a family group chat. When I saw the picture Emma sent, I smiled.
“What does it say?” He opened his sleepy eyes. It’s so cheesy to say, but my heart actually warmed when he looked at me with those tired, happy eyes. He was perfect.
I glanced at the dancing, celebration, and thumbs-up gifs before I handed him the phone.
He pulled his arm off of my waist to take it, and I almost put his arm right back.
But instead I let him look at the photo.
“Did you post this?” he looked from the phone to me and back.
“No, I guess some other Quinn Longhorn was in the bedroom with us.” I put a serious expression on my face and rolled off of him so I was lying on my back.
Cody tossed the phone to the bed and rolled on top of me. The quick movement made my back hurt a little, but it wasn’t hard to ignore it.
I swallowed, staring up into those sexy brown eyes. The pressure of his body against mine warmed me all over.
“You’re really done trying to get rid of me?” he demanded, searching my eyes with that intense gaze.
“Well I mean…” I bit my lip to hide a smile. I was enjoying bothering him far too much to just admit that he was right.
“If this is just another part of your plan, I swear,” he growled, and I watched the way his muscles bulged as he considered that I was using social media against him. Suddenly, I didn’t want him to be angry. I wanted him to kiss me. “I’ll—”
“I don’t want to get rid of you.” I interrupted him. My heartbeat picked up as I realized that was it—I was making my decision. For better or worse, in that moment I was choosing Cody over my family.
I swallowed again.
“I want to be with you.”
His lips met mine and his body pressed into mine harder.
The best kind of fire burned through me while our mouths moved as one, and I lifted my hand to the cotie on his neck. One of his hands tangled in my hair while the other slipped under my t-shirt and gripped my hip.
Cody groaned and pulled my hand off, moving it to rest on his bare chest. I could feel his heart pounding under my palm, and I loved the way I affected him.
“I can’t resist you.” His hand on my hip moved up to my waist, and he met my eyes with a fiery-hot smolder.
“Why would you want to?”
I pulled his mouth back down to mine. That was the last thing either of us said for a long, long while.