Quinn
Hallie had to work until 11 AM, so Leah and I took care of the shopping just the two of us. When we brought the paint back to the house, Hallie was waiting in the driveway in a shiny white car I didn’t recognize, and she wasn’t alone.
Emma got out of the car with her, looking a little unsure and a lot defensive. Her arms folded over her chest, and she leaned up against the door of the car.
“Do you want me to talk to her first?” Leah asked. She seemed hesitant and maybe a little worried. I could understand why; her family had just barely started coming back together, so they were in delicate place.
“No, I can handle it.” I shot her a grateful smile and got out of her car.
Cody and Tanner were at work until threeish, and while I had more than enough money to support both of us, I didn’t try to stop him from going. I needed time to figure out what I was going to do about choosing him or my family, and I couldn’t figure it out while I was with him and he was making me feel all whole and perfect.
Emma didn’t say anything as I closed the distance between us, but she didn’t have to. I was the one who needed to talk. While I hadn’t decided what to do about Cody or the sucky situation I was in, I had decided that I was going to at least be friends with his family.
They had treated me better than most people in my life ever had, and they deserved the same courtesy.
“Look, I just want you to know Logan and I never had any kind of a serious relationship. We were together for a little while, but when it was clear that we had no chemistry on anything other than a physical level, we parted ways as friends.”
She didn’t speak right away, and then she sighed.
“That’s what he said.”
“And it’s the truth.” I promised. “I’m not at all interested in your soulmate, and I’m sorry if I made it sound like I was yesterday. I’ve been the biggest hoe the past few days, but that has nothing to do with you guys and everything to do with my nightmare of a life.”
Emma unfolded her arms and nodded. Though she still looked a little guarded, she seemed to have relaxed quite a bit.
As the day went on, we listened to loud piano music and told each other stories and laughed together. We painted a lot, but we had at least two or three more days of painting ahead of us by the time we called it quits.
The more we chatted, the more Emma relaxed around me. She was friendly and chill, like Hallie, but I could definitely tell that she was wolfier than Hallie was. Emma had this sort of intensity to her where Hallie was just calm and quiet.
Up to that point, I’d spent my entire life trying to make my parents love me. I’d become one of the top gymnasts in the country, I’d attempted to go to law school, and I’d even agreed to a political marriage. I’d never bothered to have dreams of my own; my only dream was to be loved and feel like I mattered to them.
Never once had I expected that I would get that kind of unconditional love from three women who turned into wolves.
I had to choose between unconditional love and duty to my family, and that wasn’t a choice I had bothered preparing to make.