Cody
By the time midnight rolled around, Quinn could hardly stand up straight. She was leaning on me heavily, grinding her body against mine. She’d tried to both dance with and kiss some other guys toward the beginning of the night, but after a few more shots she’d given up and focused on dancing with me.
I tried to convince her to let me take her home a dozen times, but she’d punched me weakly and insisted she stay. Maybe I would’ve tossed her over my shoulder and walked out if I wasn’t enjoying the feel of her body against mine so much.
Logan went home just after she lectured the bartender, but none of the other guys in the room tried to make a move while Quinn was with me. They all knew me, and they wouldn’t have dared no matter how much money they offered her.
“I need to sleep.” She finally stopped dancing and sagged against me, her eyes shut. I scooped her into my arms. After grabbing her shiny wallet and purse off the counter, I nodded at Jimmy, the bartender, and carried her out to the car.
She slept against me half the way home, and then sat up quickly.
“We need food.” Quinn turned to me, her eyes wide and alert.
“It’s midnight, the only thing open is Walmart.” I gestured to the windows, showing her the darkness outside.
“Walmart has Cheetos. I need Cheetos.” She decided.
I barely held back a laugh.
“Then let’s go get you some Cheetos.”
Pulling into the right lane, I turned at the next stoplight and drove straight to Walmart. The parking lot was empty except two of the employees’ cars, as I expected.
When I opened my door, Quinn scooted out after me instead of going out her side. She tried to jump out of the truck, which I knew wasn’t going to go well, so I was ready. Her knees buckled as her feet hit the road, and I caught her.
She looked me up and down.
“You are one sexy mountain.” She shook her head at me. “I’m not supposed to think you’re sexy.”
I couldn’t help it; a broad grin stretched across my face.
“Why not?” I pulled one of her arms over my shoulder and wrapped mine around her waist, holding her up as we walked toward the store.
“It’s a secret.” She said, her face straight and serious for a few seconds before she busted up laughing. “Just kidding. I’m marrying Travis so my dad can be a senator.”
She kept laughing, like it was the funniest thing in the world.
With my soulmate drunk and laughing at the crappy situation, I had to admit that it was kind of funny. Or at least she was kind of funny.
“Why do you want him to be a senator?” I prodded. Logan had told me about her life, but he hadn’t told me what she thought or felt about it. That was something only she could tell me.
“So he’ll love me.” She sighed happily and stopped in her tracks, leaning her head against my shoulder.
Her words hit me hard, to the very core. Did she really think she had to marry someone she didn’t love to make her own father love her?
“I can’t walk anymore. Can you carry me?”
She looked up at me with big blue doe-eyes, and I would’ve carried a mountain for her.
“I’d love to.” I swept her off her feet, and she laughed.
“You’re a gentleman.” She cooed, cuddling into my chest as I carried her into Walmart. She fell asleep in my arms for a few minutes as I walked through the store, and didn’t wake up as I got back in the car with a bag of Cheetos and a bag of salt and vinegar chips.
When we got back to my apartment, I carried her and the snacks into my room with just a quick wave at Sebastian, who was on the couch reading again.
When I set her down on the mattress, she woke up. Her gaze went straight to the bag of Cheetos on the floor next to the bed.
“Oh thank heavens.” She sighed and grabbed the Cheetos, opening the bag and popping one in her mouth in one swift movement. That was impressive, since she’d barely been able to walk. She met my gaze as she chewed. “I’ve been craving Cheetos.” She explained, obviously having forgotten asking me to get them for her.
I smiled, and she raised her eyebrows.
“You never smile at me.”
I frowned.
“See.” She pointed at my face. “I always make you sad.”
Sighing, she collapsed on the mattress on her back. Did she really think that she always made me sad?
“I don’t want to make you sad.” She stuck another Cheeto in her mouth and stared up at the ceiling with sad eyes.
“Hey, you don’t always make me sad.” I sat down next to her and took the hand that wasn’t covered in Cheeto powder. “You make me feel incredible, Quinn. When I’m around you, I feel attractive and important. You make me feel like I have a place in the world.” I lifted her hand to my heart and held it tight to my chest.
She met my gaze for a moment, and I felt like we might actually be having a moment. Then she yanked her hand away and ran out of the room, heading straight for the bathroom.
Quinn puked into the toilet, and I went in to put my hand on her shoulder so she knew she wasn’t alone. Her hair was already up and away from her face, but I wanted her to know that I was there.
When she was done I carried her back to bed and held her close, cradling her against my chest. She fell asleep immediately, snoring softly. I’d never imagined snoring could be cute, but when Quinn snored, she was downright adorable.
With the way she was asleep, the right side of her neck was exposed just in front of my eyes. I got a closer look at the tattoo that she’d used to cover my marking, and lifted my fingers to trace over it. It was an elegant and detailed, swirling thing that covered a good portion of her skin.
While I hated that she’d covered her cotie with it, I could appreciate the way it looked. When my fingers left the tattoo and touched her cotie, I felt her skin warm underneath me. I moved my fingers and felt my lips part as I saw what had happened. The tattoo ink over the cotie faded and then disappeared, absorbed by the magical marking on her neck.
The tattoo was still perfect everywhere else, but the shimmering blue of our cotie was unmistakable again.
I brushed my fingers against the marking and felt a rush of pride. My soulmate was struggling to come to terms with everything that had happened, she was trying to get rid of me, but anyone could see the way she felt about me. She wasn’t trying to convince me to leave because she wanted to.
She was doing it so her dad would love her.
My eyes wandered over her face, and I noticed how soft and vulnerable she looked cuddled against me. She was a strong and sexy, but there was still a piece of her that was just a little girl who was begging her dad to love her.
I swore to myself then that from that moment on, I would love her exactly the way she should’ve been loved by her parents all those years ago. I would make sure she knew that she was good enough even though she was a college dropout and a failed almost-Olympic athlete.
Those things didn’t matter to me. Quinn would know that I loved her no matter what she did or who she wanted to be, and I would spend the rest of my life making her feel like she was the best thing in my life.
That wouldn’t be hard, because it was true. She was my soulmate and she was all I had ever wanted, and I would make sure she knew that without a sliver of doubt.
Quinn was mine, and I was hers.
And I was going to prove that starting with the tattoo on her neck.