Quinn
Waking up wrapped in Brody’s arms, I could almost forget the conversation I’d had with him before I fell asleep. I was relieved I’d finally told someone what Evan had done. I hated the idea of Brody feeling sorry for me though. Slowly lifting my head, I saw him smiling down at me.
“Hey. Good sleep?”
I nodded. “Have I been asleep long?”
“About an hour,” he replied with a chuckle.
“Sorry. I bet you have better things to be doing than being my pillow.” The emotion of finally telling someone about Evan had wiped me out. I hadn’t planned on falling asleep, but once I was in his arms, it was hard to stay awake. Hearing Brody burst out laughing had me raising my eyebrows in question.
“Are you kidding me? I have nothing I’d rather be doing than lying in bed with you in my arms. Well…” He trailed off giving me a cocky grin. “Maybe I can think of one or two other things.” He winked at me and I rolled my eyes.
“You mean mucking the stables out?” I teased.
“Yeah, that’s just what I was thinking.” He rolled me onto my back and ran his hand up my thigh, over my stomach and up under my shirt. His fingers tickled my sides and I let out a scream.
“Brody! Stop it,” I yelled, laughing as my legs squirmed on the bed as he continued to tickle me. I was struggling to catch my breath, and I tried unsuccessfully to slap his hands away.
“Seems someone is ticklish.” He smirked at me, knowing there was no way I could get out of his grasp.
“Time out!” I cried, laughing harder than I’d done in forever. When all he did was laugh and ignore me, I knew exactly what would get him to stop. I grinned widely.
“Ow! My ribs,” I shouted. Immediately he stopped tickling me and removed all his weight from on top of me.
“Are you okay?” His voice was full of concern. Smirking back at him I scurried off the bed and ran to the door.
“Ha! Gotcha! I knew that would get you to stop,” I declared triumphantly. Standing by his bedroom door I watched his face as he realized I’d tricked him.
“You little...” he began as he jumped off the bed and crossed the room toward me. Squealing, I opened the door and ran laughing down the hall, taking the stairs two at a time. Brody was quicker than me though, and by the time I’d made it downstairs and into the hall he was right behind me. I felt his arms wrap around me, spinning me so I was facing him. I was out of breath from running downstairs and laughed as he caught me.
“You can’t get away, you know?” he mumbled into my ear, his tongue licking my neck. Picking me up, I wrapped my legs around him and he kissed around my jaw, his lips finding mine. Kissing me like he needed me for his next breath, I tugged on his hair at the base of his neck. My mouth opened to him and I heard him moan as our tongues collided. Never breaking the kiss, he walked with me in his arms until my back was pressed against the wall. The wall scraped my skin, but I was too lost in him to even care. My hands were in his hair and the familiar ache between my legs began to build.
Completely consumed by him, I suddenly froze when I heard someone clearing their throat behind us.
“Brody?” I heard Claire ask, surprise evident in her voice. Feeling my cheeks flush with heat, Brody took a step back, and I dropped my feet to the ground. His arm went around my waist, tucking me into his side. Looking anywhere but at Claire we turned to face her.
“Hi, Mom. Good weekend?” he asked calmly as if his mom hadn’t just caught us making out in the hall. I raised my head and saw the confused expression on her face.
“What’s going on?” she asked looking between us. I looked up to Brody, and he grinned down at me.
“Quinn and I are dating,” he announced. My eyes went wide, and my mouth dropped open.
“We are?”
He nodded. “Yes, baby, we are.” He leaned down and brushed a kiss across my lips.
“Dating?” Claire repeated. “Since when?” Chancing a glance at her I saw she was smiling, and I felt my body relax slightly. I was still mortified she’d caught us making out, but I couldn’t help feeling relieved that she didn’t seem angry. I didn’t want her to think I was taking advantage of her letting me stay with them.
“Since we went out on a date last night,” Brody told her. “Someone forgot to mention that it was her birthday.” He pressed my body tighter against him, tickling my side again.
“Brody,” I hissed, squirming to get away from him.
“Your birthday? Oh, honey, you should have said something. Happy birthday.” She stepped forward and pulled me from Brody’s side, wrapping me up in a hug.
“What’s going on?” Ryan asked as he walked through the door carrying luggage.
“Well, it seems like we’ve missed a lot while we’ve been away,” Claire told him, releasing me from her embrace and turning to speak to Ryan. “Quinn’s had a birthday while we were gone, and Brody and Quinn are dating.” Brody had pulled me back into his side, and I saw Ryan look at Brody’s arm currently slung over my shoulder.
“That’s great news, and happy birthday, darlin’,” Ryan said as he struggled to hold all the luggage he was carrying. “Now put your girl down, Son, and help me with all these. We only went away for two nights, but your mother insisted on taking all of this stuff.”
“I guess we know where Sav gets her clothes obsession from then.” He chuckled as he removed his arm from around me and relieved Ryan of a couple of duffels.
“Hey! In my defense, you didn’t tell me where we were going, or what we were doing. How was I supposed to know what to pack?” she asked exasperated.
“Sweetheart, you’d look gorgeous in anything.” Ryan winked at her, before walking over and kissing her on the lips. I smiled at them, as I watched Claire’s cheeks turn pink.
“Oh hush, you old charmer,” she said, playfully pushing Ryan away. Turning to me she smiled. “You want to watch these Parker men, Quinn. If Brody’s anything like his dad, he’ll have you forgetting your own name with just one glance.” My eye caught Brody’s, and he flashed me a panty-tingling smile. I had a feeling she was right. I was already in over my head with him.
Apparently, we were dating. It was news to me; we hadn’t exactly discussed anything. But I couldn’t deny how my heart raced at the thought of being his. Although I knew I couldn’t stay with him forever, I also knew I couldn’t walk away just yet either. He’d promised to keep me safe, but I knew if the time came and Evan found me, I wouldn’t bring my troubles to the ranch. They didn’t deserve to be caught up in the middle of my problems. I was beginning to really care for everyone here. There was no way I could stand to see any of them get hurt because of me.
Brody
Kissing Quinn goodbye at her bedroom door, I made my way to my room for a shower before heading outside with Dad to check on the ranch. Mom and Quinn were going to go over which cabins she would be cleaning tomorrow, and she’d promised to come and find me when she was done.
Walking down the porch steps and across the drive, we came to a stop in front of the charred grass where the stables used to stand. What was left of the building had been removed and the ground had almost been cleared of debris. Next week would see the frame of the new stables being put in.
“So, Quinn?” my dad asked. “When did that happen?”
Sighing, I ran my hand through my hair. “Honestly? From the minute I pulled her from the stables.” I shrugged my shoulders. “There are reasons why it couldn’t and probably shouldn’t work but…” I trailed off.
“But?” he prompted.
“I couldn’t stay away.”
“Sometimes it just feels right, Son.” He slapped me on the back. “Has she told you what’s going on with her?”
I nodded. “Yeah, she told me this morning. It’s her stepdad. He’s in trouble and he’s trying to drag her into it.” I didn’t elaborate as I didn’t know if Quinn wanted everyone to know. I wasn’t going to break a confidence. I felt myself getting angry at the thought of her stepdad putting his hands on her and I took a few deep breaths to calm down.
“I hope it all works out for you, Brody.”
“Thanks, Dad. Me too.”
There wasn’t a lot to do on the ranch this early in the season. The cabins being renovated were mostly being done by an outside company. Other than seeing to the horses and the odd bit of general maintenance, it was quiet. Dad went to check on the cabins that were being renovated, and I headed to the old barn to check on the horses. Taylor or Colt would have been there first thing to muck them out and exercise them; I just needed to do a final check before having the afternoon off. In high season, I worked pretty much seven days a week, so it was nice at this time of year to actually get some time off.
After checking on the horses and meeting Quinn at the cabins, we headed back to the house. We spent the afternoon in the den watching Quinn’s choice of movie, which just so happened to be a cheesy chick flick. I didn’t care. Her body was wrapped around mine on the couch and we spent more time making out than we did actually watching the movie.
Savannah and Josh had come for dinner and we’d spent the rest of the night all together in the living room, talking and laughing. Savannah had collared me in the kitchen when I’d gone to get a drink, wanting to know every little detail of Quinn’s and my date. I’d told her the bare minimum, much to her annoyance. I knew Quinn would fill her in on the rest when they were alone. Girls loved to talk about shit like that.
When Savannah and Josh had gone, I walked Quinn to her room. It had taken half an hour to kiss her goodnight in her doorway. Neither of us wanting to be the one to walk away first. I’d really wanted her to sleep in my room, but I didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable. I’d seen her embarrassment when my mom had walked in on us kissing earlier, and I didn’t want to pressure her. Mom wouldn’t have cared. I’d lost count of the amount of times I’d walked into the kitchen and my parents had been kissing in front of the stove. They were like loved-up teenagers and had been for as long as I could remember.
Reluctantly leaving her at her door, I turned and walked back to my room, glancing over my shoulder at her as she raised her hand and waved. I waved back hoping I would be able to sleep, knowing she was down the hall.
An hour later and I rolled over onto my back, groaning at the ceiling. I’d been restless since I’d gotten into bed and I just couldn’t fall off to sleep. Turning to flick the lamp on, I saw my phone on the nightstand. The notification light was illuminated, indicating I had a message. Sitting up, I reached over and grabbed my phone. There was a message on there from Quinn.
Quinn: Are you awake?
I looked at the time the message was sent. I’d received it ten minutes ago. Not knowing if Quinn was still awake, I quickly typed out a reply.
Me: Yeah, baby. You okay?
I held the phone in my hand waiting for a reply. After a couple of minutes nothing had come through and I guessed she must have fallen asleep. Lying back down, I heard soft tapping on the door.
“Brody?” Quinn’s voice called through the door, before the handle turned and the door eased open. “It’s me,” she whispered.
“Hey, come in. Are you okay?” I watched her nod as my eyes fell to her in my shirt again.
“I couldn’t sleep. Do you think I could sleep in here with you?” she asked shyly, biting down on her bottom lip.
“Of course, you can. I can’t sleep either. Maybe we’ll do better together,” I suggested, pulling the comforter back as she crossed the room toward me. She climbed in and immediately pressed her body into my side. Raising my arm, she tucked her head onto my chest, her hand resting on my abdomen. Looking down at her, I saw her eyes were already closed, and she sighed contentedly. Kissing the top of her head, I too closed my eyes falling almost instantly asleep.