Quinn twirled the straw that was sticking out of the lid on her mocha. Rain had spent the night in her room and she had woken to another orgasm courtesy of Mr. Rochon. She was starting to get greedy for them. He didn’t even stick around for her to repay the gesture. He just kissed her, told her she was beautiful and that he loved her, and then left.

His excuse was showering and packing for the weekend. Quinn was tasked with moving her work shifts off to someone else. Thankfully that wasn’t that hard since she had basically threatened to quit if her coworkers didn’t help her out. She was the one who picked up the slack for them and covered for them when they were too hung-over to come in.

She had a mid-day class and she was supposed to meet up with The Sisterhood. She really didn’t want to go, but not showing up might seem like he wasn’t letting her go. All these stupid rules, which she didn’t even agree to, had been controlling her and she didn’t even realize. True, they were good rules that kept her safe, but she wasn’t so sure about what they were keeping her safe from anymore.

Rain made a lot of sense when he said that she could change the rules. What if she threw them out the window and lived her life by what worked for her? It didn’t have to be right for every woman, just for her.

It was a revelation to her that she had choice. Her life had been directed by rules that someone else had decided on long before she was around. She could still be a strong, independent woman and have a man in her life.

Checking her phone, she saw no new messages from her mom. She was hoping that in the light of day that her mom would realize that she had overreacted and would at least send her a text. But her silence hurt. It wasn’t even her dislike of Rain, it was the fact that she flat out said she didn’t believe in Quinn’s ability to make decisions for herself.

Every decision she had made in the last three years was weighed against her mother’s approval. But when she had decided to stray from the path for the first time her mother had decided that she was no longer allowed to guide her own future?

That was some bullshit right there. She was an adult, and no one was going to tell her that she couldn’t be with Rain.

Grabbing her coffee, Quinn marched towards her meeting. The bag of clothes she had packed for the weekend was sitting by her bed in her room. At first she had tried to pack the most non-descript clothes she had, and then thought about how that wasn’t her. If this was her first meeting with Rain’s family, she didn’t want to be setting herself up to always have to put that persona on around them.

With that thought in the back of her mind, Quinn had dumped out the bag and re-packed it with her regular clothes. She was wearing a paisley stretch skirt that hit her knees and a pair of capri length black leggings. Her black Doc Martins were unlaced, making her feet scuff when she walked. She had grabbed a purple tank and thrown on a black sweatshirt that said Feminist Killjoy that she’d cut the neck out of. It fell off of her shoulders as she walked and she wrapped her arms around her waist against the chill of the afternoon

Walking into the meeting room, she saw that she wasn’t the first one there. Other women from her group were on the couches and a few were seated on the floor chatting. She spotted Krissy and fell onto an empty spot on the couch next to her.

“How they hangin’, chicklet?”

“Good, I guess. How are you doing?” Krissy had turned towards her and reached out for her hands.

Confused, Quinn said, “Fine. Thanks for asking.”

“You know I’m always here for you, right?”

What the heck was happening? She looked around the room and saw more than a few pairs of eyes trained on her.

“Is there something going on that I don’t know about? Why is everyone staring at me?”

“Emma Martin told Layla Downing that her roommate saw you and that guy yelling at some other woman last night outside your dorm. Emma said it was probably a hooker that you caught him with. I told her that was stupid and she shouldn’t start rumors, but well… that’s why they’re all staring. They think he’s already cheating on you.”

“For fuck’s sake!” Quinn exploded.

Krissy pulled away in shock and Quinn immediately felt bad for lashing out. “Sorry, sweetie, not you.”

Standing up, she addressed the room. “Just so you all know, I have a perfectly reasonable explanation for what happened last night. But guess what? I don’t owe any of you a fucking thing! Who I date, why I date them, and how I date them is my own goddamned business. I don’t want, or need, your approval. Sitting around and gossiping about it is childish and pretty shitty.”

Quinn was seething. She had been through an entire week of constantly defending herself and it was getting really old. Some of them had the decency to at least looked embarrassed about getting caught gossiping. Then Sara stood up. Of course it was Sara.

“Quinn,” she started, overemphasizing her name. “Members discussing a situation that might be detrimental to the group could hardly be called gossiping.”

“I’m sorry, did you say ‘detrimental to the group?’ How the hell is who I fuck detrimental to you?”

Sara rolled her eyes. “There is no need to be crass.”

“I beg to differ. There is a very good reason to be crass. You’re being a petty bitch!”

“That isn’t approved language in the group and you know that,” Sara said, her face starting to turn a blotchy shade of red.

“Let me guess, someone put into the bylaws not to be able to call someone a bitch if they were acting like it? That took some forethought. I like this group, I like being part of something that’s bigger than I am, and most of the time we do good things. But we have somehow forgotten how to be kind to one another while we are so busy defending those that aren’t us. Shouldn’t our helpful nature start in this group?”

“We are helpful, as long as everyone that is in the group has the same ideals. We can’t have someone coming in and being subversive to our mission.” Sara couldn’t have looked more smug.

“So, if I don’t think like you, act like you, and step in line, then I’m bad for the group? That’s funny, I thought this group was about supporting women and making sure we all had the choice to decide our own future.”

“We are, but you are clearly more concerned about having some man take over your life than supporting our causes. We know he’s cheating on you, and you showing up here and pretending everything is okay is insulting.”

Quinn couldn’t help but laugh. “Gawd, you are fucking ridiculous. Fine, I officially renounce my membership. Because I truly believe in women’s rights, all of them. So I’ll tell you that I love Rainier Rochon. We have mind blowing sex. I’m talking multiple orgasms every time. He loves to go down on me, oh and he bought me a car yesterday. So take your judgment, your intolerance, and your pretentious attitudes and go fuck yourselves.”

Turning on her heel she looked at Krissy and said, “You can call me, we’re cool.” Then she gave one last searing glance at the group and marched out, the flames of her burning bridge licking at her heels.

When Quinn got outside, she paused and stared up at the sky. Turning her face towards the patch of sunshine that was peeking through the clouds, she let the heat soak into her skin. She should feel bad about what had happened, she should even be angry. Instead, she felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. It wasn’t lost on her that she had just announced that she loved Rain to a group of women.

The chances that it would get back to him weren’t high. The bigger question was whether or not it was true. It felt true, it felt right, and it made her chest feel warm when she thought about it. Is that what love felt like? Warm? Happy and a little scared? It was a colossal feeling and Quinn couldn’t believe that something so huge could also have the same feeling as the weight that had lifted as she walked away from those bitches.

Quinn felt more whole when she thought about being in love with Rain. It wasn’t that she wasn’t a full person before; instead, it was like the sphere that was Quinn got bigger when he was around her. A hard protective shell that encompassed her without compromising who she was before.

Telling Rain how she felt wasn’t as easy as screaming at a group of relative strangers. Quinn was afraid of visiting his family, but it couldn’t be any worse than the last day and a half. Knowing that Rain was going to be there with her was what was giving her the courage.

Pulling out her phone, she shot Rain a text. Ready when you are.

She got a quick text back from Rain. Coffee?

Yes, please. Mocha, extra chocolate, extra whip, vanilla syrup.

The phone rang a moment later. She accepted the call and didn’t even say hello.

“What’s wrong?”

“Why does something have to be wrong?”

“Because you are supposed to be at your group for at least an hour and you’re asking for chocolate and sugar. I grew up around enough women to know what that means.”

“I quit. Long story, or really not long, just pathetic. I’ll happily tell you about it on the way. But I will say, I think it was a good thing.”

There was a moment of silence and then he sighed. “We’ll talk about it. I’ll bring coffee and we can get on our way.”

“Sounds like a plan, I’ll be waiting at the door.”

“Babe, stay inside where you’ll be warm. I can park the car and come get you. I don’t want you dragging your bag down the stairs.”

“Right, cause I never carry heavy things,” she snorted.

“Not anymore. I’ll do the heavy lifting, thank you.”

“Okay, mountain man, I’ll leave it to you.”

“Good, see you soon. I love you, Quinn.”

Quinn wanted to say it back; it was on the tip of her tongue. “I’ll see you soon.”

She hung up before the awkward moment could drag on.

“Quinn, you are in so far over your head.” The universe wasn’t going to confirm or deny her statement today.