“Okay.”

  “Okay?”

  “Of course. We’ve got a place to live, I’ve got a job that pays pretty well, and you’ve got some money. Why would it be an issue?”

  “I just—” Her face pales.

  Taking her free hand in mine, I stare into her eyes to ensure she hears every word I say. “I’m not him, Quinn. My priority is you and your happiness. I don’t care if I have to work double to allow you to do whatever it is you want. I’ll do anything it takes to make you happy.”

  Tears fill her eyes and I catch the first one that falls with my thumb. She nods but doesn’t say anything for a minute or two.

  “What about you? You’re going back to school, right?”

  “I’d like to, but like I said, it’s not my priority right now. Anyway, Eddie might not even have me back.”

  “I’m sure he will. Let’s invite him round for dinner and we’ll sweet talk him into letting you back. Probably best to do that before I resign. I’ll help you catch up on what you’ve missed while I look for a new job.”

  “What do you want to do?”

  “I still want to work with kids, but I’m not totally sure.”

  “We’ll figure it out.”

  She relaxes into my side and breathes me in. I want to bite my tongue and follow her lead, ignoring the elephant in the room, but knowing it’s in her best interest, I sit up and look down at her.

  “W-what’s wrong?” Her brows draw together, sensing that I’m about to say something that she’s not going to like.

  “I think…I think you should see someone about what happened.”

  “I’m fine, Joe. This isn’t the first time I’ve had nightmares. They’ll get better.”

  “But what if they don’t? I’m worried about you.”

  She blows out a long breath as I stare at her, pleading with her to do the sensible thing. She keeps playing off what happened like it was an everyday thing, but it wasn’t. It’s something she needs to deal with before it takes over our lives and he continues to have control over her.

  “Okay,” she whispers. “Okay. I’ll look into it.”

  “Thank you,” I say, a huge wave of relief washing through me. I want us to start our lives together properly, not with him hanging over us. We’ve still no idea if he’s going to grant her the divorce she deserves; he shouldn’t take her sleep too.

  * * *

  We have the most surreal week. Well, it’s surreal to me because I’ve never done the domesticated thing before. Together we clean the flat and move the furniture around a bit to make it less Trey’s place and more ours, and we go shopping for some little trinkets and cushions that Quinn says will make the place more homely. After being cooped up for the past week, it’s incredible to get out of the house and get some exercise and fresh air. We fill the cupboards full of food and spend our nights cooking together. Quinn escorts me to the doctors to have my stitches out and to hear that I really am okay and should be able to go back to work soon, although only on light duties at first. I also hold her hand while she registers and books an appointment to get the ball rolling for her to get the help she needs. Her entire body trembled with fear, telling me that she was doing the right thing. She needs to deal with this properly, and as much as I wish I could be the one to fix everything, I know I’m not capable of it.

  By the time the weekend rolls around we’ve fallen into our new life in our new home easily.

  I leave Quinn to sleep in on Saturday morning seeing as she had a particularly bad night, and make our morning coffee. I tidy up a little from the night before, and when I walk back into the bedroom with steaming mugs in my hand her eyes flutter open.

  “Good morning,” I sing, my excitement getting the better of me.

  “What’s that smile for? Should I be scared?”

  “Not at all. I’ve just got a surprise for you today.”

  “Oh?”

  “I’m not telling you yet. It’s a surprise.”

  “Fair enough.” She pushes herself up the bed, the duvet falling to her waist and revealing her perfect, naked tits to me.

  “On second thought, I might keep you in bed all day.” Even though I was given the full go ahead from the doctor, Quinn is still keeping me on light duties in the bedroom it seems, despite the sexy lingerie that I know is hiding in her drawers. I’m fucking dying to take her exactly as I need her.

  I hand her coffee over before climbing in beside her. She’s silent for a few minutes as she chews on her bottom lip, deep in thought.

  “What is it?” A small ball of dread fills my stomach. I hate it when she’s obviously concerned about something, and this is most definitely one of those times.

  Turning to me, I can see the tension in her features. Reaching out, I grab her free hand and squeeze in what I hope is support.

  “Am I enough for you?” she asks quietly, casting her eyes away.

  “What?” Grasping her cheek, I pull her back so she has no choice but to look into my eyes. Her blue ones start to swim with water as she waits for my response.

  “Quinn,” I breathe. “You’re everything to me.”

  “But you used to—”

  Guessing where she’s going with this, I cut her off. “I was lost, Quinn. I went after whatever I could to try to find a place I belonged. It’s the only way I knew. But it wasn’t until you that I found where I was meant to be.”

  Her lip trembles as she reaches for me. “But the girls said—”

  I laugh. “I should have known they were behind this.”

  “It’s not their fault, they were just filling me in on some of your past...conquests.”

  “I’m not proud of my past, but I won’t apologise for it. It was what it was. It distracted me when I needed it, but it’s a part of who I am.”

  “I don’t want you to apologise, Joe. I just want to know that you’re not going to miss it. The men, the multiple partners.”

  Taking her mug from her hand, I place it on the bedside table and pull her down the bed, pushing the covers off in the process.

  “Why would I miss that when I’ve got you?”

  By the time we’re both set for the day, she’s running late for her surprise, but at least we’re both satisfied—for now at least.

  “Who’s that?” Quinn asks when the buzzer sounds out.

  “Your surprise.”

  She quirks an eyebrow but goes for the door when I make no move to do so. She’s greeted by Lauren and Erica asking if she’s ready to go.

  “Where are we going exactly?”

  Walking over, I pass her a bag I’d already packed. “You’re going to spend the day at the spa so you’re ready for our big night out.”

  “Really?” she asks, sounding like a little girl who’s just been told it’s Christmas morning.

  “Really. Here’s everything you’re going to need.”

  She squeals with excitement but ignores the bag I’m holding out in favour of jumping into my arms.

  “I love you,” she says softly into my neck as I hold her.

  “I love you, too.”

  When I glance up, I find both Lauren and Erica staring at us with soppy smiles on their faces.

  Releasing Quinn, I hand her the bag. “You need to get going before these two start crying or some shit.”

  “It’s the pregnancy hormones,” Erica protests.

  “Yeah, and what’s her excuse?”

  Lauren’s mouth opens, but she doesn’t get a chance to say anything.

  “Oh my god, are you?”

  “What? No! I’m just happy for Joe. I never thought he’d ever find someone to put up with his shit.”

  “Nice. Well, please try not to turn her off me before the end of the day, yeah?” I’m not really worried—there’s nothing in my past that I’ll hide from Quinn. There are probably a few things I’d rather explain myself instead of those two, but I trust them to know what to not say just quite yet, although if this morning’s conversation is anything to go by it seems they haven’t held back with divulging the number of sexual partners I’ve had.

  No sooner have I closed the door behind Quinn after wishing her a good day than I’m opening it again to reveal the guys. The spa isn’t the only surprise, although by the looks on their faces right now they’re not as excited about this part as I am.

  “What? Would you rather have gone to the spa?” I ask as Ben and Trey stomp into the flat carrying everything we’re going to need.

  “No, a day at the pub would have been sufficient, but oh no, you’ve got us here fucking decorating,” Ben moans, following Trey straight down towards the bedroom. “You owe us for this.”

  “Whatever,” I mutter, going for the kitchen so I can feed the grumpy fuckers.

  With their bacon under the grill, I go in search of my decorating party. The furniture is already in the centre of the room and they’re putting dustsheets down.

  “And you didn’t want to just paint, you had to go for the fucking wallpaper, didn’t you? Fucking hate wallpaper.”

  “What’s got your knickers in a twist? Lauren refusing to put out?”

  “Yes. She decided for some fucked up reason that we’d wait for Christmas. She read some shit in a magazine about delayed gratification. Fuck knows. All I do know is that Christmas better fucking hurry up and it had better be fucking good,” he sulks much to our amusement. That is until I remember something.

  “Aren’t we all going away for Christmas?”

  “Yep.” A wide smile forms across his face.

  “You’d better have a room at the other end of the house,” Trey complains.

  “Oh, like you can talk. I have it on good authority that this room’s not all that soundproof. Isn’t that right, Joe?”

  “Correct. Although I doubt you two have heard a peep from us yet.”

  “You not getting any either?” My fingers twitch to wipe the smug as shit look off Trey’s face.

  “She’s worried about my stitches.”

  “I thought you had them out?”

  “I did,” I groan.

  “Maybe tonight’s the night. Just wait until you knock them up, Erica can’t get enough.”

  “Oh fuck off, you smug shit.” Ben throws a paintbrush at Trey. He doesn’t see it coming, and it connects with the side of his head.

  “Chance would be a fine thing.”

  Before I know it, the smell of burning bacon filters down to us and two angry sets of eyes turn on me.

  “You promised us breakfast. You’d better have more,” Ben calls as I run from the room before the smoke alarm starts blaring.

  Sadly, I don’t have any more, but a quick visit to Uber Eats and I’ve got a breakfast made for kings on its way to the flat. They’ve agreed to help me pull a changing rooms job on our bedroom; the least I can do is feed them.

  With the three of us barely stopping for breath, we manage to have the room papered, painted and put back into place with an hour to spare to meet the girls.

  Ben races off home to get ready while Trey heads downstairs to do the same.

  I stand in the doorway to our new bedroom and hope that I did the right thing. I know this place isn’t where we’ve chosen to live, but with Quinn not returning to her job and not really knowing what she’s going to do next, it might be where we live for a while yet so I want it to be as homely as possible for both of us.

  Hoping I’ve achieved just that, I head for the shower and attempt to remove any evidence of paint from my body so she doesn’t suspect anything.

  Lauren’s booked us a table at a fancy pants bistro for our work Christmas meal. The place looks like an old warehouse with all its pipework and ventilation being used as part of the decoration. All the fittings are copper and the lighting is a little dark as Trey and I make our way to the maître d'. He shows us to a private function room up a flight of stairs where I find a few of my colleagues who all come over to greet me and see how I am after I disappeared from work two weeks ago.

  There are a few wives and girlfriends here already, but the one I’m desperate to see hasn’t arrived yet.

  “Should have known they’d be late,” Ben says, coming over to join us with a handful of pints.

  The minutes tick by before a silence falls over the room. Wondering what’s going on, I look towards the door where everyone else seems to be staring and my breath catches in my throat.

  Standing between Lauren and Erica is my girl, but she doesn’t look anything like I’ve seen before.

  Her hair has been styled into an edgy inverted bob, her eyes are dark and smoky, and her lips are fire engine red. But as breath taking as that is, it’s the dress that I’m pretty sure has stopped every conversation in the small room. It’s leather, low cut and skin fucking tight. It just about hides her breasts, nips her in at the waist and skims down her round hips and shapely thighs until it stops just below her knees, revealing milky calves and one serious pair of strappy fuck-me heels.

  “Pretty sure your gentle lovin’ is gonna end tonight, man,” Ben whispers in my ear, but I barely register the words. I’m too lost to Quinn.

  She doesn't look anywhere in the room but at me. A slightly unsure smile graces her lips and I just about manage to keep my feet rooted to the spot and not drag her off home before tonight’s really begun. How the fuck am I meant to look at her like that and not do anything inappropriate?

  Trey breaks the moment between us by dragging everyone’s attention to him and Erica when he pulls her into his arms and slams his lips down on hers. We’re in a room surrounded by people who know they’re a couple—the public claiming of his girl is a little much, but each to their own.

  Lauren disappears into Ben’s side, together greeting people they saw only yesterday at work like it was a year ago. All the while I can’t take my eyes off Quinn. My mouth waters, my muscles clenching with my need to go over and drag her out of here to be alone.

  Eventually she gets impatient and she makes her way over.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey, yourself.” My eyes drop from hers, taking in every inch of her and committing it to memory. “Did you have a good day?”

  “It was incredible. Thank you so much.”

  “It was totally worth it. This dress is...fuck, I don’t even know what it is. Where’ve you been hiding it? I’d have remembered if it was in your collection last weekend.”

  “Erica kept hold of it for me to surprise you.”

  “Well, I’m certainly surprised. Although I’m not all that impressed that every guy I work with is also seriously surprised by it.”

  “Better show them who I belong to then.”

  Challenge shines in her eyes. I wait for a beat until she thinks I’m not going to take her up on it before reaching for her waist. She lets out a squeal as we collide. I wrap my hand around the back of her neck and pull her lips to mine.

  Shouts, catcalls and wolf whistles sound out behind me, but I pay my idiot co-workers no attention as I put all my focus into kissing my girl.

  When I eventually pull back, her eyes are glistening with lust and her tits are swollen and fighting to get out of her dress. If it wasn’t so fucking incredible to look at, I might want to make her change back into a twinset to ensure those babies are for my eyes only.

  “Come on, we need to order,” Lauren calls out behind me. After another two seconds we make our way to our seats.

  I get a few winks and slaps on the back from the guys before they greet Quinn politely. I’ve known a few of these guys for a long time now. They know exactly what I’m like, seeing as we’ve been on more than a few nights out and heard me bang on and on about never getting tied down, but they all accept Quinn like she’s a permanent part of my life—which I’m grateful for, because that’s exactly what she is.

  The meal’s incredible and the service fantastic, but nothing is more mind-blowing than the woman sitting beside me. She joins in with everyone’s conversations like she’s known them all her life, she’s charming and funny, and she has everyone wrapped around her little finger in mere minutes. It makes me so sad to think that the previous man in her life kept her locked up like she was in a fucking prison and stopped her enjoying herself like this.

  “Are you okay? You’ve got a serious look in your eyes that I’m not sure I like,” she asks when there’s a break in the conversation.

  “I’m good. Just trying to figure out what I did to deserve to have you sitting beside me.”

  She shrugs. “You decided to better your life and instead you found me.”

  “There’s nothing instead about it. You have made my life better. Fuck it, you’ve made my life.”

  Her eyes soften as she smiles at me. I’m so close to telling her that we’ll sack off the rest of the night in favour of heading home when Ben announces that we’re on the move.

  Everyone gets up and grabs their coats. A few of the older members of staff bid us farewell as they head off home for a mug of cocoa and their slippers, but the rest of us move to our usual haunt, The Avenue.

  The last time I was here it was the night I’ve since discovered Quinn was watching me. She’s told me more than once that she was jealous of the people I was dancing with that night and how we could just forget the world and enjoy ourselves. Well, I fully intend on giving her all of that. It might not be the one night-stand she wanted, but I have every intention of taking her home with me tonight.

  After two rounds of shots bought by the boss, we head out to the dance floor. I waste no time in pulling her into me and moving with the beat of the music. She looks back at me and her smile is wider than I think I’ve ever seen it before. The realisation of how much weight has been lifted off her since the last time we were in a club hits me and I drop my lips to hers.

  Turning in my arms, she tucks her hands into the back pockets of my trousers and pulls me tightly to her. I lose myself to her kiss and to the beat of the music.

  I’ve done this a million times before, danced until I forgot the world around me, but having her in my arms feels like the first time I’ve ever done it. I meant what I said to her earlier: meeting her really did make my life. All the bullshit from my past melts away, my parents, my endless encounters with strangers as I tried to connect with someone in a way I didn’t know I needed to. They all fade to nothing, and the only thing I can think about is my future with my girl.

 

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