“Slow went out the window when I got pregnant.”
Our foreheads touched, pressing slightly together.
“Quinn.” He sighed and reluctantly pulled his head back. “Now about seeing our families and telling them about the baby…”
Shit, he wanted to bring that up again. I wasn’t going home. Not now, not ever. And especially not pregnant. In a panic, I did the only thing I could think of to make him stop talking. I reached over to our sushi plate and dipped my finger into the pile of wasabi sauce.
Before he could react, I popped my finger right into his mouth, making sure to rub the paste all around his tongue. His eyes opened up a bit in a husky surprise, but after he realized what was on my fingers he began to tear up. It was a mean thing to do, but he took it like a man. When I tried to pull my finger out, he clamped down on it with his teeth.
“Ouch! Hey!”
When my finger was safety away from his bite, he grabbed me by the side of the head and roughly pressed our mouths together. His tongue danced along my lips and swirled it along the edge of my teeth.
He understood that I wanted him to stop talking. He took the burning in his mouth and shared it with me. The tears rimmed my lids and the fiery taste made its way down from my mouth into the pit of my stomach. Long after the taste of wasabi left our mouths, the kiss continued feverishly. My hands went up to trace the side of his freshly shaven face attempting to meld our mouths together. A kiss like this couldn’t ever end. A kiss like this was hot (literally) with passion and desire. It deserved a standing ovation. And a standing ovation it got. I felt lightheaded and out of control, and from the sounds of it, Chase wasn’t far behind me. I was ready to let him in completely to fill every void in my heart. He wouldn’t let me down. He’d be the one to stand by my side no matter what happened. Suffocating brought back horrific memories, so I reluctantly pulled away so that I could catch my breath.
“Two weeks is a very long time. Especially for me. Listen, I know we fight like crazy. We annoy the hell out of each other at times. We haven’t done a single thing in this relationship right. Everything has been ass-backwards, but I love you. I love everything about you, Quinn. I love that you pretend not to care, but you secretly do. I love that you carry such emotion in your heart. I love that you have this incredible strength to move past everything horrible that has happened. You don’t pretend to be perfect. ”
Love? He was in love with me? Love complicated things, and love made people act crazy. Did I love Chase? I wasn’t sure, but I needed to give him an answer. If I didn’t say it back, he’d be hurt.
“What does your heart tell you? Do you love me?” Chase whispered. He pressed my hand to the middle of my chest, covering it with his own. My heart told me, yes. The love I’d felt with Bash was childish. It was passionate and disturbing. That love for Bash had been comfortable and easy. It had developed out of responsibility.
My feeling for Chase had blossomed right from under my feet, knocking me over right on my butt. Now it was hitting me in the head like the apple that fell on Sir Isaac Newton. It screamed at me to yes. Just say yes.
He had said it. I didn’t pretend to be perfect. I just was. Our love was the same. Not perfect, it just was.
“I do. I love you. I love you.” The second time I said it with more confidence.
Chase gave me a smirk, “You’re the best party favor I’ve ever gotten, and now I get to really take you home.” He reached out to grab a piece of sushi from the boat.
“I hate that you spent all day preparing sushi for us. We have to make sure it doesn’t go to waste.” He gently slipped the roll into my mouth.
“I’m starved,” I told him as I swiped a few pieces of the artichoke roll.
“You’re always hungry.”
“I’m eating for two!”
“Lame excuse.” He wiped off a few pieces of rice from my cheek with his thumb.
“You know,” I told him, “I saw this thing on TV where naked girls are decorated with sushi for parties. They have to lay still for hours while people eat sushi off their bodies.”
Chase winked at me as he ate. “You offering to let me decorate your body with sushi?”
My mouth dropped open. “No way!”
“You offering your body to me in general?”
That was more like it. My body was already his.
“Yes,” I breathed heavily.
“Are you done eating? Because making sure you’re eating enough to grow a child is all I can do not to throw you across this table and fuck you.”
Heat pooled across my body followed by the undying urge to feel him buried deep inside me. There wasn’t time for foreplay. The sexual tension had been building between us for weeks. We both stood at the same time. Chase put his hands on my hips and lifted me up to set me on the counter. I sat close enough to the edge so that I could wiggle out of my clothes. Being naked next to him, while I was so pregnant was a little nerve-wrecking, but at that moment the lustful look in his eyes showed me that he wasn’t disgusted when he saw me. Reaching down, I undid his pants and pushed them down over his hips.
“I need you, now.”
He responded by grabbing my thighs and pulling me closer toward the edge. I moaned when he rubbed himself against my clit. Something deep inside me shook. My body was famished. I couldn’t wait any longer. I gripped him in my hand and gently eased him into the warmth between my legs. Once my body had accepted the hilt of him, he leaned closer and wrapped his arms around me.
“I love you, Quinn.”
“Then stop talking and make love to me.”
With our eyes locked in a mesmerizing gaze, he gently began to move inside of me. Pulling out so that the very tip of him grazed my entrance, then pushing back deep inside of me until our bodies were melding together. With each thrust, a piece of my pain disappeared. With each movement, I felt a little less lonely. With each kiss, happiness replaced my sadness. Chase had my entire heart.
There wasn’t room for anything or anyone else. My lips traveled down his slightly unshaven face. I couldn’t contain the heat that rolled through my body. Arching my back slightly, Chase leaned forward to suck on my right nipple. Waves of pleasure fogged my mind as he continued to tease and nip at it with his teeth.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he told me, lifting up from my breasts slightly. I had a feeling that he was referring to more than just physical pain.
“You won’t hurt me.” And that was the first time I truly believed it.
Chase
“Are we going to talk about the white elephant in the room?”
Quinn curled up beside me on the couch as we finished off all the sushi from earlier that night.
“I’m not sure I know what you mean.”
“When I was in New York, you were upset about all of the tabloid gossip. This needs a bit more discussion.”
She scooted farther away from me and crossed her arms in front of her body. “I don’t wanna talk about this.”
“Well, we’re gonna have to because here in a few months we’re going to have a baby. We can’t hide forever, dear. Things are about to get very big for me. I have movies coming out after Christmas. Movies that are going to change my career, and I need to know that you can handle this.”
“I know.”
“I know that everyone thinks that Chloe and I are together. Hell, they think me and every girl in Hollywood have hooked up, but none of this with Chloe is true. A lot of it is planned, but none of it’s true.”
She wasn’t being responsive. So I pushed her further.
“Quinn, I need you to look at me and not tune me out.” She pursed her lips in frustration before turning back towards me.
“Can’t we just see how it goes? Take it as it comes?”
I shook my head. I wished that it worked that way, but I had to tell Rhea soon. She needed time to prepare statements and make sure no one dragged Quinn through the dirt. Someone like Chloe.
“We need to make a public
statement before it leaks. It will be easier that way. We can do it right after telling our families.”
Headlights shone through one of the front windows, Ginger was home. I needed to make this quick. Quinn rubbed her temples for a few moments and nodded.
“After we tell our families, but I’m not going home. I’ll tell my parents over the phone. And I’m getting it over with right now.”
I raised an eyebrow in shock as she picked up her cell.
“Um…are you sure that’s a good idea? It’s almost nine. Aren’t they in bed?”
She carelessly waved a hand in my direction.
“If I don’t do it now, I never will. I’ve put this off for far too long.”
The front door slammed shut, followed by Ginger walking into the room. Her hands placed strategically over her eyes.
“Is it safe? Are you decent?”
With a small chuckle, I answered, “We’re clothed. Quinn was just about to call and tell her parents about the baby.”
Ginger squealed before rushing around the couch to squeeze in between Quinn and me. I reluctantly moved over to get her off my leg.
“No shit! I have to hear every word when they freak out. Are you sure they won’t be asleep? It’s almost eleven o’clock there.”
“I’m counting on it. I’ll just leave a voicemail.” She took a deep breath before pressing send.
“Wait,” I tried to reach across Ginger to grab the phone from Quinn, “this really isn’t voicemail news.”
Ginger put a hand over my mouth to shut me up and slapped my hand back.
“Trust me, this is voicemail news. Her mom won’t take the news too….kindly.”
Quinn’s eyes were wide, her hands fidgeting with her hair, and she was sitting straight up.
If my mother received news like this over the phone, she’d fly down here and beat me over the head with her newspaper then fly home and refuse to speak to me for a week. Yes, I would be flying home to visit when the time came.
“Hi, Mom. It’s me.” Quinn stopped talking and we heard a shrilly voice coming from her phone. Her mom had answered and she didn’t sound too excited. Ginger moved her head closer so that she could hear better.
“I didn’t do anything, mom.
“Yes…. I know. I’ve been busy.
“Well, I’ve been working as a hostess.
“No, Mom I don’t want to do makeup anymore.
“I will, Mom. I actually called for a reason. I have some exciting news.”
Well, hell. She sure didn’t sound excited.
“I’m pregnant. I’m keeping the baby. I’m due in February and I have no plans on getting married.”
She exhaled loudly, which Ginger mimicked shortly after. She held the phone away from her ear as excessive yelling came through the tiny speakers.
She shook her head at me. “I should finish this conversation in the other room. Things may get a bit ugly.” She walked from the room leaving me there with Ginger who, now that I had time look at her, was completely buzzed and reeked of tequila.
“Ginger? Did you drive home drunk?”
Drunkenness was becoming a regular with her.
“No, I caught a ride home with some guy.”
Guy? Wasn’t she still with Barrett? If she had some new stranger who would be staying here, he would need to pass through my inspection first.
“What’s his name and what does he do?”
Her mouth fell open. “Are you kidding me? This is my house. I don’t have to answer that.”
I scoffed. “If they are going to possibly be around Quinn, then I do. I don’t want some strange man wandering around her. She’s pregnant, Ginger. Do you know what that means? It means she needs to be taken care of.”
“Then be my guest and take care of her.” Her hands flew through the air melodramatically.
“Don’t worry. I will. She’s moving in with me in a few weeks. One night you may get drunk and bring home a serial killer.”
She put her hands over her face and screamed. Though it was muffled, I cringed.
“Oh my god, Chase. You’re like the biggest man whore I have ever met. You fucked every intern on set last year plus every girl from all your movies. I’m sure your bed has seen hundreds of women, not to mention the dozens of venereal diseases you probably picked up along the way!”
She glowered at me before her eyes darted to something behind me.
“Quinn,” she whispered.
I took a deep breath to stop myself from saying something I would later regret and turned around to face Quinn. She held her phone in her hand while biting down on her bottom lip. I could see the tears in her wide eyes; she heard every word Ginger said. She knew about my past, but it still bothered her to hear about it.
“Don’t freak out Quinn. She’s talking about the past,” I tried to explain.
“I’m fine. Ginger, why are you ganging up on Chase? I thought you were friends.”
“Hey, he’s the one who said I would bring home a serial killer.”
Shit, I shouldn’t have worded it that way
Ginger and Quinn were both glaring at me now.
“I think it would be best if you left before I decide to go a serial murderer on your ass. Out of my house.” Ginger said before standing up and pointing at the front door.
“Quinn?” I turned to face her, from the pained look on her face she had once again closed up on me.
“Don’t shut me out, Quinn. There is nothing going on with me and Chloe.”
Her face softened slightly. “I know that. I need to take care of Ginger. She’s obviously drunk. I don’t want any more drama tonight. Why don’t you go home, and I’ll call you tomorrow.”
I couldn’t believe she was sending me home. I’d just gotten back into town.
“Fine.” I pulled my keys from my pocket and walked past her so I could leave. “Call me in the morning when you’re done taking care of this immature child.”
I kissed her on the cheek before pulling her into a deep hug.
“I heard that,” Ginger called. “It wasn’t long ago you were out getting drunk every night!”
My lips moved closer to Quinn’s ear so I could whisper. “Just come home with me. Ginger can sleep it off.”
I turned around to finish addressing Ginger who was mumbling behind me. “I’m sick of your drunken shit, Ginger. You need help or you won’t ever be around my child.”
“It’s not up to you now, is it?” She crossed her arms in front of her body while stumbling to the side because she couldn’t stand up straight. Quinn tugged on my arm to pull me out of the room. We walked hand in hand outside to my car in Ginger’s driveway. I didn’t want to go, and I could tell she felt the same way. I stuck out my bottom lip in attempt to get her to change her mind.
“I’ve dealt with angry Ginger since we were in high school; she doesn’t act like this unless something is wrong and I need to be a good friend and figure out what it is.”
I nodded reluctantly. Quinn wasn’t a selfish person, she was putting her cousin first, and it shouldn’t have bothered me. We said our goodbyes and I jumped in my car to go home.
Quinn
I made sure to slam the door loudly behind me so that Ginger knew how upset I was right now. I’d noticed her drinking had become more frequent on her days off, but her piss poor attitude to Chase was beginning to get on my last nerve.
“What in the hell is your problem?” I called out to Ginger, who was laying on the couch now.
“He’ll get over it.”
“You’re going to tell me what’s wrong right now and explain why you are being so rude to Chase.” I put my hands on my hips, but my words came out sounding more scared that upset.
“Barrett was out screwing some stripper last night.”
She put her hands into her face and began to cry.
“Just breakup with him already. Why do you put up with his shit?”
“Because I love him.”
“He obviously doesn�
�t love you. But that gives you no excuse to stay drunk all the time. You’re gonna lose your job and everything you have worked so hard for. You need help, Ginger.”
“Just like you took help? You’re one to talk!”
Her words hit me like venom. It burned me, seeped deep enough to leave a scar. It was the truth.
“Oh crap, I’m sorry.” She gasped at her harsh words.
Shaking my head from side to side, I put my hands out to stop her from coming closer.
“Don’t do that Ginger. You’re right; I took the coward’s way out. I should have gotten help right away, but that’s why you need to listen to me now. If I could go back and pull myself from that dark place, I would. It took a bad fall to pull me out of it, but I’m here now. It’s an everyday struggle. I have to live with the pain and guilt every day, and some days are better than others. I think it’s worth it though. Things are looking up and the shadows are rare.”
“I’m scared of being alone,” she whimpered into the couch.
“You never needed a man before.”
“It’s different with Barrett; he makes me feel like I can’t live without him.”
I couldn’t understand it. The Ginger I grew up with would never have been so dependent on a man. I reached down to pull her off the couch; she stood easily against me as I walked with her toward her room.
“How did you get home?”
“A friend.”
“Not Barrett?”
“Barrett wouldn’t drive me home.”
I let it go. Ginger used to drink in high school, but I thought she had left that childish rebellion behind in Tennessee. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen it before. Ginger was running from something as well.
“Are you ever going to tell me why you moved to LA? Why you packed your bags and left without telling anyone?”
Her glossy eyes closed, and she groaned while leaning against the banister.
“We have already discussed this.” She didn’t want to tell me. I could respect that.
“And this vendetta you have against Chase whenever you’re drunk?”
“Why can’t Barrett change for me like Chase did for you? It’s not fair. Men have always flocked to me for a good time and stayed with you because you were worth it.”
The Last Thing Page 17