Page 110 of Dad Next Door

He nodded again.

“You know we can stop at any time. Or try something different if it doesn’t work for you.”

“This shouldn’t be so difficult.” He looked away. “I don’t understand why I have this mental block and why I’m struggling so much. I trust you. I love you. If there’s anyone I should be able to relax with, it’s you.”

A slight buzz filled my ears, and my vision went snowy for a second.

He loved me?

Quinn’s eyes went comically round. “Oh shit.”

“Is this one of those moments where we forget you just said that?” I asked, my voice catching.

Slowly, he shook his head. “I didn’t mean for it to come out like that, but I can’t pretend I didn’t say it. And I don’t think you can pretend you didn’t hear it.”

“It’s true?” I whispered.

“Yeah.” His voice cracked on the word, but he didn’t break eye contact with me. “It’s true. I’ve been in love with you for a while. I just didn’t know how to say it. Or if I should.”

“I’m glad you did, because I love you too.” My voice was barely above a whisper, but I forced the words out. He deserved to hear them, and I wanted to tell him.

“You do?” He drew in a shaky breath, looking more vulnerable than I’d ever seen him.

“Yes. I love you,” I said, louder this time to make sure he knew I meant it.

He closed his eyes and pulled in another deep breath. I leaned my forehead against his, giving him space to sort out his thoughts.

“I know we said we were going to keep things low-key,” he said softly, his warm breath fanning over my cheek. “But I think we can agree things have never been low-key between us,”

“No, we left low-key in the rearview mirror a long time ago,” I agreed.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into a tight hug. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Closing my eyes, I breathed him in.

Quinn was the most incredible man I’d ever known. Yes, he was gorgeous, but the things I loved about him had nothing to do with his looks.

I loved his big heart and his kind nature. I loved his sense of humor and the way he constantly challenged me. I loved learning from him and how he wanted to learn from me too. I loved his unconditional support and how he always found ways to show me how much he cared.

He was my partner in the truest sense of the word.

He was the person I always wanted to find but had given up searching for. He was everything, and he was mine.

“Well.” He laughed, breaking the spell we’d fallen under. I pulled away so I could look at his face and see where his head was. “Accidentally blurting out that I love you is one way to completely derail a conversation.”

“Too bad you can only use that once,” I teased.

He huffed out a laugh. “Right? I should have saved that for when I needed an escape.”

“I’m glad you said it. I’m not sure I would have been able to say it first.”

“Because of…”

“No, not because of anything to do with…you know who.” It wasn’t the most mature way to reference Simon, but I didn’t want his ghost to taint the moment. He had nothing to do with my feelings for Quinn. “More because I couldn’t admit it to myself. I knew I felt it, but I convinced myself I didn’t.”

His forehead knitted in confusion.

“I told myself I was falling for you. That I could love you if I let myself get there, even though I was already there.”

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