Page 113 of Loving You

Her smile grows. “I remember that day. It was my first time in Lovers, and everyone teased me so much that I never ordered it again.”

“What? No. That was my favorite part of you. You were so confident in who you were and didn’t care.”

“Well, I’d posted it online and people hated it. One of my first posts with a string of hate messages came from ice cream. How crazy is that?”

“People suck,” I say.

“They do.”

“Why did you keep posting if you knew people could be that mean over something so simple?”

“Because social media was how I kept in touch with friends.Being young and not staying in one place for long meant I didn’t get to have lasting friendships, but the ones I did have I could keep up with online. It just snowballed from there. Then I got paid to post, so I kept doing it.”

Do you think you’d ever stop?

The words are on the tip of my tongue, but if someone were to ask if I would ever give up my passion, I already know the answer.

I’m not going to ruin this moment today over something I already know.

I hold her tighter and kiss the top of her head.

“It makes so much more sense now.”

“What else do you want to know?” she asks.

“Everything you want me to know.”

She beams.

“I hope you’re ready for this.”

Oh, I’ve never been more ready.

“Miles, are you in here?”Hudson’s voice carries through the shop later that afternoon.

I grab my towel and wipe my hands as I come around a car to greet him. It’s just after lunch and I’ve barely made a dent in today’s work.

As soon as we made it out of bed, Quinn went into the office for an hour, and then I came to join her, where I locked the door and had a midmorning snack on the top of my desk. Then Quinn followed me to the shop where she sat on a rolling chair, with Shadow curled in her lap as she told me all about her first trip with her parents and how scared she’d been to start this new life. She also told me how she fell in love with traveling by the time that trip was over.

Every story she tells me goes to show how you should never judge someone.

Think of all the years Quinn and I could have had if I hadn’t been a total jackass.

In a way, it reminds me of Hudson and his relationship with Sadie before last summer. Turns out, being nice can go a long way. It can even change your life.

“Hey.” I smile. “You haven't stopped by in a while.”

He nods. “I had some time this afternoon, so I thought I’d swing in and drop some lunch off.”

He hands me a to-go bag from the bar and looks around the space. I instantly know something is on his mind.

“What’s up?” I ask and cross my arms.

He sighs.

“I just came to check on you.”

“Why?”

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