Page 104 of Roommate's Guide to Love

Pops and I had talks about why I didn’t date. He knew I wasn’t a monk, but he also knew that I never brought anyone over for dinner. A few times he made sure to mention to me that just because he never remarried, or really even dated after Mom left, that I didn’t need to stand with him in solidarity.

And I knew that. But what I didn’t know until many years later, after many late nights of thinking on my front porch with a bottle of whiskey, was that Bonnie leaving me messed me up just as much as it did him.

That’s why I think I was always okay with Quinn’s arrangement. Iknewshe was leaving. She couldn’t surprise me, or hurt me, when she wasn’t there the next day. Even if I asked her to stay, I still knew what the result was going to be. It’s probably why I held back my feelings for her for so long. Because I knew she wasn’t going to be here.

But now she is. She’s officially moved into my house. She has closets and drawers. Her cat has taken over my house and there are strands of her brown hair in my sink. She has a book in each room, an iced coffee maker on my countertop, and I now know what it truly means to binge watch a series.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Hey,” she says, snapping me from my daydream as she slides onto my lap. “Everything okay? I know Simon and I kind of took over. If you want?—”

She doesn’t finish that sentence as I lean in for a kiss. It’s probably a little much for noon on a Saturday at my bar, but I frankly don’t give a damn.

She’s here. She’s staying. And I’m going to kiss her whenever, and wherever, the hell I please.

“Well, well,” she says as I pull away. “What was that for?”

“Just thinking about things.”

She taps her forehead with mine, letting it rest there for a beat. “All good, I hope?”

I nod. “Not just good. Great. Especially now that you’re back.”

After Quinn’s decision that she was staying in Rolling Hills, a few things had to happen. One, she needed to finally finish moving her things from Arizona. Luckily, her brother knows a guy with a moving company, and they had Quinn packed and back in Tennessee within three days. What she wasn’t bringing she sold easily and has now officially moved in.

Once she was back—and she admitted later she probably should’ve probably done this first—she formally applied for the librarian’s job that hadn’t even been resigned yet by Mrs. Metcalf. It was an odd meeting for sure—Quinn said that it was her and Shirley in the principal’s office as Shirley told him what was going to happen. And while this principal didn’t know Quinn specifically, he had heard of her lore. Before Quinn knew it, she was being formally interviewed by the principal, two members of the board of education, and members of the parent committee. Since she wasn’t prepared to be facing that large of an interview room, she slightly panicked, confessed to four pranks from twenty years ago, and went into more than full detail of how things ended in Arizona. I wasn’t there, but she claims that she blacked out and maybe admitted that she asked them in no uncertain terms if they named their group with a dildo in mind.

Luckily for her, one of the board members was her former chemistry lab partner who vouched that Quinn always had good intentions in mind and that she’d make an excellent addition to the Rolling Hills Middle School staff.

They also empathized with her about the parent group that led to her fall in Arizona. Apparently Rolling Hills LSD has one. In a shock to no one, it’s led by Emily’s best friend.

While all of that was happening, I was in a courtroom taking the next steps toward adoption. Because Missy left her with me, and wrote me that letter, a judge said that I’m, for now—until they can do a further check and go through the proper channels—her relative caregiver.

Grace’s coos and noises instinctively have us both looking over to her play area, making sure she’s okay. She is, just curiously looking at a very bright, and very loud, interactive toy someone gave her. For only being here for two months, this child has accumulated a shit ton of toys.

“This day feels surreal,” Quinn says, tilting her head so it’s resting on my shoulder.

“How so?”

“Just…everything. Three months ago I had a job in another state. You didn’t know Grace existed. And look where we are now. So much has happened in such a short amount of time, but at the same time, it feels like we’ve been doing this forever.”

“I know what you mean.” I tighten my grip around her waist and kiss her shoulder. “Sometimes I can’t even remember my life before Grace.”

“Really? You don’t remember life before you knew how to change a diaper?”

“Well, certain parts,” I say, remembering the days before Grace came here, specifically my night with Quinn in the office. “Some parts are very vivid.”

She understands what I’m saying as she wraps her arms around my neck. “You know, maybe some of those nights can be redone. See if the sequel is better?”

“I like the sound of that.”

Our lips meet and the kiss deepens quickly, but just as fast, a door slamming open breaks us up.

“All right people, listen up!” Quinn and I both turn toward the door, where Simon is standing with a clipboard on and—is that a head set? Who the fuck is he talking to? “Guests are arriving in ten minutes, food is starting to get prepped, and we’re going to have fun today. You hear me? Fun!”

“Simon, it’s literally just us here,” Quinn says as she and I walk toward the door, lifting Grace out of her play area. “You don’t need to shout.”

“I’m not shouting. This is excitement,” he says. “Now get out there. It’s party day!”

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