Page 72 of Stick Around,
“Even I have layers.” I caught her eye again, and for a moment, the tension in her face eased.
Three weeks. That’s all it had been since she’d arrived at La Cuesta with her stick horse and her sunshine smile. Three weeks, and somehow she’d managed to upend everything I thought I knew about my life and about what I wanted.
Quinn turned to look out the window as we pulled into the parking area, and I wondered what she was thinking. Would she think we were crazy if we asked her to stay? The school year was coming up fast, and she had a job.
I paid the parking attendant and found a spot to park. As we climbed out of the truck, I noticed Quinn’s fingers tapping nervously against her thigh.
“You okay?” I stepped closer, keeping my voice low.
She startled slightly. “Yeah! I’m excited. I haven’t been to a fair since I was a kid.”
Her eyes darted away too quickly, and I knew she was lying about being okay. But I wasn’t going to push her. Not here, with Kellan already bounding ahead like an over-caffeinated goat and Reid looking amused behind him.
“Well, if you need to talk, I’m here.”
Quinn paused, searching my face like she was looking for something beyond my words. “It’s our first real date.”
Yes, it was our first date after we’d already been intimate and after she’d already turned our world upside down.
“Is it okay? We wanted to do something fun.” I reached for her hand before I could overthink it, lacing my fingers throughhers. “We thought it would make you smile. Although all you’ve been giving tonight is your teacher smile.”
Her eyes widened. “I have a teacher smile?”
“You have several.” I tugged her along as we began walking toward the entrance. “There’s the polite one, the one you use when you’re excited but trying not to show it, and the one that lights up your whole face when you’re truly happy.”
Her fingers squeezed mine. “You’ve been paying attention.”
We reached Reid and Kellan, who had already bought tickets for all of us. As we passed through the entrance gates, the fairground spread before us in a riot of color and noise. Food stands lined the pathways, carnival games flashed with cheap prizes, and rides spun against the darkening sky.
It wasn’t exactly what I would have chosen, but now that we were here, I was glad Kellan had convinced me and Reid that it would be perfect.
Kellan spread his arms wide. “What first? Food? Games? The Ferris wheel? You’ll have to go on it three times, Quinn, so that each of us can get a turn sitting next to you.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re ridiculous.”
Quinn’s eyes darted between the three of us. “I don’t know. What do you guys usually do?”
“Usually, we just go in the morning to view the animals to see if any catch our eyes.” Reid took Quinn’s other hand.
We went to the exhibition hall first, where we wandered between stalls of handcrafted items and local businesses.
“Look at these wooden carvings of animal butts.” Kellan pointed dramatically. “You know what the world needs? More moose hindquarters.”
Quinn’s laughter rang out, genuine this time. The worried crease she’d been sporting between her brows smoothed away as she examined a raccoon rear end.
I stayed back, watching her move from booth to booth. She stopped at a jewelry display, her fingers hovering over a delicate silver bracelet with a tiny horse charm. She lingered, then reluctantly moved on when Kellan called her over to look at something else.
While she was distracted, I slipped back to the jewelry vendor.
“I’ll take this bracelet.” I grabbed the one Quinn had been looking at and pulled out my wallet.
The older woman smiled. “Your girlfriend has good taste. This is handmade by my daughter.”
“She’s not—” What was Quinn to me? To us? “It’s perfect for her.”
Transaction complete, I tucked the small paper bag into my pocket and caught up with the others. Quinn was giggling as Reid tried on a ridiculously large cowboy hat that made him look like a cartoon character.
“Thinking of a career change to a rodeo clown?” I raised an eyebrow at him.
