Page 10 of Sins or Secrets
I think Quinn will be there.
I’m usually right when my gut starts giving me warnings.It will be weird seeing her again.
I accept that much.
I speed down the road cutting through traffic, wishing I could have taken my motorcycle.My car is always better though for stakeouts.
I arrive at the Cedarville Motel ten minutes later and park up in the furthest corner of the lot which is close to the creek and the thicket of woods surrounding the water.
From here I’m in a good spot to see everybody coming in, and the cover of night doesn’t give me away.Dressed in full black, I blend in well with my Range Rover.
My phone buzzes with another message.I already know it’s Monica so I’m not surprised when I pull out the phone and see another message from her displayed across the screen.
Come on soldier boy it’s rude to keep a girl waiting.
I can wear whatever you want me to tonight.
Or, nothing.
My lips curl into a smile and I feel like a bastard for seeking comfort in her bed the night before the funeral, but maybe that’s what I need to take the edge off.
See you in a few hours.
I message back and straightaway the blue dots jump as her reply comes through.
Can’t wait x
And here’s the start of me digging yet another hole for myself.I’ve seen her at least two to three times a week for the last three weeks.That looks like I want more than fun, and I don’t.
Women know what to expect from me.It’s just a good time. That’s all.
When I lift my head I get the solid reminder of why I’m like that when a little black station wagon parks forty feet away from me.As Quinn Cambray steps out of the car and into the array of the lights surrounding the motel I recall with perfect clarity why I can’t give more,and why no one should ever expect anything other than temporary fun with me.
The reason for that is I gave her everything.And all that I was, belonged to her.
My gaze intensifies partly from shock and the other part from her.Over the years I’ve seen her on TV, but the real life version of her was what always burned in my mind.
Seeing her again after so long stirs everything inside me I thought I laid to rest.
Of course, she’s still beautiful, and it still looks like she doesn’t quite know it.That long brown hair looks longer than what I saw on TV weeks ago when her divorce was announced.And all I saw was her face. They show the rest of her willowy body with all the curves a man desires in all the right places.
She’s completely oblivious to me and the glances she gets from the men standing by the wall she passes as she makes her way to the entrance with her suitcase.
Maybe she thought they were watching her because they recognized her.It definitely was not that, and if it was, they weren’t looking at her because of that.They’re still watching her ass the way I am as they’re still looking at her empty trail when the door closes.
Fuck me.
She’s back. She’s actually back and I just saw her.
And, now I have the twenty-eight-year-old version of her stuck in my head.
God, I really hate Friday nights.
Quinn
Aunt Lilly used to say the weather sometimes had a way of reflecting the mood of a place.
Today is a perfect example of that.
