Page 74 of Always Yours

I lean into Dimitri. “Who is that?”

“Quinn,” he mutters, shaking his head. “This isn’t going to end well.”

“What do you mean?”

He doesn’t answer me because Quinn is speaking again. “I convinced her to let me sing because the song means a lot to me. For the simple fact that I am entirely and irrevocably in love with you, Emery Elaine Brooks.”

“There is it,” Dimitri says, and everyone starts to talk, eyes darting around the room, and I’m unsure who this Emery is, but holy moly, that’s a courageous statement.

Quinn moves to the piano that sits on the stage, and then he starts to play with such passion.

“I need an explanation,” I say, looking up at Dimitri as he glances around. “Who are you looking for?”

“Emery,” he says, and then he makes a face. “Oh, she’s pissed. Okay, so Quinn’s in love with her, and she loves him. But she doesn’t want to be tied down, and he doesn’t want to accept that. She’s being really toxic about it and, from what I heard, is playing with his emotions, so I don’t know how this going to go down. Both their parents already got involved, and now she’s moving to California to get away from him.”

“I know you’re leaving. And since this will be the last time I can sing to you and know you can hear it, I can’t resist,” Quinn says into the mic, and then his deep, raspy voice fills the hall. The only reason I know the song is because Elliot is a huge Ellie Goulding fan, and even I have to admit “How Long Will I Love You” is a soul-blasting song.

“If she doesn’t want to be with him and is being toxic, why is he doing this?” I find myself asking.

“Because love makes rational thinking irrational, and then you’re at a wedding, singing for a girl who wants nothing to do with you.”

The pain on Quinn’s face takes my breath away, but his voice is so beautiful. So tragic.

“This is hard to watch. You ready to get out of here?”

I look up at him. “Yeah, but I drove.”

He squeezes me into his side. “So, I’ll meet you at home.”

Home. The word seems very different now.

Easy access, privacy.

His words from before have desire swirling between my legs. I don’t know what he anticipates, or even what I am thinking will happen when we get home, but I can’t help but want to just go all in. Let all my firsts be his. But does that make me naïve? Will I be viewed the way Quinn is, totally irrational and doing crazy things? Am I the crazy one to think I can handle all my firsts in one night? That Dimitri would want to give me all that when he doesn’t know a damn thing about my past? Should I tell him?

“Janie.”

I glance up at him, and when his gaze catches mine, I burn everywhere.

“Stop thinking.”

If only it were that easy. I swallow, taking a deep breath. “Let’s go.”

twenty-four

Dimitri

I asked to walk Austen to her car, but she had to take her sisters to the hotel first. Since she had to do that, she had to pull them off the dance floor, which took longer than expected. I don’t know why her grandpa—or peepaw, or whatever the hell she calls him—couldn’t take them, but I wonder if it’s because she wanted to clear the air with him. I only heard a bit of what he said, but it doesn’t seem like I’m Peepaw’s favorite person right now. Not that I give two shits. Not when Austen is kissing me like that.

Like I’m the only person or thing she ever wants on her lips.

A chill runs down my spine as I head to where my parents are standing, watching the spectacle that is Quinn Adler. I feel for the dude. And now… Well, now I feel a thing that I am not ready to admit. I may not have understood before, but I think I might now, which is pretty petrifying.

Yup. I’m going to completely ignore that.

When I reach my parents, I find Elli standing with them, her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes on her son. Worry lines her eyes and her mouth. I don’t want to disturb her or be on the receiving end of whatever she’s feeling, so I lean into my parents, touching the small of my mom’s back where my dad’s hand lays.

They both look over at me, and I whisper, “I’m heading out.”

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