Our Love

Wade

The house was lonely without Quinn. She'd been living with Carrie now for about two weeks. I'd rarely seen her, only twice when we all met up for dinner at Carrie's place. I tried to speak with her, but I could feel the walls she had put up and the space she made sure to leave between us. Being the idiot that I am, I gave her that space.

The day she returned from her business trip with Grant, she walked up just as Denise was leaving. She had shown up unannounced to discuss business and our lack of a relationship. She gave me an entire speech on how awful she felt after the way things ended and how sorry she was for her indiscretion. Her apologies and pleading fell on deaf ears. Time had healed that wound, and I was done with her. I made that as clear as possible and walked her out just as Quinn walked up. I hated how it might have looked, especially after the misunderstanding surrounding the photos.

When I tried to talk to Quinn after that, of course, Denise made sure to interrupt that. When I came down the steps, she stood with her arms crossed, looking pleased with herself. She was determined to make one last plea.

"No one calls me Christopher," I growled.

"I did, and I do. It suits you." She smiled.

"Wade. My name is Wade. I thought you left." I stood, trying to calm my anger, as Quinn rushed past us out the door.

"Fine, Wade." She rolled her eyes. "I'm giving you this last chance, I made a mistake before, and I'll forever apologize for it. One date, one last date with me, Wade, and I'll make sure the contract goes to your Father."

"One last date? You'll leave me alone, give him the deal, and that can be it?" I asked.

Another date with her wasn't exactly appealing, but the thought of having her leave me alone and keeping my Father happy at the same time was.

"Yes. If you still want nothing else to do with me after that, then I'll leave you alone. I think once you get a taste of me again, instead of that plain jane, well you might be pleasantly surprised." She smirked.

Despite the feeling of dread it gave me, I agreed to one date. Two weeks out, on a Friday night, I was going to take Denise out and end this mess with her for good. After that, I planned to talk with Quinn. I wanted to have that adult conversation where we explored our feelings and perhaps see where we could go from there. I should have known that I was asking for too much to go right.

*

I agreed to a date with Denise, but that didn't mean I was going to go all out. I dressed in a simple black button-down, dark jeans, and boots. I locked everything up and headed out to the truck. Surprisingly enough, Denise agreed just to meet me at the restaurant. I immediately spotted her car when I pulled in. She drove an obnoxiously expensive sports car that was cherry red. She had always loved showing off her wealth; I just chose to overlook that before. I questioned who I was back then so many times lately.

"Well, hello, handsome." Denise purred, pulling me from my thoughts. She was wearing a skin-tight, navy blue dress. Something I suppose would be called a dress. It was barely there, fabric showing more skin than I was interested in seeing of hers. There was no denying she was a beautiful woman, but she was no longer beautiful to me in that way.

"Thanks." I shrugged. She stood watching me, waiting for me to reciprocate the compliment. "You look nice." I forced out.

"Thank you." She stepped forward, linking her arm in mine. I took a deep breath, calming my irritation that I was actually here, doing this right now. "You need to relax. Let's enjoy this. I told you, just one last date. I want you to enjoy it; I think you'll want more." Denise leaned into me.

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, but I didn't bother checking it. I knew it was most likely from Carrie telling me this whole idea was stupid and to go straight to Quinn. She had been texting me all week, warning me what a bad idea this all was. I should have listened to Carrie.