Best of Me

Chapter Eighteen

Hi, hello, I've written enough chapters to post one everyday this week. I should be able to finish the book next week in that case. So I'm updating today! Wooo!

This chapter picks up on Christmas Eve morning.

So, yeah, fair warning later in the chapter...there's some smut. So if that's not your thing feel free to skip past it.

Enjoy!

Chapter Eighteen:

Quinn and I had fallen asleep cuddling last night. We didn't question it; I didn't at least. Honestly, I'm trying not to think too hard about it. After a few glasses of wine last night, we excused ourselves to go to bed, both of us tipsy. We crashed into the bed after getting ready for bed, our bodies immediately gravitating toward each other without a seconds thought. It's one of the first nights I don't wake up until the sun is peaking through the cracks in the blinds. Not much longer after I wake up, Quinn soon follows, a sleepy smile stretching lazily across her lips. I can't help but smile back.

"I'm going to read in here for most of the morning, if that's okay," she says stretching her arms above her head, her shirt rides up showing a sliver of tan skin. I wet my lips before begrudgingly dragging my eyes up to meet hers.

"Yeah, yeah, go for it," I say. "Do you want me to bring you up food?" She nods and clambers ungracefully out of the bed into the bathroom. I bring her up some fruit and a coffee-black, just how she likes it-and leave it on the side table while she's still in the bathroom. I head back downstairs to whip myself up some eggs while I sip at my own coffee-it doesn't taste nearly as good as it does when Quinn makes it, though.

My mom pads into the kitchen, her robe tied tightly around her waist, her hair pulled back into a pony-tail. "Good morning, sweetheart." She kisses my cheek as she walks passed to the coffee pot, pouring herself a cup.

"Morning, mom."

"Are you ready for Christmas tomorrow?" She asks.

"Yeah, all the presents we brought are under the tree already. Riley's just got dropped off my Mr. Lee." She nods with a smile. "Eggs?" I ask.

"Sure," my mom nods as she leans against the kitchen island behind me nursing her coffee mug in her hand. I crack a couple eggs into a bowl, add a bit of milk, and whisk it together as the pan heats up. "Where's Riley?"

"In our room reading." The pan sizzles as I spread butter across the surface and pour the eggs in. "She likes to go into her own world sometimes, helps her relax." I move the eggs around in the pan with a spatula as they cook.

"She's lovely, Theo," she says after a beat. "We were worried for a while at the beginning, when you first started dating. You were still so withdrawn, distant; I wasn't sure she was making you happy."

"After Mae died, I wasn't sure I could ever be happy again," I say taking a sip from my mug, "at least not in the way I was before. Quinn came into my life when I needed her most; she was a breath of fresh air..."

"But?" My mom prompts when I pause.

"But it took me a while to really let her in. I got used to being on my own, taking care of myself. The pain I felt when Mae died had become the only constant in my life; I used it as a crutch." I split the finished scrambled eggs up and put them on two plates for us. She thanks me. "You, dad, Asa, CoCo, even Christopher, you all treated me like I was fragile. And then you all made me feel like I had to move on so quickly. I felt like I wasn't allowed to still love Mae."