“Which one did you want?” I ask her, and she points at a stuffed dog. I assumed she would go for the teddy bear.
I hold up the gun and aim at one of the stars, shooting it in the middle of the white paper. “You can’t shoot at the same star.”
I look over at him and find the second one I want next. I take the next shot and hit it right in the middle. I snap the third one without thinking twice and also the fourth one. The fifth, though, is a tough one. It’s between two other sheets. If I move just a touch, I’ll hit the circle. “Um, Quinn.” I hear Willow’s voice, and I turn to watch as she comes over. “It’s okay if you don’t win it. We still get the middle one.”
She smiles. I don’t care how many fucking times it takes; I will have to win her that fucking dog. I get back into the zone and take the last shot I have. It whizzes right into the middle of the star, and I hear Willow yell with glee.
I look over and see her with the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on her face. It radiates through her. She jumps up and down, clapping her hands. “Good shot,” the guy says, walking over to the dog and handing it over the wooden desk to her. “Here you go.”
“Oh my goodness,” she says, taking it in her hands, and I would have given everything I had to see that look in her eye. I put the gun down and turn toward her.
I smile at her, and she comes to stand in front of me with the dog in her arms. “You got me a dog.” She looks down at the dog and then up at me, her eyes glistening with tears, but not sad tears. These are happy tears. I know this because the smile on her face is so big it almost reaches her ears. “You got me a dog,” she says again, looking at the dog and then looking at me.
She inches closer until we’re standing almost chest to chest. “No one has ever gotten me anything,” she says, and all the noise in the background fades away from us. It’s like we are the only two people here. My hand comes up to her cheek. I hold her face in my hand, my thumb on her chin, and we both move at the same time. Both of us move toward each other, and here in the middle of the county fair, I finally get what I’ve wished for. She says my name, “Quinn,” right before my lips touch hers.
Chapter 28
Willow
“Quinn,” I whisper his name, the sound of laughter and ringing bells fades off into the distance, and it’s just him and me. His hand is on my cheek, my eyes on his as I move my lips closer to his.
I hold my breath for fear that he pulls away from me. I have never ever wanted to be kissed in my life, except when I’m around Quinn. I dream about what it would be like to kiss his hand. I dream about what it would feel like to lie on the couch with him. I dream about what it’s like to be loved by him. My breath hitches right before his lips touch mine. I want to keep my eyes open to watch it all. I want to keep my eyes open to make sure that I’m not dreaming. But my eyes close slowly as I take in the taste of him. His tongue slips into my mouth, and I fall into him, holding the stuffed dog in one hand, my other hand on his chest. He wraps a hand around my waist, pulling me closer to him. Our tongues slide with each other, and then he slowly lets me go. My eyes flutter open to see his staring at me. “Do you want to get out of here?” he says, and all I can do is nod. “We can stay if you want.”
“I want to go.” My finger taps his chest as he smiles at me, leaning in again.
He kisses me softly again, stepping away from me, letting my hand fall from his warm chest. He slips his hand into mine as we walk out of the fair. Since the beginning, every single time he’s held my hand, I’ve felt safe. But with our fingers intertwined, I know I have never felt this much peace in my life.
When we got here, it was almost as if I was in a movie. You know the movies that you wish you lived in. When we get to the truck, he opens the door for me. I step in front of him to get into the truck, looking up at him. “Thank you,” I say again. “For making this the best day ever.” I look down, and when I look up, he is over me, kissing me again. But this time, the kiss is not as soft as before. The need to get him even closer to me kicks into me as I arch my back so I can get closer to him.