Finally (4 page)

Lynn Galli

the cards that we embossed when she got home. She hated every minute of it. I’m not sure she’ll ever let us back in.”

Quinn laughed. “She’s in a great mood, huh?”

“Will? I don’t think she’s ever been in a good mood.”

“Now, now,” Zoë interjected. “There was that one time when she saw a guy get into a fender-bender while trying to cut into the line of cars he’d just passed up. I’m pretty sure there was a smile then.” Most of Willa’s friends loved giving her a hard time for feigning toughness.

“I forgot about that. She did actually smile,” Helen confi rmed in mock seriousness. “Anyway, hope you guys have fun tonight.

Door’s open. She’s on the phone and might not hear you knock, so just head in.”

Quinn waved goodbye as they piled into Zoë’s car. The red door stood ajar, inviting her inside. Many times, she’d seen Helen or Zoë waltz through the front door without knocking like her house was a sit-com set or something. Quinn wasn’t as comfortable with the action, but maybe Helen had given Willa a heads up as to her arrival.

Pushing through the door, Quinn heard her voice from the kitchen. “...need that product description for the business plan to start shopping it around to venture capitalists. We’ve been stuck for months. Just take that stuff from your brain, and throw it onto paper. We can’t get anywhere without your part of this.”

With her back turned, Willa didn’t realize that she was being watched. Shoulders hunched and tight with frustration were the only fl aws that Quinn could see. She liked that Willa was petite.

Slender but not scrawny. She never felt like she was going to crush her on the rare occasions when they hugged. Dark brown hair in soft, wavy curls that bothered her friend because they made her hair look slightly different every day. Intense brown eyes that could be so expressive at times and so secretive at others. Lips shaped in a fl attened M on top and full curve on 26

Finally

the bottom beckoned every time she smiled. Others wouldn’t consider her classically pretty, but Quinn found her both alluring and beautiful.

“You do realize you’re the hang up on this, right?” Willa shifted into an exasperated tone, and Quinn guessed she was talking to her best friend. Over the last couple of months, she knew that Willa had been trying to fi nalize a business plan for their dream of developing software games. Nykos liked to procrastinate, which frustrated her immensely. Last week, Willa fi nally admitted that to her. She wasn’t one for sharing her feelings and speaking negatively about any friends rated even lower. That she’d fi nally opened up to her was thrilling. Instinct told her that a relationship with someone who only opened up with one other person would be incredibly special.

It did bother her that she hadn’t met Nykos yet. They should have crossed paths at some point, especially since Willa had met most of her friends and teammates. At the last game, Quinn had to keep from running up the aisle to meet Nykos. Not wanting to draw stares from the crowd, she decided she’d have to wait until Willa was ready for them to meet. One more thing she was waiting for with Willa.

“You know, Kos, we could ditch our jobs, be our own bosses, and work on something that we both love, but we can’t get started without this product write-up from you.” Willa tugged at one of the collars on the cotton shirt that hugged her torso. Quinn would willingly sit out a game to know if she wore those provocative shirts on purpose whenever they got together. Probably not, since the rest of her wardrobe also perfectly suited her smaller frame.

And don’t start thinking about those fi ngers! Quinn commanded herself. Fingers that played the trumpet as a youth now pulled at Quinn’s desire as easily as they plucked at the shirt collar.

Willa started talking again, bringing her thoughts back from 27

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that nimble hand that had drifted down to the counter to reorganize the already ordered pile of notepaper gathered at the base of the phone. “My inbox will have an email from you tomorrow, right?

With an attachment? Good. Saturday, we’ll go to dinner and discuss our next steps, okay? See you then.” Ending the phone call didn’t relax her shoulders any.

“Your sister said it was okay to let myself in,” Quinn spoke, startling her.

A deep thunk sounded as Willa’s hand fl ew to her chest in surprise. She blew out a long breath of air to regain her composure.

When she turned to greet Quinn, her face held the most blissful smile. “Hey there,” she spoke softly.

Quinn drew in a sharp breath. That smile and tone told her more about Willa than four months of friendship had. Maybe she wouldn’t have to sit out a game. “Hi,” she replied, basking in the uninhibited smile.

Moving forward, she watched her friend’s expression go from extreme happiness to slight trepidation. She didn’t let it advance to absolute fear before wrapping her up in a hug. She’d only tried this a few times because she knew Willa wasn’t much of a hugger, but tonight she couldn’t resist.

“Everything all right?” Her friend asked in the sardonic tone she utilized as a defense mechanism.

“I’m just glad to see you.” Quinn spoke into the silky hair that she’d only gotten to touch the one time. Citrus wafted a fragrant trail to her nose. She delighted in the fact that Willa instantly returned the hug. For their fi rst hug, it had taken a full minute before Willa fi nally raised her arms and awkwardly squeezed Quinn’s back.

“Right,” she continued in a lighthearted manner.

Quinn felt her start to pull away and suspected it had more to do with her wanting to be the fi rst to stop the hug rather than not wanting to be hugged. She responded by tightening her grip and 28

Finally

whispering, “And I know you’re happy to see me, too.” The arms squeezing her tightened in reply. Satisfi ed, she released her after a few more moments.

“What would you like to do tonight?” Willa directed her question toward the laundry room behind Quinn, a trait that used to bother her until she fi gured out that Willa couldn’t maintain eye contact whenever she was embarrassed or uncomfortable.

“I thought maybe I would cook for you.” She hadn’t planned on that. She wanted to take her out to dinner. She liked watching Willa in public. Her charisma worked like a magnet for friends and strangers alike. She also liked being with her in public, especially since it was getting more diffi cult to be with her in private.

“Oh!” Willa exclaimed, her eyes shot back to Quinn in surprise.

“You don’t have to do that. I could take us to dinner, or we could grab some sandwiches then head over to the waterfront?”

Quinn walked over to open the refrigerator. “No, I’m going to cook for us.” She loved to cook and enjoyed even more cooking for others. Her eyes scanned the shelves for something to make.

Grocery shopping was low on Willa’s priority list.

“You’re going to cook for me in my house? That doesn’t seem right. The stove hasn’t been used since Christmas when Helen’s blew up and we had to move the whole deal over here.”

“Did you help her cook?” Quinn turned after she’d pulled the items she needed to make dinner.

“Sure. I’m great with slicing, setting the table, and cleaning afterward. Plus, I can toast just about anything.” Her mischievous smile made Quinn very aware of the pounding pulse just under the surface of her skin.

“That seems fair,” she said offhandedly. Before Quinn thought better, she blurted out the one thing she’d been dying to say since realizing her feelings for Willa. “So, I’m gay.”

Willa’s head jerked into a double-take. Wide eyes accompanied 29

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her attempt to speak, but her mouth closed without any sound escaping. She hadn’t even been that shocked after their fi rst hug.

“Sorry, I didn’t really know a good segue for that, but I wanted to tell you. I’ve been wondering if...well, if we might have that in common?” She reached out and gripped Willa’s arm. “Really, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. You’ve never asked me, and I guess my curiosity got the better of me with you.”

Brown eyes grew even larger. She waited for Willa’s expression to tell her something more, anything more. Understanding, fear, attraction, hope, even disgust, but all she got was a blank look, completely unreadable. “Hey, forget it. I shouldn’t have said anything.” Quinn tried to fi ll the silence. “Why don’t we do this another night?”

Willa shook her head slightly as if jerking herself out of paralysis. “No. That’s okay. It’s not a big deal. We’re friends.

I’ve been told that humans do speak to each other about their private lives.”

Quinn knew that Willa’s friends teased her about having a limited emotional capacity. Loyalty made her want to smack each one of them. Even with the more cursory topics they discussed, she recognized the depths of her friend’s emotions. She just wished Willa would stop trying to hide them from her.

“I’ve never been comfortable talking about mine,” she went on. “I gathered you were the same way? Or at least by the way your teammates speak to you. I fi gured they didn’t know anything about your personal life.”

Quinn let out a soft laugh. “Pretty much. My friends and family know, but it’s easier to keep my teammates in the dark.”

“I can understand that.” Willa looked like she wanted to say something else, but she turned and walked into the kitchen.

Absentmindedly, she started loading things back into the refrigerator. Background noise fi lled the stunned quiet of the room.

30

Finally

“I don’t want to force you to talk about anything you don’t want to talk about.” Quinn wanted to help her put the food back, but she fi gured getting too near Willa right now might make her more uncomfortable. “I hope that my being a lesbian doesn’t—”

“It doesn’t,” she cut her off forcefully. “Not at all.” Her eyes held Quinn’s for a moment before she returned to the task.

Quinn sighed in relief and sat back against the table. She’d always feared telling people whom she’d grown to care about.

With the food back in the refrigerator, Quinn took her cue to leave. She’d made Willa suffer enough tonight. “I’ve made a mess. Inappropriate questions, unwelcome admissions, awkward silences. If I stay longer, perhaps I can make one of us pray for a quick death to end the evening.” She chuckled as she watched Willa shut the refrigerator, shoulders even more tense than when she’d fi rst walked in. “Why don’t we call it an evening? We could try again when I get back from my last game on the road?”

Willa faced her, considering her suggestion. Brown eyes met blue. Quinn wished she could read her thoughts. Since that wasn’t going to happen, she stood up slowly from her perch.

Soft clacking in swift repetition sounded as Willa crossed the hardwood fl oor and pressed her back against the table. Surprise struck them both by the fi rm decision.

With Quinn perched, Willa stood almost eye level with her.

Her mouth opened to say something, and Quinn waited for reassurance that everything was fi ne so they could head out to dinner. Cherry blossom scent fi lled the space between them.

She’d grown to love that smell as it meant that her friend was nearby. The aroma made it diffi cult for her to think rationally, taunting her with Willa this close. She tried to catch Willa’s gaze, but those eyes studied her hair, her nose, her hands, anywhere else. A struggle took place inside Willa with her mouth losing the battle.

Quinn hated seeing her so frustrated. She watched her attempt 31

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to speak twice more then decided to speak for her. “Really, it’s okay. Too much information to absorb for—” She stopped talking when Willa’s head moved forward slightly. She waited, heart now thundering. For a moment it looked like Willa was going to—no, that was hope talking. Besides, Willa had halted her movement, briefl y closing her eyes. Again, she opened her mouth to talk, and Quinn waited, unable to move without brushing up against her.

There it was. Quinn recognized the move she’d just made, looking away and to the left at absolutely nothing. Whatever Willa was going to say, she’d just decided not to say it. Any second, she’d take her up on her offer to get together after her road trip. Other evenings had ended the same way, and Quinn prepared her heart for that abruptness again.

When Willa turned her head back, she didn’t stop the motion.

Her face moved in precisely, lips fi nding Quinn’s without hesitation.

Her abdomen felt the effect before her mouth did. The press of soft lips ignited a tickle of fi re inside her stomach. Perfection, that’s how she’d describe the kiss. Not too demanding or soft or searching or wanting.

Wow! She can really kiss. Quinn’s feelings probably helped with that assessment, but it didn’t hurt that Willa’s technique left her breathless.

Willa fi nished their kiss with a fi nal feathery touch of lips, causing Quinn to gasp sharply. “Sorry...I’m sorry.” She stepped back at the sound. Her hands shot up in front of her face, waving in a defensive gesture as she turned away. “I don’t know why I thought I could do that to you.”

Quinn grabbed one of the waving hands, using it to twist her back around. “Perhaps because I’ve been hoping you would.”

Wide eyes met her revelation. “Why didn’t you...?”

“Ever do anything about it?” Quinn smiled softly. “Hence my bungled question earlier.”

32

Finally

Willa sighed and looked away. “I think I’ve always known on some level that I’m gay or, at least, bisexual, but I’ve never done anything about it.”

Shock hit Quinn’s system. The abandoned insecurity of that kiss told her that she must have been with other women. She could barely form the question plaguing her mind. “I’m the fi rst woman you’ve...”

“Ever kissed? Yes.” Willa looked unsure in her admission. “I probably shouldn’t have told you that.”

“You can tell me anything,” Quinn shared decisively. She didn’t want to say what she was thinking, but she knew she couldn’t just let it hang out there for another four months. “I’m a little overwhelmed. I hope you didn’t kiss me because I told you I was a lesbian, and you wanted to fi nd out if—”