The Tattooed Flower

19. Winner Takes It All

Caleb-

"I love you." She murmurs softly, her eyes burning into mine.

Growing up my family wasn't in the habit of saying "I love you." Not because we didn't love each other, it just wasn't said. My mother was always staring off into space. Thats what it looked like to everyone else. But the truth is that she was just taking in all in, remembering everything. She was a painter. She was magnificent. You never got tired of looking at her work. Every piece was equally different and beautiful. My mother's "I love you's" were dealt out in her stares. The way her eyes would linger on you for so long and then she would just smile. And to see her smile was like hearing a babies laugh, everything was bells and nothing was wrong.

My father was different, I had always loved him, nothing seemed off. He came home. He played with me, any game I wanted. He was always the best at making Hailey smile. It was never easy to make Hailey smile. She always had this stoic, unapproachable look on her face, like an angry old lady.

I think thats why it hurt so bad. Because I was always so happy. And thats not to say that it hurts less no matter how it happens, just that I'd never been afraid. Never considered it. I didn't have to. My life was easy. He just snapped.

Quinn is so much like my mother. Constantly lost in her own gaze. Dealing out her "I love you's" so carefully. As she should. Not everyone deserves that. Not everyone should get her "I love you". Yet, I got it. And even though I've only had it for moments, I can't imagine how I lived without it. She's like water and air and food. She's a necessity and I'm not in the habit of needing people. I don't want to need people. Yet, here I am... needing her.

She smiles up at me her hands curling the soft fabric of my T-shirt. "You lose." She whispers biting her bottom lip.

"Why doesn't it feel like it?" I ask returning her smile with mine. She shrugs her shoulders and releases my shirt. I reluctantly pull my hands away from her waist. "Whatever you want for a whole night? How will I ever survive?"

We laugh. Her laugh is weird. It's one of those contagious laughs that is so strange that you can't help but join in. Like a chorus of broken instruments .

"Can I cash in later?" She asks. "I'm tired."

"Whatever you want."

Then she goes to sleep; Taz settling himself at her feet as if it was routine.

I walk through the house trying to piece together how any of this could be real. This a house. This is my house. There is a beautiful girl asleep in my bed that will still be there tomorrow morning.

When I was young my mother told me that people belonged to each other. I believed her. Now I just think she'd watched Breakfast At Tiffany's too many times. Quinn couldn't belong to me. She belongs to herself. Thats another thing about my mother. She was an Audrey Hepburn fanatic.

When I was young and care-free, Hailey and I used to fight constantly over whose turn it was to choose the show we were going to watch for the night before we had to go to bed. I was silently demanding that we watch Ren and Stimpy, silent because even the slightest hint of a fight to mom would result in another night of My Fair Lady. I wondered how dad tolerated it. But it never seemed like something he was tolerating. I think it was because of the way my mother loved those movies. They made her happy. My father used to tell me that he knew he loved my mother from the first time she'd smiled at him. She had the best smile. I'd always wanted to be exactly like my parents and I still do. Minus the brutal murder part.

I walk back to the bedroom and change into pajamas, watching Quinn's steady breathing as she sleeps. I hope she has less nightmares. I step into the master bathroom that branches off to the left of the left of the room. I quickly slip inside and turn on the light, not wanting to wake Quinn, but she's a heavy sleeper. I've gathered that much. I brush my teeth, floss, and rinse with mouth wash. I've always taken good care of my teeth. Probably something I got from my father. He'd fallen in love with my mother's smile and told me to always take care of mine. Otherwise I'd end up alone.

I walk out into the bedroom and slip in silently next to Quinn. Her body is warm with sleep and I long to soak it all in. I drape my arm around her and snuggle in close. She smells like vanilla. I burrow my face into her neck and inhale deeply.

"Are you sniffing me?" She whispers.

"I thought you were asleep."

"Do you make a habit of sniff attacking poor defenseless girls while they sleep?"

"Only when they smell like you."

"I'm going to pretend that that doesn't sound creepy."

I chuckle and press my lips against her neck over and over. Planting kisses down her neck and to that sweet spot just behind her shoulder that births a small moan from her lips.

I smile and hold her against me loosely, closing my eyes. "Could you do that one more time?" She asks nervously. I smile and slowly edge my lips down her shoulder, feeling her body tense against mine in anticipation. When I reach that sweet, sweet spot, I kiss her shoulder gently, nibbling on the tender skin. She shivers against me and gasps a little. I suppress my laugh. She's so fucking cute.

I pull back and close my eyes. "Goodnight, beautiful." She sighs lightly turning in my arms to face me, tucking her head under my chin. "Happy birthday."

***

I wake up before Caleb, he's across the bed, a bundle of blankets and sheets wrapped up in his arms and he sleeps. He's dangerously close to falling off the bed and for a moment I have no idea why he's so far away.

I hear Taz grunt and then let out of of his sleeping howls. He's curled up against my back, his furry head resting on the white pillows. I feel the corners of my mouth pull up into a grin. This is real. I'm sitting in this beautiful house with an equally beautiful man. I walk into the kitchen and begin digging through the cupboards. Pancakes, pancakes, pancakes.

After about thirty minutes and four throw away pancakes I hear the pitter patter of claws against hardwood. I would recognize that sound anywhere. Taz enters the kitchen followed closely by a yawning, disheveled Caleb.

"Sleep well?" I giggle, trying to divert my stare from the sweatpants that are dangling dangerously low on his hips.

"I was, until your mutt stole you from me." He says rubbing his eyes.

"Purebred." I remind him, trying to shake my hair over my face to hide my blushing cheeks.

His arms wrap around my waist, pulling my backside into him as I attempt to flip the last pancake onto the stack already laid out. He sighs against my throat as his hands caress my sides. Even after all this time I'm still not used to his touch. I shiver in his arms, feeling his lips press small, lingering kisses up my neck and along my jaw. I suppress a squeal when he reaches my ear, sucking lightly on the sensitive lobe.

"For someone who just lost, you seem awfully happy." I turn in his arms breaking the connection between his lips and my skin, if only so that I may retain some form of sanity.

"If I knew losing felt this good, I'd have done this a long time ago." His proximity is alarming, even with the plate of pancakes separating any contact from my ribcage down. "See, now, I can just kiss you, whenever I want." He smirks devilishly before catching my lips with his. They taste like peppermint toothpaste, and are gone before I can properly appreciate that he took the time to brush his teeth before coming out here to kiss me.

He steals the plate from my hands and strides over to the already set table. I sit down and just bask in this day. This is real and I'm just getting started.

***

And so begins the romance. THIS IS EXCITING. For me... Well hope you liked it!! If you did, tell your friends or write a comment! Encouragement is a great booster for me to want to put out chapters faster. Anyways comment/vote/share!!!

Love yah!!

Lidi