Sugar & Spice

Chapter 24

A/N: Dedicated to Kassikins_13 XOXO (This chapter contains sexually explicit material.)

Amy bounded into the kitchen the next morning and slid in next to Crissy.

"So?" she asked, eyes bright. "How did it go?"

"His family is very kind and we all got along really well," Crissy said, never breaking her rhythm as she rolled out dough for strudel.

"I knew they'd love you," Amy beamed. "Did you ask him?"

Crissy said nothing, focusing instead on the steady motion of her rolling pin rocking back and forth, flattening out the dough.

"You didn't tell him," Amy said. "You little chicken."

Crissy shrugged. "It wasn't the right time."

"Liar. It's something else." Amy squinted at her, arms crossed, head tipped to the side as she considered.

"I was thinking about it and I've decided I'm going to the wedding alone," she said.

Amy laughed though there wasn't any humor in the sound. Then she straightened up and fixed Crissy with a dead serious look.

"Like hell you are," she said. "Your family will eat you alive. And you are not going to get stuck with your ex. Not going to happen. I'll hitchhike there and be your date if I have to."

"You'll be in Venezuela, getting a nice angry red sunburn," Crissy pointed out.

Amy groaned. "Damn it. Why the change of heart?"

Crissy sighed and set her rolling pin aside to look at Amy. "I care about him, Amy. He's so nice and polite. You should have seen him with Megan. They teased each other mercilessly but you could tell they're very close. And he loves his nieces and nephews. I can't put him through interrogations from my family."

Amy's expression softened. "Sugar, Quinn is a big boy. It's admirable that you're trying to protect him. But this is his decision too. He cares about you. Don't you think he would want you to have back up if you're going into the pits of hell?"

Crissy bit her lip and turned back to the strudel. Of course Amy was right. But it still worried at her. Amy came up behind Crissy and rested her chin on Crissy's shoulder.

"Just ask him," she said. "Explain why you don't want him to go."

"That's the problem, Amy," Crissy said. "No matter how bad it is, he'll always go with me. And I can't stand the thought of him getting shredded by my family. I don't want them anywhere near him."

Amy nodded. Before she could reply, the bell over the door chimed. She sighed as she moved to the door then paused.

"I don't like this," Amy said. "It makes me sick to think of you heading into that wedding by yourself."

"That could just be a pregnancy thing," Crissy said.

Amy raised an eyebrow. Crissy ducked her head.

"I know," Crissy said. "I don't like it either."

"But I understand your reasoning," Amy said. "If I was in your shoes, I would probably feel the same way about Manny. Just don't make that decision final yet, okay, sugar? Think about it some more?"

Crissy nodded. "I will."

"Even though it's likely you won't change your mind," Amy said before she turned to the counter.

Crissy settled into her dough again, Amy's voice a low distant hum as she greeted the customer and started the order. Amy's words tumbled around in her mind, tugging at her heart. How would Quinn feel about facing her family by herself, getting set up with her ex for the entire course of Andrea's wedding? Of course he wouldn't like it. That's what worried her. If only he would understand why she didn't want him there, didn't want to put him through any of that. But she knew all he would see was that he needed to be there with her so she wasn't alone.