I commissioned a piece of Wide Awake Easter-themed art from the fabulous @camiinoa and I am thrilled to have received it in time for the holiday! Below is the excerpt from the upcoming sequel to Lucid Dreaming on which the art is based. Happy Easter everyone, and happy holiday if you celebrate Passover!

Quinn and Charles by Camila Inoa

When you’re nonreligious, the point of Easter is primarily the discount candy on the Monday after, and if you were a student or a teacher, a few days off from school. There were no classes at Grayson on this Good Friday. As a result, my father was already at Quinn’s apartment when I arrived after work.

I let myself in and caught the pair of them sitting behind a sacrificial Easter basket, the yellow cellophane unceremoniously shredded open and the contents indecorously ransacked. A rainbow of foil and plastic candy wrappers dotted the ash wood floor, but there wasn’t a crumb in sight. Hovering precariously an inch from my father’s gaping mouth was a miniature Krackel bar. My boyfriend’s cheeks were puffed, full of marshmallow Peeps. On his head, he wore pink, furry bunny ears.

“Was your plan to eat all the candy before I got here?”

“Yes,” Quinn garbled guiltily, his mouth full to the brim. My father, however, finished popping the chocolate into his maw showing no sign of indignity.

I slipped off my shoes and knelt to give my chocoholic father a hug. By the time I made it to Quinn he was finally swallowing his mound of marshmallow. Little pieces of yellow sugar still clung to his lips. I kissed him with an easy smile, patting his head like a good little bunny and licking the sweet, sticky residue from my face.

“Since you caught us before we accomplished our goal, help yourself,” my father offered, gesturing to the two pathetic treats that remained, neither of which were appealing.

“Twizzlers? You know I’m a Red Vines girl.”

He shrugged in a half-meant apology. I rolled my eyes.

“Now if you kids aren’t too sugar high to function, let’s get to work.