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And occasionally, he was a little jealous of what they had. But it was usually just a spark that he forgot about with the next fun roll in the sheets.
Quinn felt like more than a roll in the sheets. Just looking at him sleeping, spread out inelegantly with his face smashed into Norma Jean had Shane’s heart beating hard. Had him thinking of things like dating and sleeping over and silly shit…like holding hands and cooking meals together. The pang that twisted in his chest let him know that it was a very real possibility that he was ready for such a thing and that maybe he was because he really, really liked Quinn.
Today, when those gunshots had gone off, he might have thrown his body over the woman’s, but it was Quinn he’d worried about first.
Fuck. It was possible he more than liked Quinn.
He stared at him a long time before he finally gave in to his exhaustion and climbed into bed. He stretched out on his side, moving carefully so he didn’t wake Quinn, but it didn’t work. Probably because he tried to bite off a groan of pain and failed miserably.
“Your cat is on my face,” Quinn said, his voice thick and rusty with sleep. He rubbed his nose and turned a sleepy smile Shane’s way.
Quinn was on guard so much during the day that Shane loved the open sweetness he had when he was half-asleep. He couldn’t stop himself from tugging Quinn in close but again, he winced.
“You okay?” Quinn started to sit up. “You need something for the pain?”
“In a minute.” He pulled him back down, leaving his hand on Quinn’s side. He ran his thumb over ribs and warm skin because he’d pushed the shirt up more. “What happened at the hospital? Did you yell at Snow?”
Quinn shrugged one shoulder. “You don’t remember? You had some kind of reaction to the pain meds. You were fine—it wasn’t anything life threatening, but they switched them out.” He put his hand on Shane’s chest. “They also wanted you to stay all night and you absolutely refused. Just so you know, your dad is asleep on the couch. I think he was worried.”
“I don’t remember any of that. I also went to the bathroom and didn’t even notice him.” Shane chuckled. “I need to get back up and close the bedroom door.”
“I’ll do it.” Quinn rolled away from him, padded to the door, and slid it shut. He came right back and settled in against Shane naturally—like he belonged there.
Shane was really starting to feel like he did. “Thanks for offering to help me out this weekend.”
“You remember that?”
He nodded. “That and Jude being an ass to rile up his boyfriend. They get off on angry sex.”
Quinn snorted and yawned, his body going pliant as he started to slip back into sleep. And when he relaxed into Shane, he pressed right into Shane’s full dick. He pulled back to blink at Shane in the near darkness. “Really? With a gunshot wound?”
“It’s just a graze and you’re gorgeous and in my bed, so of course I’m hard. We don’t have to do anything about it. It feels good to just hold you now that you’re not angry. You aren’t, right? Things still felt awkward yesterday.”
“I’m not. Getting shot at turns out to be good for letting things go.” Quinn paused and licked his lips. There was no missing the sudden stiffness in his frame. Shane held back from reaching out to pull Quinn even closer, wanting to kiss away whatever thoughts were passing through his head.
“You know how I told you that my mom was in a car accident? That it’s the reason she’s the way she is now?” Quinn started after several seconds of silence. His voice was low and rough like he was forcing it past a lump in his throat.
“Yeah.”
“I think she’d been leaving the guy she’d been living with…because he hit her.”
“Quinn…” Shane said on a heartbroken sigh.
“They’d been together for about a year, but I didn’t see him often because I was so busy with school. I-I didn’t know. She never said anything. After she was in the hospital for a few days, the doctor pulled me aside and told me that she had a lot of really old bruises and a few scars that weren’t from the car accident.” He closed his eyes and tears slipped out the corners. “Her car was full of her stuff. She was leaving him. Trying to break free. She never told me.”
Shane reached over and cupped the side of Quinn’s face, using his thumb to wipe away a tear. “It’s not your fault.”
“I should have been there. If I hadn’t been so caught up in school and my life, I would have known something was wrong. I could have saved her. Then maybe…”
