One from my mother, annoyed that I didn’t post enough from the club.
Roger, getting back to me about visiting hours.
I check my social media and find a flood of tags from last night. Not only are there tons of pictures from when I was posing with Colt and Sinner, but a few people caught us dancing after.
I laugh softly. “They really liked you guys.”
Sinner looks over my shoulder. “Niiiiice. You look fucking hot in that outfit.”
“Let me see.” Priest grabs my phone. He flicks through, scowling. “Some of these messages are fucking disgusting.”
“What are you looking at? Gimme that!” I lunge over the counter and snatch it back. Ugh. A dickpic. “Never seen one before?”
Colt doesn’t look amused. “Do you report this shit?”
I shrug, and right away I can tell that’s not the answer they’re looking for. “I tell someone if they keep doing it, or if it gets really gross or scary, but if I reacted to every creepy DM I’d go crazy.”
“Take it fucking seriously, Q. Someone slipped something into your drink last night. If we hadn’t been with you, it could’ve gotten bad.”
“I know, but there’s a good chance it was just bad luck that it ended up in my drink. It sucks, but sometimes stuff like that just happens. I’ll check in with Erika later and see if they found anything out.” I reach out and hook my index finger with his, giving it a little squeeze. “I’m glad you were there, all of you,but I’m not some delicate flower. I’ve managed this long, I don’t need you swooping in and taking over my life.”
Colt shoots Sinner a look. “We should head out. Got that job later.”
It takes Sinner a second before he nods. “Yeah, yeah. Right. The job in that place for the guy.” He grins and tips his head my way. “Thanks for the dance, demon. Let’s do it again sometime, ‘k?”
Just because I think it’ll annoy Priest, I stand up and put my palms on Sinner’s vest, stretching up and giving him what starts as a kiss on his bearded cheek, but he turns his face at the last second and our lips meet. It happens so fast. One second I’m in charge, and the next his arms are around me and I’m being kissed by a biker. He lets me go with a wink, leaving me speechless.
Colt laughs. “See you back at the club, man.”
Priest glares.
With Sinner and Colt gone, the mood shifts again.
“Are you managing, really?” Priest gestures to the apartment. “If I come back in a week, will this place look exactly the same? Quinn, you could pack up and be gone in an hour. It would take me longer to move out of my quarters and it’s one fucking room. Last night when you were out of it, you told us you didn’t have friends. From the way that Erika girl reacted, I think you’ve got at least one, but how about this? I’ll back off and leave you to it if you tell me who’s looking out for you.”
“Stop. I… I was out of it when I said that, and I’m too tired for this. Thanks for the coffee and everything. I think I’m going to take a nap.” I hate that he’s been back in my life for less than aday and he’s already picking at the ragged edges of my lie. “You made yourself at home, so you probably know the way out.”
Priest doesn’t let me run. Instead he pulls me into his chest, sliding his fingers into my hair and holding me around my waist with the other. “It was good to see you again, Q. If you don’t mind, I’d like it to not be quite so long before the next time. You’re doing fucking amazing.”
“You think?” I whisper.
“Fucking crushing it.” He’s not a soft man, none of them are, but there’s a world of feeling behind his gaze.
“I hope you’re right.”
4
Chapter 4 - Quinn
“Nervous?”Cliff asks.
Cliff, aka Cliff-Hanger is the closest thing this town has to a real entertainment critic. He graduated from the same theater program I did, but about ten years before I was there. His own acting career never got off the ground, but he has a spot on the local news and runs a fairly well-known video channel talking about TV and movies. The theater community in this town isn’t exactly huge, so we’ve run into each other before, but I don’t really know him, and this is my first real interview, even if it’s just a livestream.
“A little,” I admit. “I’m used to being in front of a camera. I don’t know why this feels so different.”
In about five minutes, this interview will go live, and by tomorrow it’ll be online forever. I glance off to the side of his filming area where my mother is sitting on a couch alongside Erika. Mom’s staring down at her phone, but Erika grins and gives me a thumbs up.
Cliff nods. “I get it. Believe it or not, I felt the same way when I uploaded my first video. Being in front of a camera as yourself is scarier than acting. That’s why I have this whole getup.” He gestures to himself, everything from his signature navy blue beret, to his slick goatee, the tweed jacket with the elbow patches and the classic directors chairs we are sitting in. “Cliff-Hanger the character isn’t exactly the same as Cliff the guy, you know? My advice is to start figuring out who Quinn the actress is, and make sure you keep a little bit of yourself back.”
