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Hunter nodded and then they were both laughing and embracing. Quinn gave them a wide berth as he made his way towards us, presumably so he wouldn’t interrupt the intimate moment. He motioned to us and Beck and I quietly followed him to his truck. No words were spoken as we got into the truck, me in the passenger seat and Beck in the back seat. Quinn was silent as he started up the vehicle, but he didn’t put it in drive and I finally realized he was still watching the two men where they continued to hold on to each other as they talked.
I cast a glance at Beck who was watching Quinn with concern and he briefly shrugged at my questioning look.
“Quinn,” I said softly.
Quinn didn’t respond so I put my hand on his forearm. The move got his attention and he glanced first at my hand and then at me. “You okay?” I asked.
His pained eyes snapped back to the happy couple and then he nodded. “Yeah, of course.” Quinn jerked the gears and put the truck in reverse. I removed my hand from his arm and felt the loss almost immediately. Not a word was spoken during the short drive back to the barn. Quinn’s mouth was pulled into a tight frown the entire time. As soon as he put the truck in park once we reached the barn, he started to reach for the door handle, but I grabbed his arm once again. The pain was rolling off of him in waves and the idea of just letting him walk away was unacceptable to me.
“Talk to us, Quinn.”
Quinn stilled, but didn’t jerk his arm free like I thought he would. But he also didn’t say anything.
“You’re happy for them, right?” I asked, hoping to prod him into speaking. I moved my hand to his leg so it was resting just above his knee.
“Of course I am,” he said, his eyes connecting with mine for a brief moment. “I know how long they’ve been waiting for this moment…”
He fell silent again and I willed him to say something…anything that would explain his behavior. But when he remained mute, I knew he was done talking and I began to remove my hand from his leg so he could escape us like he so clearly wanted.
But to my surprise, Beck shifted in the backseat until he was almost directly behind Quinn’s seat. Quinn had removed his hat once we were in the truck and put it on the dash and the older model truck had no headrests so I had an unobstructed view of Beck’s fingers skimming over the back of Quinn’s neck. The move surprised me, but I was even more surprised by Quinn’s reaction to it. He actually closed his eyes and leaned his head back, seemingly into the touch. Beck obliged him by letting his fingers slide into the short hairs at the nape of Quinn’s neck. My whole body lit up as if Beck were touching me that way.
“You and Griff wanted that,” Beck said gently. A statement, not a question.
I had no idea who Griff was, but Quinn eventually nodded.
“I’m sorry, Quinn,” Beck murmured and then he slid his arm around Quinn’s neck so it was lying gently over his collarbone. Quinn’s left hand came up to hold onto Beck’s arm. Even with the car seat separating most of their bodies, the embrace was incredibly intimate and I almost felt like an intruder.
Until Quinn’s other hand closed over mine where it was still resting on his leg and gently squeezed.
We held there like that for what seemed like hours, but was really only seconds. I’d never been a part of such an intense moment that had absolutely nothing to do with sex.
And all I could think was one thing.
More.
ChapterSeven
Beck
Ihad no idea what had possessed me to reach for Quinn, but I couldn’t make myself regret it as I felt his fingers curl over my arm. I was reminded of how Quinn had held me in a similar manner in that bathroom stall and how safe I’d felt in that moment.
I’d meant to offer that same kind of comfort, but hadn’t known how.
I wasn’t sure it worked until Quinn sighed softly and leaned into my touch just a little bit more. His skin was warm and soft, his hair silky between my fingers. I fought the urge to press my nose against the crook of his neck so I could inhale more of his unique scent which was a combination of horses, leather and man. I settled for lowering my chin to the top of his shoulder, but a need inside me that I couldn’t explain had me pressing my lips to that same spot. I cursed the layer of fabric preventing me from feeling his skin, but the thought was fleeting as I settled my gaze on where Quinn’s hand was resting on top of Brody’s on Quinn’s leg. At some point they’d linked their fingers.
Just as images of those hands stroking over my body began to loop through my head, I felt Quinn stiffen. “We should get to work,” he said quietly and then he was straightening, forcing me to release my grip on him. The loss was striking and confusing.
I’d never had a problem showing physical affection with my family, but it wasn’t something I’d ever shown a sexual partner or even a friend, though admittedly there hadn’t been that many friends to share that kind of connection with.
Sadly, I couldn’t say the same about the number of sexual partners I’d had.
I sat back in the seat for a moment as Quinn exited the vehicle. I could sense Brody’s gaze on me, but I was feeling a little too raw to look at him. Less than an hour ago I’d been ready to run for the hills when I’d recognized Brody, but now…now, I didn’t know what I wanted. They’d agreed to my demands without hesitation, but just because they weren’t going to talk about that night at the club or pretend that they didn’t know I’d tried to take my own life, didn’t mean those things wouldn’t be front and center in their minds whenever they looked at me.
Hell, I wanted to forget that night in the bathroom stall myself, yet from the moment Brody had been shoved back into my existence, I’d been thinking of little else.
Not to mention a whole slew of new fantasies that had taken up residence in my brain, starring both men.
At the same time.
