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“Okay,” I said, hoping my voice didn’t sound as shaky as I felt.
I turned to my car and opened the door.
“Hey, Beck.”
Fuck, at this rate my insides were going to be twisted so tight I wouldn’t be able to remain upright much longer.
“Yeah,” I said, not turning around this time.
There was a long pause. “Thanks,” Quinn said softly. “For this afternoon.”
I nodded because I knew he wasn’t thanking me for a job well done. My dick stirred as I remembered the feel of his hair against my skin and the warmth of his flesh. I basically ripped my car door open and climbed inside, refusing to look over my shoulder at Quinn like I was tempted. My phone beeped, but since I knew it was one of my fathers doing their regular check-in, I ignored it since I’d be at Dane and Jax’s place in a few minutes. The car sputtered once before starting up and only when I put it in reverse did I look up at Quinn.
Except he was gone already, though his truck was still in the same spot. It wasn’t until I backed my car up so that Quinn’s truck wasn’t blocking my view anymore that I saw him heading towards his little cottage. I sat there watching him as he reached his porch and saw him hesitate at the door. He looked so small and broken as he clutched his husband’s boots in one hand and his hat in the other. I willed him to look at me, but he didn’t. It wasn’t until he’d finally crossed the threshold of his house and closed the door that I snapped out of my daze and focused on getting the car moving.
I resolutely ignored the scarred tree that I’d slammed into a week earlier as I drove down the driveway. It took less than five minutes to get to Dane and Jax’s house. I saw Jax’s police cruiser and their SUV in the driveway so I knew both men were home. Mrs. Greene’s spiffy little red sedan was nowhere to be found as I parked my car.
“Hey, you’re just in time,” Dane said as he came walking out of the house just as I was heading up the stairs.
“For what?” I asked.
He held up the cooler in his hand. His other hand had what looked like several towels in it and there was a bag slung over his shoulder. An older yellow lab named Millie was standing next to him.
“Picnic down by the pond. It’s such a nice afternoon that we decided to skip cooking and just do sandwiches and snacks. I left you a note on the fridge, but if you want to go change, I’ll wait for you.”
My first reaction was to say no because as much as I liked these men and their kids, I still couldn’t get past the insecurities that went through me whenever I was around them. Logically, I knew that when they looked at me, they didn’tonlysee a kid who’d tried to kill himself, but I felt like it was a big neon sign that I would always be wearing in their presence and would be hard to ignore. But then I remembered my plan to talk to them about staying at the resort. If I could get them on board, I’d probably have an easier time with getting my fathers to sign off.
“Um, I’m good like this,” I said as I motioned to my clothes.
“You don’t want to put some shorts on so you can go swimming?”
I shook my head. “Kind of beat,” I said. “Wouldn’t mind just relaxing.”
“Fair enough,” Dane said.
“Can I help you with something?” I asked as I reached for the cooler.
“Yeah, thanks.”
Dane handed me the cooler and I followed him towards the path that led to the pond. Millie trotted ahead of us, but I didn’t miss how she would stop and wait for us to catch up before going too far.
“So how was your first day?” Dane asked.
“It was good,” I said. “Harder than I thought,” I admitted.
“That means you did a good job,” Dane responded. “If it doesn’t hurt at first, it’s probably because you’re not doing it right.”
I smiled at that.
“Quinn took me to the resort today.”
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Dane asked.
I nodded. “I met Hunter and Roman too.”
Dane slowed. “So, you must have been there when they got the news,” he said.
I nodded. “Yeah, we were. They…they were really happy,” I said, though the word seemed too inconsequential to describe the emotions I’d seen.
