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“Yay!” Quyen did a little fast clap, and then a thought visually dawned on her face. “Wait, are they with each other too?”
“Pass.” That was their business to share, not hers. She had a feeling they wouldn’t mind Quyen knowing, but she didn’t want to say anything without their consent.
“Whoa.” She closed her eyes and muttered. “I will not objectify your boyfriends. I will not objectify your boyfriends.”
A rush of joy surged through O’Neal.My boyfriends.She loved the sound of that.
When Quyen opened her eyes again, she looked more serious. “Do you feel safe with them? Because that’s a lot of boy parts but also a lot of muscle, and you’re all by yourself.”
A soft smile touched her lips. “One thousand percent. Honestly. They’re…the best. And very sweet.”
Quyen literally squeed and pressed her fingertips to her mouth. “Oh my God, I am so happy for you. After what you’ve been through, you deserve like a hundred beautiful guys lined up to worship at the altar of O’Neal. Get it, girl.”
She rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t go that far, but thank you for not gasping in horror and calling me crazy. That means a lot to me.”
Quyen had no idea how much. O’Neal had had a lifetime of judgment. Harsh, black-and-white, no-gray-area judgment. To have a friend who simply accepted her and how she was feeling without trying to lecture her felt like a miracle.
Quyen snorted. “As if I’d ever. I’m shocked but in a good way.” She took a long sip of her soda. “As long as it’s what you want to do and you weren’t, like, pressured by them or anything. Did they pressure you?”
“No.” She took a bite of pizza, chewed, and swallowed. “If anything, Auden tried to push me away. That’s why things have been so complicated lately. He didn’t want me to know that he was this way. That first time, the night we went dancing at that club, it was just me and him.”
“That’s good. I mean, about not pressuring you,” Quyen said, finally remembering she had food in front of her. She folded her second slice of pizza in half. “So you said love. Likelovelove.”
O’Neal nodded, the word electric in her ears.Love.“Yeah. It all feels…very real. And right.”
“That’s amazing,” she said. “I’m going to sit here like a good friend and pretend I’m not wildly jealous.” She gave her an overly bright smile and pointed at her face. “See, totally not jealous. Totally not thinking about how every date I’ve been on lately has turned out to be a spectacular dud.”
O’Neal gave her a wry look. “Well, don’t get too jealous. I’ve been disowned by my family, and will probably get disowned by my adopted one if they find out I’m sleeping with their son and his roommate, oh, and I’m doing a project on my dead mother so…”
Quyen’s expression turned contemplative and then she nodded. “Yep. You’re right. I can be patient. You deserve the two hot guys. The universe owes you a pretty big debt.” She cleaned off her fingers. “Speaking of which, how are you feeling about tonight’s meeting?”
The shift in conversation made O’Neal’s stomach churn. “Nervous. But ready, I guess.”
Quyen gave her a sympathetic look. “Did you tell Auden and Lennox about it?”
“Not yet.” She hadn’t wanted anything to rain on the happiness of last night.
“Maybe you should.” She picked up her phone and checked the time. “If they’re free, I bet they would come with us. Couldn’t hurt to have more people watching your back. I mean, I’m prepared to tase this guy if he gives me any weird vibes at all, but more people, especially two big guys, would help the cause.”
She shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t know if I want to drag them into this. I already feel bad dragging you into it.”
Quyen reached out and put her hand over O’Neal’s. “You’re not dragging anyone. It’s called letting people be there for you.” She tipped her head toward O’Neal’s phone. “Come on. Call your dudes. They’ll for sure want to come along and be there for you.” She gave her a look. “Let them.”
O’Neal sighed, knowing that both of them would come without question. They’d probably be mad if they found out later that she’d gone and didn’t ask for them to be there with her for support. She would want to be there for them in this situation, so maybe she should stop trying to shoulder this all on her own.
“You’re right.”
Quyen perked up with a smile. “I usually am.”
* * *
A few hours later,O’Neal was sitting in another restaurant, this time in a Thai place, and a man who’d known her mother was sitting across from her at the round table. Flanking her on each side were Auden and Lennox, and Quyen was next to Auden, poised with a notepad—and probably a weapon at the ready.
Jason Hazelwood was tall and friendly-looking with a casually styled head of red hair and the faint remnants of childhood freckles across his nose. O’Neal had only exchanged a few brief emails with him, but she’d done enough research to feel as if she knew him at least a little. He’d been a junior in college, majoring in pre-med, when he’d known her mother. Now, he owned a small veterinary clinic in a quiet suburb about half an hour from the college that had a 4.5 star rating on Yelp.
When she’d reached out to him through his Facebook page, he’d been guarded and had made her go through steps to make sure she was who she said she was. Apparently, true crime podcast people hounded him on the regular. But once he’d confirmed O’Neal was Katie’s daughter, he’d been open to meeting with her.
They’d gotten to the restaurant a while ago and had already done quick introductions, made awkward small talk, and ordered their drinks, but now Jason was waiting with a slightly wary look on his face—probably because Quyen was giving him a look that said she was capable of carving his heart out with her butter knife if needed.
