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It had been… a weird time. Quinn had been nursing his own hurts still, and his attraction to Riley’s youngest brother had been confusing for him and somewhat unwelcome. Peyton had looked at him with hearts in his eyes, and Quinn had, for the first time since Sebastian, wanted to trust his heart to someone. Of course, he’d found a way to mess that up as well.
“He wasn’t always like he is now,” Quinn said, recalling the Peyton he’d first known. He’d been so young, so open and free and beguiling. “He was softer, brighter, less… sharp, I suppose, before he enlisted. Whatever happened during his first deployment, it changed him.” Quinn had tried to help, wanted so badly to do whatever he could to take the pain in Peyton’s eyes away. “I tried to be what he needed. Tried and failed.” He’d been unable to reach the Peyton that had come home. Meeting Will had been a blessing for the soldier with the wounded heart.
“I don’t believe that,” Will said. He shifted closer to Quinn, their thighs pressing against each other. Quinn let the warmth sink in, and he moved his hand up to rest around Will’s back, pulling him even closer.
“I was trying to align how I remembered him with who he’d become, and we weren’t always on the same wavelength. Not like how we’d been.” The easy conversation and the effortless way they were drawn to each other had been replaced with awkward and stilted shuffling, like they bothwantedto be what they’d been before but were unsure how to get there. Mixing that in with the attraction that still burned hot made it messy and complicated.
“You found it again.” Will sounded certain.
“It was never really lost,” Quinn said. “Just left of centre, that’s all. But then I saw you two together, and I thought he’d moved on.”
“So you stepped back,” Will said, understanding dawning on his face as his eyes widened. “Shit. I thought that had happened before me. I didn’t realise—Quinn, I’m so sorr—”
“No,” Quinn interrupted. “Don’t ever be sorry for that. You gave him something that I hadn’t been able to, and he needed it. I never thought badly of you, Will. I was happy for both of you.” He’d been hurt, and that was something he couldn’t deny even though it had all been his own making. Ultimately, he’d been happy that Peyton had gotten what he’d needed. It didn’t matter who put the smile on his face, so long as he was smiling.
Will didn’t look convinced.
Quinn used his hold on Will to pull him into his arms, giving him a soft kiss. “We found our way,” he said. “Don’t be sorry about how we got here.”
Will melted against him. He twisted, lifting one long leg across Quinn’s lap as he deepened the kiss, making Quinn moan.
A wet nose pressed against Quinn’s side.
Will pulled away with a laugh. “Pers, come on, don’t be a cockblock,” he said.
She yipped and shoved at him with her nose. She tried to climb up into Quinn’s lap between them but kept slipping. Quinn winced as her claws dug into him on each attempt. She huffed and sat next to them, staring soulfully.
“We’re gonna have to talk about this,” Will told her sternly. She got up and walked away.
Will’s mouth dropped open in shock. “Hey, wait,” he called out. “Look, we both said things we regret!”
She came back a moment later with one of her toys, a dirty turtle that she kept sneaking outside when Quinn wasn’t looking. One of its legs looked like it was on its last life and ready to fall off. It was her favourite, and Quinn knew he would need to go back and buy another forty of them.
“Oh.” Will deflated. “Don’t scare me like that. I thought we weren’t friends anymore.”
She dropped the turtle in front of him and sat again, her tongue drooping out the side of her mouth happily.
“Do you want me to throw this?”
Sebastian gathered their mugs and took them to the sink. Quinn winced as his knees cracked when he stood. He was too old to sit on the floor anymore.
“Was that you?” Sebastian asked, smirking.
“I’m getting old,” Quinn said ruefully.
“You’re only thirty-two,” Will said. “Right?”
“Right,” Quinn replied.
Sebastian pulled Quinn into his arms and kissed him slowly. “You look fantastic for an old man.”
“Yeah?” Quinn murmured against his lips.
“Yeah.”
“Thank you.”
“Any time.”
