4. Tristan
“Shut up,”I said to my sister, not looking up from the paper I was reading. Or at least pretending to read. She was up to something.
“I didn’t say anything.” Lydia leaned against the counter casually.
“You don’t have to. Your face is saying everything your mouth wants to.”
“How can you know what my face is saying if you’re not even looking at me?” she asked innocently.
“I don’t need to see you to know what you’re thinking.”
“And what am I thinking?”
“You’re thinking of being a sister and sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
She fake gasped, her hand over her heart. “I’d never do something like that.”
Knowing I’d lost, I lowered the paper. My sister was stubborn and wouldn’t let up until I let her grill me.
“So, what’s going on with you and Quinn?”
I rolled my eyes and lifted the paper.
She pushed it down, forcing me to lower it again. “You really think this is going to work on me? Have you forgotten the time I spent seven hours sitting outside your bedroom door waiting you out back in senior year because you thought you could hide from me? Or the time I?—”
“Yes, you’ve always been annoying.” I put the paper down. “Nothing is going on.”
“Nothing?” She pinned me with a look. “You guys are doing garage playdates every other Friday after Simon leaves, and now you’re hanging out in the evenings when Leo isn’t here. That doesn’t sound like nothing.”
“They’re not playdates.”
“Two adult men chilling in a garage drinking beer and eating dinner together is either a playdate or a real date. And since you said he’s straight, that would make it a playdate.”
“We’re friends. I don’t know what you expect me to say.”
“That!” She pointed at me triumphantly. “I want you to admit you’re friends. You act like your friendship is some state secret. It’s weird. I want to know why.”
“I don’t act like that.”
“You do. Hello, were you not there on Sunday when Mom asked you if you’d met anyone new and you said no?”
“I said no because she was asking about a romantic interest.” I shot her a flat look. “Quinn’s a friend. A much younger friend. I don’t want people to get the wrong idea.”
“He’s only ten years younger than you.”
“That’s a big age gap when one of us is old and a single parent and the other is young and single and living his best life.”
She shot me an unimpressed look.
“It’s really not a big deal.”
She arched one eyebrow.
A blur of soft pink streaked across the room as Jinx raced around, bouncing and leaping off the furniture until he came to a stop in front of me.
“Come here.” I patted my chest.
I usually discouraged teaching cats to jump up on people, but it was the only way to get Jinx to stop dive-bombing me. As a seal point sphynx, which just meant he was a Siamese with the recessive hairless gene, Jinx was a natural climber and spent a lot of time on top of shelves, cupboards, and doors, whatever he could get up on. Having him wait to be invited up was preferable to the sneak attacks he used to do.
Jinx jumped up, landing against my chest with his front paws over my shoulder. He immediately tucked his face against my neck and purred. I put one hand under his rump so he didn’t slip.
“Saved by the cat.” Lydia ran her fingers over Jinx’s back. He snuggled closer to me. “I need to get going.”
Still cradling Jinx, I walked my sister to the door and waited as she gathered her sweater, purse, and various other things she’d left scattered around the foyer.
“I’m staying over tomorrow night, FYI.” She jingled her keys at me. “I swear, you’re gonna have to bail me out of jail if I have to go over and tell my neighbor that practicing his bagpipes at eight in the morning is not okay any day of the week, but especially not on the weekends when the rest of us want to sleep in.”
“I’m surprised there hasn’t been an uprising.”
“I’m about to lead the charge.” She rested her hand on the doorknob. “But until then, I’ll have to settle for crashing here.”
“You know you’re always welcome.”
“I know.” She flashed me a smile. “See you tomorrow.”
“Text me when you get home.”
When the door closed behind her, I went back to the kitchen.
It was Thursday, and I’d just gotten off a ten-day stretch of work. The only saving grace was that I had the entire weekend off and would be able to spend it with Leo.
I hated that I only got to see him every other week but add in my unpredictable work schedule and I lost more of my already limited time with my son.
At least he had Lydia when I couldn’t be here. I hated that she had to step in and be Leo’s de facto parent when she’d made the choice to not have children of her own, but I would be forever grateful that she loved my son enough to step up and give him some stability.
Tiredly, I put the paper I’d left on the counter away so none of the pets got ahold of it, using one hand so I didn’t disturb Jinx.
It wasn’t late, only around ten, but I was too tired to do anything that required thinking.
With a sigh, and still using one hand, I grabbed a beer out of the fridge, then carried Jinx into the pet room, which was what I’d turned the formal dining room into after my divorce. Extending my arm, I rested it on one of the cat towers.
Jinx scurried up onto my shoulder, then down my arm and onto the tower. Our black cat popped her head out of one of the cubbies and looked up at him.
Jinx bopped her on the head to entice her to play with him.
She stuck her head back in the cubby and curled up to go back to sleep.
Jinx looked at me incredulously, like he couldn’t believe his sister would rather nap than play.
“Sorry, buddy. Looks like you’ll have to find someone else to have zoomies with.”
He hopped down onto the platform Mili’s cubby was on, bopped her through the opening, then took off like the brat he was.
Mili burst out of her cubby and chased Jinx out of the room. Shadow, our Siamese, jumped out of the bed he’d curled up in and raced after them.
“Or you could just do that.” Chuckling at their antics, I made my way to my room.
The house was set up like a typical ranch, with bedrooms on either end of the building and the living area in the center. My room and the nursery, which was now my office, were on one side. Leo’s room, the one I’d set up for Lydia, and a spare room were on the other side of the house.
I’d never liked the layout of the house or that Leo’s room was so far from mine, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it now.
The only part of the house I truly liked, other than the location and the land, was the private balcony that ran along the back of the house and could only be accessed through my room.
Needing to relax, I slipped onto the balcony and breathed in the fresh air.
Lights drew my attention to Quinn’s property.
His backyard was far different from mine. I had a small patch of grass, our garden, the sheds, and lots of woods.
Quinn’s backyard had been designed for entertaining, although I’d never seen the previous owner host any sort of gathering.
The deck was massive and sectioned off into distinct areas. On the far side of the house was an outdoor kitchen with an in-ground barbeque pit. Next to that was a seating area with couches and chairs clustered around an ornate stone fireplace. Tucked in the corner closest to my house was a hot tub that used to be obscured by a pergola, but Quinn and his friends had torn the pergola down and installed an open canopy with a removable cover and lots of lights that could be set to flash along with music, on their own, or work like normal lighting.
My breath caught as my gaze settled on Quinn in his hot tub. The jets were off, the lights were on, and the canopy was open, giving me an unobstructed view of him in all his glory.
I should go. Peeping on my neighbor while he was relaxing in his hot tub was peak creepy, but my feet wouldn’t listen to my brain and stayed rooted in place.
Even from this distance, I could see how in shape Quinn was. He sat against the side of the hot tub, his outstretched arms resting on the rim of the tub and his head back. His shoulders and arms were a work of art, as were his chest and stomach. I couldn’t see below the waterline because of the darkness, but the droplets of water glistening on his skin emphasized his incredible muscle definition.
Yeah, it was time to go back inside. Quinn was a friend, and he would be horrified to know I was creeping on him like this.
Before I could move, Quinn stood, the water splashing around his thighs as he climbed out of the hot tub.
Naked.
Holy shit, Quinn was naked.
My eyes traced down his rippling stomach and stopped on his dick.
Jesus H Christ, he was hung. I’d never asked for his modeling alias because I hadn’t trusted myself to not look him up.
But now that I’d seen the goods, I understood why he was making enough money off nudes to live in this neighborhood.
Shit. I wasn’t just creeping on him; I was violating his privacy and trust. I needed to leave. Now.
In my haste to get back to the door, I didn’t notice how close to the metal railing I was and knocked my beer bottle against it.
The hollow crack of glass on metal echoed in the night.
Quinn’s head snapped up, and his eyes connected with mine.
We stood there for a few beats, frozen. Then Quinn lifted his hand and waved, a smirk-smile replacing his earlier shock.
On autopilot, I waved back.
Wait, no. I was waving to my naked neighbor and still staring at him.
Shit.
Darting away from the railing, I fumbled my way through the door, barely missing hitting my face, and scurried into my room.
“Oh, crap.” I leaned against the wall next to the balcony door. “Shit!”
Ping.
Digging my phone out of my pocket, I glanced at the screen, only half seeing the notification from my sister telling me she’d made it home safe.
What had I done?
Quinn was the first friend I’d made since my divorce. The first friend I’d had in over fourteen years who wasn’t a mutual with Simon.
We’d grown close over the past three months, and I honestly didn’t even know how it happened.
The night he’d invited me over for a beer had been one of the best nights I’d had in years. Between work and being a dad, I didn’t have much time to socialize. And I was usually too distracted during my off-custody weeks to do anything with my free time except be sad that I couldn’t see Leo and try to catch up on work and chores.
That first night had turned into a tradition where Quinn was ready and waiting for me in his garage when Simon left with Leo. We’d have a beer, wait for dinner to arrive, and he’d listen patiently while I went on a tirade about all the things I’d held in all week.
That had evolved into us meeting up a few times during my off weeks and chatting over a beer when I got home from work too.
Hanging out with him was the only social time I spent with another adult who wasn’t my colleague or sister, and I looked forward to our conversations all week.
On paper, we were complete opposites, but hanging out with Quinn was easy. He was an incredible conversationalist, and his sense of humor matched mine. He was also well read and constantly dropped info dumps about whatever we happened to be talking about, and he didn’t mind when I did the same.
Ping.
This time, when I pulled out my phone, I expected to see my sister’s name in the notifications.
It was Quinn.
“Shit,” I muttered, opening my text app.
Quinn: open your front door
Quinn: I’m outside and don’t want to wake up Leo
My heart fell. I’d hoped to have until tomorrow before I had to face him.
My stomach roiled with unease and shame.
Tristan: be right down
Bracing myself for the impending conversation, I made my way downstairs. Putting the bottle I was still clutching on the table in the foyer, I opened the front door.
Quinn stood there in a pair of low-slung sweats and a white t-shirt that was essentially transparent because of how wet it was. His expression was blank. Was that better than irate?
I stepped onto the porch and closed the door behind me so the dogs wouldn’t notice and none of my animals could escape.
“I’m so sorry,” I blurted. “I didn’t know you were out there until I did, and it was too late to stop looking, but I didn’t stop even though I should have and?—”
He raised his hand to silence me, a tiny smirk tipping up the corner of his mouth. “Breathe, Doc. You’re gonna pass out if you keep going like that.”
I did as he said, sucking in a breath and holding it in for a few beats.
“Can I say something?” he asked as I blew it out.
I nodded, ready for whatever dressing down he was about to unleash on me.
“So, did you like what you saw?” He smiled, his face the picture of serenity.
My jaw dropped like it had been unhinged.
He laughed. “You should see your face right now.”
I closed my mouth, shock taking over from my earlier shame and horror.
“Relax, Tris. I’m not here because I’m gonna chew you out or anything.”
“You’re not?” I blinked at him.
“Nope. I know you can see into my yard from your balcony. This is as much my fault for not closing the canopy.”
“You’re not mad?” I gaped at him.
“Why would I be mad about an accident?” He tucked his hands in the pockets of his sweats.
“I violated your privacy.”
“Not on purpose. And I make my living showing my junk on the internet. You’d see a hell of a lot more of me if you googled my stage name.”
My ears burned so hot I knew they had to be dark red.
“Are you okay? It looked like you opened the door on your face.”
I touched my forehead. “Yeah, I’m fine. Didn’t actually hit anything, just flailed like a moron.”
“I’m serious, Tris. This isn’t a big deal. I’m not mad, and you didn’t do anything wrong. Shit happens, and it’ll teach me to close my canopy if I don’t want anyone accidentally getting an eyeful.”
“I’m still sorry.”
“I know.” He grinned. “This’ll be a funny story one day.”
I smiled, most of the tension leaving my body. Maybe I hadn’t fucked everything up.
“I was actually going to talk to you about something. Might as well do it now.” He dragged one hand through his damp hair. “I’m having the guys over tomorrow. It’s not going to be crazy or anything, just a barbeque before they go to work, but I wanted to give you a heads-up because we’ll probably spend most of our time outside.”
“Oh, okay. Yeah. Thanks for letting me know.” I nodded, bobbing my head way more emphatically than necessary.
“You should come by after. You’re welcome to drop by while they’re here, but I know it’s tough being the odd guy out.”
“Really? You want me to?”
“Yeah. I know you have Leo this weekend, so you probably can’t, but the invite is there if you can swing it.”
“Um, okay. Thanks? I mean, I will if I can.”
“Great.” He grinned. “Hopefully I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow.”
“Oh, before I go.” He paused. “You never answered my question.”
“About tomorrow?”
“Nope.” His grin went devious. “About if you liked what you saw?”
“Is this one of those times I’m supposed to answer, or just not say anything at all and let you laugh at me?”
“Your choice.”
Quinn’s teasing and blasé attitude over the situation helped put the last of my fears at ease. He truly wasn’t mad, and even thought it was funny.
“Well, let’s just say I now have the full picture as to why you’re so good at your jobs.”
He laughed, his eyes twinkling. “Have a good night, Tris.”
“Night.”
Quinn shot me a quick wave, then jumped down off my porch.
I stood there like a statue, processing the last ten minutes.
What the fuck had just happened? How had we gone from Quinn catching me creeping on him to being invited over for a barbeque with his friends?
Woodenly, I slipped back into the house and grabbed my beer off the table. Making my way into the living room, I sank into my favorite chair. Both dogs lifted their heads from where they were curled up together on Freddie’s bed and peered at me. Koda yawned, and they went back to sleep.
I chugged half my beer in one go.
Something told me I wouldn’t be getting much sleep tonight. Hopefully I could get the image of naked Quinn out of my head before I saw him again.