Dad Next Door (Crimson Club Book 5)

24. Tristan

Strong arms wrappedaround my middle as Quinn hugged me from behind.

I leaned back against him and put my tablet on the kitchen counter, the contract I’d been reading forgotten. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He kissed my cheek. “Time to pry yourself away from that paperwork. Our guests will be here any moment.”

“Group hug!” Leo came barreling into the kitchen and threw his arms around my middle, squeezing hard. I let out a little gasp as my breath was forced from my lungs.

Quinn shifted his arms so he could hug both of us.

“Did someone say group hug?” Nick asked, poking his head into the kitchen.

“Nick’s here,” Leo announced proudly.

“Get over here, kid.” Quinn held out one arm to Nick.

With a giggle, Nick darted over and joined in our hug.

“Awww, do we all get a hug?” Zane asked, a smirk on his lips as he leaned against the doorway to the kitchen.

“Oh yeah. Zane’s here.” Leo looked up at me. “And Noah and River and Hayden too.”

The chime of the doorbell interrupted whatever Quinn had started to say to Zane.

“I’ll get it,” River yelled from the entrance.

Leo and Nick stepped back from our hug.

“Quinn!” River shouted. “Your dads are here.”

Wrapping his arm around my waist, Quinn pulled me away from the counter and toward the entrance.

We’d invited everyone over to Quinn’s for a barbeque to celebrate a big contract that Quinn had just signed with a non-profit and to announce the details for the new clinic Stephanie, Amber, and I were planning to open when Amber’s maternity leave was over.

“Hey, Dad, Pops.” Quinn let go of me so he could hug his dads. “Where are the brats?”

Jesse stepped into the house behind their parents.

“Fu-udge off.” Jesse flicked his gaze to Leo, who was busy showing River something in his notebook.

“Where’s the food?” Adam asked, coming up behind Jesse. “I was promised food.”

“And you’ll get it when everyone’s here.” Quinn hugged his stepbrothers.

“Hi, it’s nice to see you again,” I said to Quinn’s dads. We hung out with them on a regular basis, but I still felt the need to make as good an impression as I could with them.

“You too,” his dad said with a smile, shaking my hand.

“We brought you something.” Patrick held up a bottle of wine. “This is that vintage I was telling you about.”

“Thanks.” I took it, then shook his hand in greeting too.

“Who’s missing?” Quinn glanced back at me, then looked around the entrance.

“Evan,” Nick spoke up. “He’s finishing up a call. He’ll be in soon.”

“Is Vlado with him?” Quinn asked.

“Yup. I told him to come in too instead of sitting outside in the car like a creeper.”

“Where’s Jett?” I asked, doing a quick headcount. “And my sister?”

The front door flew open, and Lydia and Jett came inside, laughing about something.

“Wassup, little bro.” Lydia sidled up to me and slung her arm over my shoulder. “How did you know I wanted a glass of wine?” She tried to grab the bottle, but I moved it out of her reach.

“Twintuition,” I deadpanned.

“You have that too?” River looked up from Leo’s notebook.

“You bet your butt we do.” Lydia gave me a little hip check. “I always know what this one is thinking.”

“What’s he thinking right now?” Zane asked with a smirk.

“He’s thinking how much he loves having me as his sister and how he can’t imagine his life without me.” She batted her eyelashes at me. “Right, little bro?”

“Yeah, let’s go with that.” I tucked the wine under my arm. “There’s a bottle chilling in the fridge if you want to get your wine on. This one is mine.”

“Fine.” She rolled her eyes. “Anyone else want some vino?”

“We’ve got beer and soda too. And chocolate milk. You all know where the fridge and glasses are,” Quinn said. “Don’t be shy.”

“Chocolate milk, please!” Leo raised his hand and jumped up and down.

“Come on, kiddo.” She waved Leo over.

“How about we all move into the kitchen and get drinks, then we can head outside?” Quinn suggested. “Need help?” he asked Gray and Caleb, their arms full of several large containers.

“We got it,” Gray said, nodding for Caleb to follow him into the kitchen with the others.

“You good?” Quinn pecked a kiss against my cheek when we were the only ones left in the entrance.

“Yeah.” I smiled and gave him a hug. The one in the kitchen had been nice, but I wanted a real hug.

“You two are worse than Riv and Hayden,” Zane said, coming into our line of sight. “I swear we need the jaws of life to keep you separated.”

“Awww, you feeling left out, big guy?” Quinn let go of me and turned on Zane, his arms open wide. “C’mere and get some love.”

“I got plenty of that this morning.” He smirked.

Quinn dragged him into a hug. Zane made a big show of pretending to fight him off, but his smile gave away that he was just playing around.

“Um, Quinn?”

He let go of Zane and turned to Jett, who was standing a few feet away, looking unsure.

“What’s up?” Quinn asked.

“I was wondering if you finished that employment letter you were going to write for me?” He clasped his hands in front of him. “It’s okay if you haven’t gotten to it. I just found this really amazing apartment and I’m worried they’ll rent it to someone else if I don’t get that letter to them today.”

“I sent it to you this morning, didn’t I?” Quinn pulled his phone out of his pocket. “At least I thought I did.”

Jett quickly got out his phone and looked down at the screen. “Shit. I mean, shoot. Sorry. I didn’t see it.” He flushed and started to turn away. “I didn’t mean to bother you.”

“Is everything okay?” Quinn asked.

“You’ve been weirder than usual,” Zane added helpfully.

“Yeah. It’s just…nothing. I’m fine.”

“You know you can talk to me about stuff that isn’t work related,” Quinn said, his tone soft. “I might be your boss, but I’m also your friend, and that comes first for me. But I totally get it if you don’t feel comfortable confiding in me anymore.”

“It’s not that.” Jett glanced at Zane.

“Want me to scram?” Zane asked.

“No.” He scrubbed one hand over his face. “I’m fine. It was just a weird week.”

Zane and Quinn exchanged a look. “Okay, if that’s all it is.”

“It is.” He nodded firmly.

“Did you need something?” Quinn asked Zane.

“I was just wondering if the new guys are coming today.”

Jett made a strangled sound, like he was choking on something. “I’m fine,” he croaked preemptively when we all swung our gazes to him.

I didn’t know much about the new hires that had joined Quinn’s crew last week other than they were friends of Jesse’s and Quinn had known them since they were in high school. And that they were a couple and had been together since they were teenagers.

“As far as I know.” Quinn turned his attention back to Zane, giving Jett a moment to compose himself.

“Cool.” Zane glanced at Jett again, who was looking paler than usual. “And Gray told me to tell you to get your butts in the kitchen before all the snacks are gone.”

A knock on the front door broke the weird silence that had fallen over us.

“That’s Evan!” Nick came racing out of the main part of the house and sprinted to the door. “Heya, sexy,” he said, throwing the door open.

“Heya, gorgeous,” a man who wasn’t Evan said with an amused grin.

“You really know how to make a guy feel welcome.” Another man came up behind the first.

It took me a second to place them as Ezra and Wesley, the new guys on the crew.

“Oopsie doodles.” Nick laughed and stepped aside. “I thought you were my boyfriend.”

“You mean the hottie yelling into his phone?” Ezra asked, stepping into the house.

“That would be him.” Nick stuck out his hand. “I’m Nick. The official, unofficial supervisor of Quinn’s crews.”

“Nice to meet you, boss. I’m Ezra.” He shook Nick’s hand. “This is my better half, Wes.”

“Hi.” Nick pumped Wes’s hand enthusiastically. “You guys are just in time for snacks.”

“Drinks are in the kitchen too. Help yourselves,” Quinn added, ruffling Nick’s hair.

“Hey!” Nick batted Quinn’s hand away and danced out of his reach. “Do you have any idea how long it takes to make it look like I woke up looking this perfect? Come on, Jett, let’s get… Where’d he go?”

I looked behind me. Zane still stood in the same place, but Jett was nowhere to be seen.

“Probably digging into the snacks we’re missing.” Zane held out his arm. “Come on, angel face, let’s get our share before the others devour everything.”

“’Kay,” Nick said brightly, taking Zane’s arm. “Come on, troops, it’s snack time.”

“Hey, I’m Ez.” Ezra held his hand out to me as Zane and Nick headed into the kitchen.

“Tristan.”

“I’m Wes.” He held his hand out for a shake.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“Boss.” Ez smirked at Quinn.

“Yeah, you can shove that boss stuff right up your ass.” Quinn pointed to the kitchen. “Grab what you want, and don’t be shy.”

Wes tipped a pretend hat at Quinn. “When are we ever shy?”

Quinn laughed but didn’t elaborate. “Go ahead, we’ll wait for Nick’s boyfriend to finish yelling at whatever unfortunate soul he’s dealing with.”

When we were alone, Quinn turned to me and shot me a curious look. “What’s going on in that big brain of yours?”

“Nothing.” I smiled.

“You were thinking about that contract.” He put his hands on my hips and tugged me close. “And freaking out because signing it means the clinic is happening, and it’s not just an idea anymore.”

“Guilty.”

“Is there anything I can do to take your mind off things and get you into party mode?” Quinn arched one eyebrow suggestively.

“Nothing that will only take a few minutes.” I laughed, some of my distractions lifting. “And nothing we can do with a houseful of guests.”

“Too bad.” He sighed theatrically. “I guess I can wait until later for you to ravish me.”

“How do you know I don’t want you to ravish me?” I teased.

“We’ll flip for it.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Or just flip.”

A knock on the door saved me from having to answer, but not even my tight jeans could hide my boner as Quinn opened the door for Evan and Vlado.

A burst of laughter from the main part of the house caught my attention, and I couldn’t stop my smile.

This was the life I’d always wanted, the one I’d spent way too many years trying to create. I had a partner who loved me. Who constantly found new ways to show me how much he cared. He supported my dreams, encouraged me to reach for the stars, and he loved my son like he was his own.

But beyond that, he’d also opened my eyes to what family could be. His parents, brothers, and his friends accepted both Leo and me with open arms and lots of gentle teasing.

Instead of spending my days alone and regretting the time I lost, I now looked forward to every day that I got to spend with the man who’d shown me that my past didn’t define me. That I could have everything I wanted, and it was never too late to take control of my life and my future.

He was my best friend, and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was just the beginning of a lifetime of adventures we’d have together.