Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
AUGUST
“She’s avoiding me.” My thumb picks at the label on my beer as I sit at the kitchen island in Damien’s house.
“I could give you her address. You could show up at her house.” Sammy makes the offer with his head buried in the fridge.
The three of us have made a habit of getting together for a drink a couple of times a week. For some reason, I thought they might be able to help me with my relationship problems.
I stare at my cousin with disbelief and disgust. “You mean like a stalker? You want me to stalk Quinn because she won’t return my calls?”
“Is it stalking if she likes you?” He punctuates his point by popping off the lid of his bottle.
Damien and I meet eyes across the room, then answer in unison, “Yes.”
Sammy throws his hands up, spilling half his beer with the gesture. “Well then, all those romance movies are full of stalkers!”
“What are you talking about?” Damien waves his hand, and the puddle on the tiles forms into a golden bubble that floats its way to the sink while Sammy keeps on with his dramatic flailing.
“I’m talking about Sleepless in Seattle, There’s Something About Mary, This Means War, Love Actually—I could go on.”
“Could you? I didn’t realize you were such a rom-com expert.” Damien smirks.
“Anyone who doesn’t like happy endings is a heartless bastard,” Sammy announces.
“That’s fiction though. I don’t think real-life stalking ends the same way.” And I find it concerning I have to explain this to my cousin.
“Yeah. You’re not going to be crying tears of joy. You’ll be crying tears of, Oh shit! She just pepper-sprayed me in the face!” Damien gives Sammy an evil grin as the other man rolls his eyes.
“Who’s pepper-spraying Sammy? And can I help?” Marisol strolls into the room, glaring at the blond Squid.
I guess she still hasn’t forgiven him for hauling her out of the shop like a bag of potatoes last week.
Still, I can’t pretend like I’m not grateful for him helping me out then. I doubt I would have gotten to debauch my shop with Quinn if the two of them had hung around.
Also, Marisol came to work the next day, all business. She hasn’t spoken to me in anything other than a professional manner. No subtle flirting. No giving me moon eyes.
At least not where I can see.
Something seems to have gotten through to her that crushing on her older boss is a dead-end street.
Everything should be falling into place in my life.
If only Quinn wasn’t avoiding me.
“No one is pepper-spraying me, you little demon. We’re only debating the proper way to pursue a woman.”
“Well, I’ll give you a free piece of advice. Don’t pepper-spray her.”
Damien snorts just as he tips his beer for a drink, resulting in coughing and swearing and all of us laughing.
Once the room calms down, Marisol pipes up again. “So, whose love life did I just save with my words of wisdom? You finally find a lady who’ll give you more than ten minutes of her time, Sammy?”
My cousin affects a cocky grin. “Why would I need more than ten minutes?”
A smile tugs at my mouth. “I can’t imagine why Quinn never wanted a repeat with you.”
My cousin glares at me, and I realize there’s not an ounce of jealousy in my chest. Worry? Sure. Discomfort? Yeah. But not because I think Quinn wants to leave me for him. I’m just worried she wants to leave.
“Seems like that trait runs in the family,” he mutters.
I forgot how much of a dick Sammy can be sometimes.
Feeling petty, I freeze his beer. In retaliation, he pulls a palmful of water from the sink and directs it at the crotch of my pants.
“Children! Behave!” Damien tries to keep his face stern, but I can tell he’s fighting off laughter.
“You’re not dating Quinn?”
The question brings the focus of the room back to Marisol, and I don’t like the hopeful glimmer in her eyes.
Even though Sammy and Damien will aim jokes at me and give me a hard time, I know two things.
One, they do actually want me to be happy.
Two, they do not want sixteen-year-old Marisol chasing after me. If only to keep me from freezing their entire alcohol supply.
“She’s just gone a bit radio silent on him,” Sammy says.
“Rough patch, nothing more,” Damien adds.
Marisol’s head bobs around the room, her gaze finally coming to rest on me. “If she’s blowing you off, then she doesn’t deserve you.”
A grimace tries to claim my face, but I keep it contained. “I don’t think she’s avoiding me for no reason.”
“What’s the problem? She seemed pretty eager to see you when we were there.” Sammy waggles his eyebrows, and Marisol scowls at him.
“I think it’s because she …” I trail off, trying to figure out how to phrase this without letting my young employee know I fucked a woman on one of the tables at Land of Ice Cream and Snow. “She has a similar problem with her powers that I do. And she let them get out of hand. At my shop.”
All three Squids look confused, and then understanding dawns on two faces, along with shit-eating grins.
“There were some problems with things getting … too hot?” Sammy’s eyebrows do a suggestive waggle.
“Are you saying that Pyro set a fire at the shop?”
Marisol’s horrified question has me shaking my head adamantly.
“No. No fire. Just heat. We realized she’d melted some of the stock, and she felt bad about it. Still, I thought we’d left things off on a good note.” Well, maybe not the best note. But at least with the understanding that things between us weren’t over.
My cousin holds out his beer to me in silent request, his eyes flicking to my pants with an unspoken offer.
I tug at the ice and simultaneously feel the dampness of my jeans retreat.
We’re quick to forgive.
“You’re not going to get any answers if you don’t talk to her,” Damien points out.
“And you’re not going to talk to her unless you show up at her house,” Sammy adds.
“Show up at her house? First pepper spray, now stalking? How do you even get women to talk to you?” Marisol gives Sammy a look of disgust, but he only throws her a wink.
“All charm.”
I block out their back-and-forth, and my mind grapples with the problem.
If I’m not willing to show up unannounced in Quinn’s life—and I’m not—how can I fix things?
Unless Quinn got what she wanted from me already.
Maybe she and my cousin have a few things in common when it comes to their sexual conquests.
Maybe she doesn’t want anything fixed at all.