Chapter Eighteen Movie Night
After her dinner with Quill, the rest of which was more focused on the logistics of removing Joel from the home, what he should say to Chrissy when/if she reached out, and whether or not she should go on the vacation with Tenn (Quill said she should, which almost made her drop her glass of wine in shock). He dropped her off back home just after seven-thirty. She was surprised to see Joel was home waiting for her. He came out of the bedroom, moving a little stiffly but smiling.
“Hey, you weren't gone long at all.”
“He just wanted to thank me for giving his girlfriend my old tires.” She hung up her jean jacket and kicked off her sneakers.
“Ah. I thought something was missing from the garage.” Joel nodded. “Why don't you put on some pyjamas, and I'll make popcorn? I figured we could watch the new romantic movie with your favourite actor in it.
“Sounds good.” Quinn went to the bedroom to change with a smirk. If it was the movie she was thinking about, she already watched it, and he was in for a shock. That particular actor rarely played romantic heroes, and while yes, the first half of the movie played out like a romance, the second was more of a thriller/horror movie. She knew he probably wouldn't enjoy the content very much, especially when the lead actress bites the lead actor's dick while giving him a blow job so she could rescue her friend and escape.
When Quinn came out, Joel was sitting on the couch with the popcorn in front of him, and she hesitated momentarily. He definitely expected to cuddle. Fuck. Then, an evil idea came to her. She was a prolific social media user, primarily for her artwork, but before Joel started his affair, she also took lots of couple pictures and posted them. Because she mostly used it to promote her art, her profiles were public, and she had a feeling Viki checked it to make sure they weren't doing anything too couple-like. A few days before Tenn had brought her the proof of the affair, Joel had taken her on a date that finished with a walk along Boston Harbor. She had posted a picture of him kissing her cheek and holding her close. He had been in a bad mood for two days after, and now she thought it was because Viki had something to say about it. She just needed to explain it to Tenn first.
“I just need to use the bathroom really quick.” Quinn saw Joel looking at her expectantly and gave him a hasty explanation before darting into the guest bathroom and pulling out her phone.
I have a way to piss off Viki and put Joel in the doghouse, but I don't want to upset you.
She waited anxiously for him to answer and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw he read her text and was responding.
What is it?
He wants to watch a movie and is expecting to cuddle. I could post a picture on my social media.
She was positive Tenn would agree, but she wanted to make sure he was okay with it because he would have to deal with Viki’s response.
Please do it. The rage I'm going to witness will make up for everything else.
Quinn grinned and remembered to ask if he wanted to join them this weekend.
??Sleepover at my house this weekend for a Mario Kart Tournament, if you're interested.
Who's coming?
Quill, Rilla, and Bishop.
She hadn’t asked Rilla and Bishop yet, but unless they decided to head to Bishop’s family home on Martha’s Vineyard for the weekend, she knew they would be up for it.
We could do it here. My basement is the perfect set-up.
That actually would be perfect. His rec room in the basement had more seating, and the TV was much bigger.
You provide the accommodations, and I'll bring the food.
Deal. See you tomorrow.
See you tomorrow.
Quinn flushed the toilet, left the bathroom and hurried down the hall, aware she had kept Joel waiting a while. “Sorry, something must not be agreeing with me.” She sat on the couch, noticing him side-eyeing her. “I wasn't throwing up; my stomach felt weird, that's all.”
“I didn't say anything!” Joel put up his hands in surrender and smiled apologetically. “Are you good to start?”
“Yep,” Quinn held back her snigger when she saw he had indeed picked out the movie she thought he would. Joel saw she was sitting with a fair amount of space between them and frowned.
“Can we cuddle? I promise not to let my hands roam.”
Quinn snorted. “Ha. Like I would consider that to be a problem.” She swallowed, immediately regretting her words. She didn't want him to touch her, but she couldn't deny that the continuous rejection of physical intimacy had been extremely hurtful. She slid over so she was next to him, and he put his arm around her shoulders.
“Well, if you want them to roam...” He leaned in and kissed her neck. Quinn almost put her teeth through her tongue to stop herself from snapping at him that she had a pretty good idea of where his lips and tongue were today and to not put them near her.
“Baby steps.” She said lightly and shifted away from him a little. He stopped kissing her neck and sighed.
“Quinn...”
“Shhh. Movie.” Quinn smiled and pointed at the screen. He settled beside her, and after a few minutes, she let her head rest on his shoulder. Joel immediately shifted so they were cuddled up more and rested his cheek on her head. Realizing she had to get this going, she pulled out her phone and pretended to check a message, then opened and flipped the camera around.
“What are you doing?” His voice was definitely nervous, and she felt him tense up.
“Rilla wants to know what I'm doing.” She lied smoothly. “I wanted to send her a picture.” She knew Joel would agree to it if she sent it to Rilla. He was constantly put out that Rilla, Bishop, and Quill refused to fully forgive him for putting her in the hospital and liked to prove she was happy with him anyway.
“Oh.” He relaxed and pulled her even closer.
“Smile.” Quinn watched as he smiled happily into the camera and took the picture. She let him watch her send the picture to Rilla with the caption, “Movie Night!” She had to hand it to her girl; she didn't hesitate, sending one back of her and Bishop cuddled up on their couch with Same! Talk tomorrow! Quinn put her phone away. She knew he wouldn't get through the second half of the movie without wanting to leave the room every time it showed them indulging in cannibalism. He had a weak stomach for movies involving blood or body parts being eaten. Sure enough, twenty minutes later, he straightened up and groaned. “I don't understand your obsession with this guy. He makes weird movies, and he's not even that good-looking.”
“I like that he chooses movie roles that are out of the box.” Quinn shrugged and ate some popcorn, watching as the movie character cut pieces off a leg and boxed it up to ship out.
“I need to go to the bathroom.” Joel got up and started to walk away, looking a little green.
“Want me to pause it?” She called, fighting a smile.
“No.” When the bathroom door shut, she grinned and pulled out her phone again. She posted the picture of them across her social media accounts with the “Movie Night!” caption, filled the rest of the character count with a bunch of sweet, loving hashtags and put the phone away again. When Joel returned, he cuddled with her again and pressed his face into her shoulder whenever the characters were eating. After about ten minutes, she felt his phone vibrate against her hip. He didn't react, and a few seconds later, it vibrated again. Then again and again and again.
“Do you need to check that?” Quinn asked innocently when it vibrated for the seventh time.
“Sorry, I don't know who would be texting me; I told everyone I planned to spend the night with my wife. Just a second.” He pulled out his phone, and she watched out of the corner of her eye as his mouth tightened; then, he sent a text back and silenced it completely.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, just someone making a big deal out of something that isn't.” He smiled at her. “Let's finish the movie, and just so you know, I'm never watching another one of his again.”
“Oh, come on. Most of his movies are nothing like this. Besides, I like it when he plays a bad guy.”
For the rest of the movie, Quinn was on edge. She desperately wanted to check the messages Viki was sending Joel. When the movie was over, she stretched and sat up. “Well, that was fun. Thank you.”
“You don't have to thank me, Quinn. I enjoyed spending time with you.” He shut everything down and helped her clean up, which had her raising her eyebrows. Joel normally didn't do that. When they were done, he followed her down the hall and almost into the bedroom before he stopped himself. There was an awkward moment where he just looked at her, but Quinn wasn't having it.
“Good night!” She said brightly, going into her room and closing the door.
“Night.” The defeat in his voice came through the door clearly, and Quinn smiled. He brought this on himself. Grabbing her tablet, she logged into Joel's iCloud and brought up Viki's messages.
You two look cozy.
What the actual fuck?
I thought it was “JuSt A MoViE”
Why are you cuddled in with her?
Answer me!
Joel!
So, help me God, I will come over there right now if you don't answer me!
Jesus fucking Christ, Viki! She's my wife, I'm trying to save my marriage, and if that means holding her through a goddamn movie, I will! You are the mistress, nothing more. Get over yourself! She will always come first, and you've known that from the beginning!
Fuck you!
You're an ass!
YOU LOVE ME! NOT HER!
I'm going to tell her. I'll tell everyone.
You know what? I'm done. Go fuck yourself.
JOEL! Stop ignoring me!
I'm coming over!
Quinn raised her eyebrows. “Don't you dare come over here, you bitch. Don't you dare ruin my plans.” She muttered. Seeing Joel was typing, she sat back and watched the show.
You blow up my life, and I'll blow up yours. Do you think Tenn will stay with you?
You need to stop and fucking think rationally for once. Do you want to be out on the streets with nothing?
Rhyme is good friends with Quinn's brother and will fire us to keep Quill happy.
I'm doing what I have to do to stay with you and keep my life intact. It was fucking cuddling! She's in her room, and I'm in mine.
Did you kiss her?
No.
Did you want to?
Stop. Stop fucking torturing yourself and me. We have an entire weekend together coming up in Atlanta. Do you want me to cancel it?
No.
Then stop behaving like a child. I don't want to fucking hear about this anymore. Go to bed, Viki.
Viki didn’t bother to respond, and after a few minutes to be sure, Quinn took screenshots of everything and sent them to Deedee and then to Tenn.
Worth the most uncomfortable two hours I've ever sat through.
Oh, you should have been on this end. Come over tomorrow, and I'll show you the video.
Quinn’s heart skipped a beat. As worried as she was about the speed of their relationship and the fact that they were technically both still married, she couldn’t deny it was extremely nice to feel wanted and to know he was just as interested in her as she was in him.
Sure. I have a couple of appointments tomorrow morning; I'll swing by after.
I get to hold you for as long as I want.
Deal lol.
Quinn plugged in her phone and lay in bed. At first, she felt guilty about how excited she was to see Tenn again, but then she figured Joel wasn’t feeling guilty about what he was doing, so she let it go and snuggled into her pillow. She was looking forward to seeing where things with Tenn would go. Quill was rarely wrong about people, and she trusted her twin.