15. Theo #3
I went back into the living room to see Quinn hadn’t moved, clearly needing the rest.
I settled back into the chair, pulling out my laptop to get some work done. I jumped on the call with HR and Asher, she didn’t even stir as I chatted with them. I answered emails and fielded messages from everyone about where I was over our office communication system.
The group text finally started up. It took them longer than I thought.
Noah
Anyone know where Knight is?
I swung by his office but Shelly was all secretive and said he was working remote for the afternoon.
Asher
He was on my call with HR. Didn’t ask for his location.
Me
You know I’m in this group chat, right?
Oli
Quinn… do you know where Knight is?
Will
She hasn’t responded in a few days, bet he pissed her off.
Oli
That’s what I asked earlier!! He ignored my question.
Noah
Let’s do a quick poll. Whose side are we picking in a fight? I have a feeling Knight might not like the outcome.
#TeamQuinn
Asher
Whatever it was, it was his fault. Sign me up for Team Quinn.
Even my best friend was on her side in our fictional fight.
Not going to lie, I liked that they all rallied behind her so quickly.
She had fit in well with all of them and I saw her make a conscious effort on Saturday to get to know each of them.
Any time one of us had dated in the past we kept them at an arm’s length from the group, and we never included them in family time. She was different for them too.
I noticed Quinn’s phone buzzing on the table near her. So far she hadn’t moved in at least an hour. The only reason I didn’t worry was because I could see the rise and fall of her chest, hear her congested breaths.
Me
Can you guys lay off the messages.
Quinn is trying to sleep.
Jaxson
And why are you watching Quinn sleep in the middle of the afternoon?
Ash
Because he’s obsessed.
Noah
Cool it, Knight, we don’t want our pretty new friend to get a restraining order against you for being a creep.
Not only would it make the group more complicated but having to hold an intervention for you would bring me down.
Jaxson
God forbid Noah gets brought down.
Will
We all know he would just go out, tell a woman his sob story and get them to make him feel better. He wouldn’t be down for long.
Oli
But is a story about your stalker friend/business partner getting a restraining order against a woman in your friend group really all that attractive? I doubt it would be a good pick-up line.
Jaxson
Makes him look like he has poor judgement.
Noah
I think I could make it work.
Ash
Unlikely.
Me
Guys, lay off for a few hours.
Noah
Fine. We can table this conversation, which works, because I really want to get Quinn’s opinion on this.
Quinn, could I make the sob story of having a friend turn into a stalker a pick-up line?
Let us know when you wake up!
And let us know if we need to help you file a restraining order against Knight, I know a good lawyer.
After all they all emphasized Noah’s message about his pick-up line, the group quieted down and I went back to answering emails. It wasn’t an overly productive afternoon since every few minutes I would look up and get distracted by Quinn.
But I hadn’t lied to her, there was nowhere else I would rather be.
I opened Jaxson’s door with one hand and balanced the fruit tray in the other. It was Saturday and I was bummed that I wasn’t with Quinn.
After she’d woken up from her nap, I’d fed her and made her take more meds before heading home at her insistence. I had kissed her lightly on the lips, despite her objections and left her for the night even though I would have rather slept on her uncomfortable chair than leave her.
I’d showed up at her house Friday morning and decided to spend another day working beside her. She had forced me to go to the club last night and then had threatened me saying if I showed up at her place this morning rather than Jaxson’s that she would go cold on me for a minimum of three days.
It was an effective threat.
We’d all tried to get her to come but she hadn’t wanted to risk getting anyone sick.
We had told her that it was fine, no one had a problem with it, but she couldn’t be convinced.
It didn’t even help her that I hadn’t gotten sick.
But I let it go because she needed to work on Monday, she didn’t want to run herself down so she was lying low this weekend.
Which I understood. But I didn’t like that we weren’t spending our free time together.
At least she was constantly texting me now and contributing to the group chat.
After she’d woken up and read through our messages, she had decided that although it was a terrible way to pick up women, Noah was likely to make it work.
She also assured them that there was no need to file a restraining order.
Now they were deferring to her opinion on anything relating to women and they were loving getting her input.
“Is Quinn coming later?” Noah asked as I moved into the kitchen.
Jaxson’s apartment was warmer than mine with soft couches and wood accents.
But the thing was so high tech I was afraid of touching anything.
He could basically control the whole thing through his phone, including the big screen TV that rose from the floor as the curtains came down covering his view of the mountains.
“Nice to see you too,” I grumbled as I grabbed a beer and went to join Jaxson and Asher in front of the TV.
“Who brought fruit?” Will asked as he dropped on the couch beside me.
“I did.” Three sets of eyes all went to me. “Quinn told me I should,” I muttered.
“No one is going to eat it,” Oli said with a laugh as he came into the room.
“So… is Q coming?” Noah asked again.
“You don’t read the texts closely enough,” Asher said.
The game started and all their focus turned to the screen, but I was only half paying attention. I needed to plan a date for Quinn. I’d asked her on Friday before she kicked me out if I could take her out since she pointed out that we hadn’t had a first date.
I wanted to beat on my chest when she agreed without hesitation. She told me if I could give up a club night she could be free Friday or we could do Saturday. I’d quickly said Friday because that meant I could maybe convince her to also spend time with me on Saturday.
The problem was, I didn’t plan dates. Sure, a dinner here or there but never a date with someone I cared about. So the pressure was high, it was stressing me out.
And I was not a man that stressed about much.
“What’s the nicest restaurant in town?” I blurted out in between Will grumbling about the ref’s call and Oli claiming he knew what they would do next. All the men’s eyes locked on me, the only sounds coming from the TV.
“Are you feeling okay?” Noah asked as he reached over to put his hand on my forehead like he was going to feel my temperature, but I swatted his hand away.
“Never mind,” I grumbled as I rubbed a hand over my jaw. I knew this was a bad idea.
“Come on,” Will said, shooting me a look. “You never ask for help, it’s just surprising.”
“Assume this has something to do with Quinn,” Asher stated, watching me closely.
“I don’t normally put thought into where I’m going with a woman. I take them somewhere nice for a meal, go to her place and then never see her again. There is a lot of pressure with Quinn and Friday is coming up fast.”
“You’re missing Friday at Pulse?” Noah questioned me with a hurt look on his face that I ignored.
“Quinn’s putting pressure on you?” Oli asked skeptically as he tossed some popcorn in his mouth, also ignoring Noah who would gripe about Friday if we gave him attention.
“Of course not, but she deserves the best from me.”
“Look at Grump One, having feelings and liking someone,” Noah beamed as he put a hand on his chest.
I gave him a shove and rolled my eyes. “Fuck off,” I muttered as the other men laughed.
“Why does he get to be Grump One?” Asher looked at Noah.
“Don’t worry.” Jaxson patted him on the shoulder. “Looks like you’re going to get the number one spot soon.” I glared at him long enough that he put his hands up in surrender, hiding his smirk as he looked away.
“Jokes aside,” Will pulled out his phone, “Quinn isn’t the kind of girl to be impressed with somewhere just because it’s fancy, she won’t care. But you still need the right date vibe and good food.” I waited as he tapped around on his phone before looking up at me. “I think I’ve got it.”