“Hey,” Quinton said as he stuck his head around the door. “What are you two doing in here?”
He stepped into the room and slammed the door shut behind him, making me wince. Quinton had a thing for bursting in and slamming doors. I couldn’t even believe he had the decency to knock first. A miracle.
“Nephew,” he growled, “I asked you a question and I expect an answer.”
“Actually,” I responded before Ty had a chance to and things got heated, “you came in here and demanded to know what we two were doing. You didn’t address one of us specifically. Perhaps Tyson didn’t answer because he was waiting politely for me to go first. Did you ever think of that? Huh? No, of course not. Not you, you who barges in and demands to know things that aren’t any of your business. What’s up with that, huh, Uncle Quinton?”
His nostrils flared angrily as he glared daggers at me.
“How many times do I have to tell you to stop fucking calling me that?” He snarled at me.
Way to poke the sleeping bear, Ariel.
I couldn’t seem to help myself.
“He, Uncle Quint,” Tyson said, butting in. “Calm down. You’re going to scare her if you keep talking to her like that.”
Tyson put his hands on his knees and pushed himself to his feet.
I didn’t take this as a good sign.
“It’s okay, Ty,” I said quickly as I scooted towards the edge of the bed on Quinton’s side. “And, I’m sorry, Quinton, really, I am. I know how you feel about me calling you that and I should have left it alone. Instead, I said it and I had to pick at you. I’m sorry, honest. And, I won’t do it again.”
The last part was a lie and had me hiding my hand behind my back so I could cross my fingers. Not that it would do me any good, but I felt the need to do it anyway.
Quinton scowled at me. It wasn’t a pretty look for him and a few weeks ago it might have scared me. Quinton didn’t frighten me anymore with his dark and intense looks. I could be afraid of him looking at me like that when I actually did something to wrong him. Then, and only then, would I have a reason to worry. Now he was just full of it. All piss and vinegar.
“What were you two doing in here?” He repeated the question he had originally asked when he’d come in here.
I didn’t mind him repeating the question, and I really didn’t mind going back to our original topic.
But…
“What are you doing here, Quint?” I asked instead of answering his question.
He sighed, and his shoulders slumped forward. He ran a hand over his short, buzz cut hair, back and forth.
“You’re here,” he said simply.
I raised both my eyebrows and titled my head to the side, waiting for him to continue. When he didn’t, I twisted at the waist to look back at Tyson. I shot him a questioning look.
“Do you know what he means by that?” I asked Tyson.
“Babe,” Quinton said in a patient voice and I turned back to face him. “Why do you think Ty’s here?”
When I didn’t answer right away he shook his head sadly.
“Ty’s here because you’re here,” he informed me. “Do you think he’d come over here to hang out at Dash’s house just because? Um, no. I can’t even remember the last time he came over here on his own and without me telling him to do so. Same goes for the twins who are, right now, downstairs. They aren’t here to hang out with Dash or Damien or even Julian. Ty’s here because you’re here. I’m here for the same reason. The twins don’t do well with being alone, they hate it. But if everyone had stayed in tonight, they still would have left to come here. Because this is where you are and, in case you missed it, we want to be where you are.”
My hand rose, outstretched on its own accord, reaching for him. It was like I couldn’t stop myself. When Quinton was around I had a hard time not touching him. I pressed my hand to my chest instead, stopping myself from doing what I really wanted to do. If we were alone I would have reached for him. But we weren’t alone. Tyson was here and not five minutes ago we were trading our most intimate secrets, via mouth to mouth.
“It’s true, sweetheart. I’m only here for you. Dash isn’t exactly my favorite person on the planet. He’s family, yeah, but that doesn’t mean we’re besties. You and me though, girl, we are going to be besties. Besties who swap bodily fluids on the daily.”
I shot Tyson a look that his words rightfully deserved, a seriously nasty look. He chose to ignore it and, unfortunately, continued speaking.
“Even if it means I have to come here to the sour puss’s house.” Tyson shrugged. “As long as you’re here then this is where I’m going to be. I would move into your room here with you if I thought Uncle Quint wouldn’t lose his damn mind.”
“Don’t even think about it,” Quinton ground out. “It’s bad enough I have to deal with her being here, I don’t need you running off on me too.”