Chapter 13

CHAPTER13

“But what if I-”

“No,” Quinn said, not bothering to look up as he finished dicing up the onions.

“It would just be for a minute!” Bailey said, no doubt sending him a hopeful smile.

“What happened the last time that you managed to get your hands on my laptop?” Quinn asked as he finished dicing the onions and dumped them into the frying pan on the stove.

“You commenced with the glaring.”

“And?” he asked as his gaze flickered in her direction to find Bailey sitting in the middle of the bed with that hopeful smile that he couldn’t help but find really fucking adorable.

“You seemed angry for some reason,” Bailey said, clearing her throat as her gaze shifted just to the side, not quite able to meet his gaze.

“Do you think that might have something to do with the fact that you ended up curled up in the fetal position, squeezing your eyes shut and holding your head as you begged me to get Pam and have her finish the job?” Quinn drawled as he watched Bailey open her mouth, seemed to rethink that decision, closed it, shifted, and then, finally…

“Probably,” she mumbled sadly as her shoulders dropped in defeat.

“And…” Quinn prompted.

“I promised not to touch another device until my head was healed,” Bailey reluctantly admitted with a pout.

“And has it healed?” he asked, returning his attention to the steaks he’d prepared earlier.

“I mean, technically yes since the stitches came out this morning,” she pointed out.

“And when the doctor pointed the light in your eyes?” Quinn asked, dropping the steaks in the pan as his gaze flickered back to the woman struggling to come up with an answer that was going to end with her getting her greedy little hands on his computer again.

She cleared her throat before she said, “I may have cried a little.”

“And…”

“I no longer wish to discuss this matter,” Bailey grumbled as she allowed herself to fall over onto her side with a heartfelt sigh.

“Are you sure? Because I’d be more than happy to discuss the soft little sniffles that you released the entire drive home,” Quinn said, only to chuckle when she sadly mumbled, “I was traumatized.”

“And now?” he asked, watching her reach back and grab a pillow so that she could hug it against her chest.

“I’d like to pick up where we left off,” Bailey said with a firm nod as she released her hold on the pillow so that she could gesture for him to get on with it.

“And where would that be?” Quinn asked as he double-checked the potatoes in the oven.

“Where you were telling me how you ended up here,” Bailey said as she returned to hugging her pillow.

“When was I doing this?” Quinn asked as he flipped the steaks.

“The other night when we were exploring my pain from what they did to Glenn,” she said, reminding him of the long night he’d spent trying to convince her to come out from underneath the bed after she somehow managed to crawl beneath it, convinced that the shadows were out to get her.

“I told you the whole story. Don’t you remember?” he said, hoping that would be enough to get her to drop the subject.

“I’m pretty sure that I would have remembered that,” Bailey said, once again gesturing for him to get on with it.

“Do you remember realizing that you were surrounded by shadows after you crawled under the bed and begged me to remember you fondly after you decided that there was no escape?” Quinn asked, pulling the roasted potatoes out of the oven and set them on the counter in time to watch as Bailey moved to climb off the bed to help, but one look from him had her returning to the bed with a grumble.

“They accepted me as one of their own,” she said, nodding as she settled back on the bed, shifted to get comfortable, and then sighed heavily as she went back to pouting.

“There’s nothing to tell,” Quinn reminded her as he made quick work of plating their food.

“There really is, though,” Bailey said as he grabbed silverware and brought her plate over to her. “Thank you.”

“I did my time in the Marines, took a job in private security, and now, I’m here dealing with a pain in the ass that refuses to listen to her doctor,” Quinn said as he headed back into the kitchen and grabbed his plate.

“For some reason, I feel like there’s more to that story,” Bailey said as he made his way into the living room with his plate and settled on the couch.

“You’d be disappointed,” Quinn said as he watched her put her plate down before climbing off the bed and made her way into the kitchen, where she grabbed two Cokes out of the fridge and-

“Don’t even think about it.”

-grumbled as she reluctantly placed one of the Cokes back in the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.

“Then, tell me how your grandmother is doing,” Bailey said as she made her way over to the couch and handed him the Coke.

“She passed away a few years ago,” Quinn said as he watched her make her way back to the bed.

“I’m sorry, Quinn. She was a wonderful woman,” she said with a sympathetic smile.

“Yes, she was,” Quinn said as he watched her grab her plate and-

“And Jaxon?” Bailey asked as she dropped down on the couch next to him.

“Is a bigger pain in the ass than you,” Quinn said, digging into his food.

Blinking, Bailey said, “Somehow, I doubt that.”

He made a show of thinking that over before nodding as he said, “You’re probably right about that.”

“I am,” Bailey assured him as she shifted to get more comfortable, careful of the plate on her lap. “What happened to him?”

“He drove Grandma crazy, got a scholarship to a college in Texas, graduated at the top of his class and decided to go to law school where he is currently driving his professors crazy,” Quinn said, watching as Bailey’s lips pulled up into a warm smile.

“That’s wonderful,” Bailey said as he cut a piece of steak and went to take a bite, hoping that would be enough to move on, only to end up biting back a groan when she once again gestured for him to get on with it.

“What do you want to know, you little pain in the ass?” Quinn asked, knowing that she wouldn’t give up, not when she was this bored. It was either answer her questions or deal with her trying to get her hands on his computer.

“Why didn’t you live with your grandfather?” Bailey asked as she took a bite of potato.

“Here, you mean?” Quinn asked as he leaned over and grabbed the Coke off the coffee table.

“Mmmhmm,” she murmured around a bite of steak while she watched him take a sip and grumbled when he was forced to glare at her when she moved to pluck the Coke out of his hand after he finished taking a sip.

“It wasn’t really an option,” he said as he placed the Coke back on the table and thought about that moment when the social worker broke the news that his mother was dead. Before he had a chance to wrap his mind around what she was saying, she was telling him that his grandfather was coming to get him and bring him down to Georgia to live with him as his gaze locked on his grandmother the moment that the realization that her only daughter had died hit.

“I was fine where I was,” Quinn said quietly as he thought about the way that his grandmother tried to hold it together for him and-

“You’re a good man, Quinn.”