Page 68 of Temptation

“No, she turned up at Quinn's, trying to get her old tires back and return the ones Quinn gave her.”

“Oh, that's different. Nah, he wouldn't be mad about that. It's rare for Quill to get mad at her and blow up or give her the silent treatment. Maybe twice since we've known them.” Hearing voices, the three of them looked up as Quill and Quinn came down the stairs.

“Sorry guys, my phone died at work today. I was working on something and thought I was enjoying a rare quiet afternoon.” Quill handed Rilla her drink and put Quinn’s on the table, then turned to help her with the glasses and beer cans in her hands. “I didn't even realize it was past six until the security guard asked me if I was planning to stay much later.”

“Why would that matter?” Tenn asked as Quinn curled up next to him.

“We have sensors on the doors that set off silent alarms when they're opened after hours, and I set them off when I got up to go to the bathroom. He came running in, taser drawn. We both got a bit of a scare. He was going to deactivate the alarm system until I left.” He held up his phone. “Does anyone have a charger for a Samsung? I was in a rush this morning and forgot to grab it.” Tenn stood up and went to grab the one in his office.

“Did you sleep in?” Quinn teased. “It's not like you to be rushed like that.”

“Yeah. Chrissy asked to grab a coffee yesterday after work to talk. Apparently, my twin sister convinced her to have tea with her and made her realize she'd been uncompromising and inconsiderate of my feelings, and she'd like a chance to fix things. Of course, this was after said twin told me I should end things if I'm unhappy.”

“And I stand by that.” Quinn immediately looked nervous. “I also stand by what I said to her. You didn't tell her I'm a librarian and I rent my house from you for a lot less than market value. She thought I was rich and looking down on her by giving her the tires for free! It's hard to date someone above your tax bracket if you're a good person; she didn't want you to think she was using you. She has the full story now and wants another chance; only you can decide if you want to give it to her.”

Quill just looked at her with no expression on his face until she started fidgeting. Tenn came back into the room with the charger and opened his mouth to say something, wanting to step in for her, but Bishop shook his head subtly. “Well, she said to tell you thank you. Kaia chose gymnastics and dance.”

“Good.” They continued to look at each other, Quill still expressionless and Quinn looking guilty and nervous. Tenn glanced at Bishop and Rilla. Rilla pointed at Quinn and held up five fingers. Bishop nodded, and they shook hands. “Look, I'm sorry, okay?” Quinn burst out a few minutes later.

“Yes!” Rilla said loudly and held out her hand to Bishop. “Pay up.” Bishop groaned and pulled out his wallet.

“Really, Quinn?” He pulled out a five-dollar bill and handed it to Rilla. Quinn ignored him and went over to Quill, putting her arms around his waist and her forehead on his chest.

“Don't be mad at me, Porcupine.” She mumbled. Quill smirked and put his arms around her shoulders.

“Pest.” He kissed the top of her head. “I'm giving her a second chance. Just don't interfere anymore unless I ask you to.”

“Because you don't interfere in my life at all.” Quinn rolled her eyes and sat down.

“Big brothers are supposed to interfere.” He shrugged and took the charger from Tenn. “Plugin?”

“Right next to the end of the sofa.” Tenn nodded in its general direction. “What was that?” He asked Bishop in confusion.

“Oh.” Bishop laughed. “That whole thing -” He waved his hand in a circular motion at Quill and Quinn, and Tenn grinned; Bishop was a lot like his father. “- Happens whenever they get upset with one another. Rilla and I make bets on who will cave and apologize first.”

“I knew it would be Quinn. She was already feeling guilty.” Rilla smirked.

“Yeah, but usually Quill can't hold out for very long when he knows he's making her feel bad.” Bishop countered.

“She knew I wouldn't like it. She even told Chrissy that I might be upset.” Quill shrugged as he sat on the couch and leaned forward to grab some food. “How are we playing this? With five of us, we're gonna have to round-robin it.”

“Two go up against each other; the winner takes the next person. Top three times battle it out.” Bishop said quickly. “Quinn and Rilla are up first.”

Chapter Thirty-Five: Destroying the Competition

With Quill and Quinn over their disagreement, the rest of the night was a lot of fun. While Rilla and Quinn battled it out playing Mario Kart, Tenn showed Bishop and Quill his gaming setup in his office. Bishop convinced him to download a game that he and Quill already played together and join them, explaining they used a private server and partnered to complete the more difficult goals, but they needed a third to tackle the so-called “impossible” quests. He agreed to try it out and bought it, downloading it onto his laptop so they could play together at each other's houses.

“Obviously, you can play the game by yourself whenever you want,” Bishop explained as the game downloaded. “But we get together Tuesday nights to do quests and raids.”

“Tuesday nights work for me.” Tenn nodded, feeling really good about being accepted into their friend group so easily, although it made sense since he got along with Quinn and Quill so well. They went back into the main area just as Quinn won the first race and they played Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine who was taking her on next. Bishop won and took the controller from his wife, who grabbed a blanket and curled up at the end to watch them play. Quill got Tenn to give him a tour of the house and discussed what he would do to improve it. When Tenn told him he was considering selling and moving to Quinn's neighbourhood, Quill grinned.

“How about this? I'll buy your house; you can rent one of mine in Quinn's neighbourhood on a month-to-month basis, and when you and Quinn are ready to move in together, we'll look at building one for the two of you.”

“You own more houses over there?” Tenn wasn’t really surprised; Quill had been expanding the real estate side of his business rapidly and was making huge strides in green, sustainable building.

“I own close to seventy-five percent of it; I've been buying up the houses in her neighbourhood for years. The plan is to build green, sustainable low- to mid-income housing. Part of the reason Quinn pays so little for rent, outside of the fact that she's my sister, is that all I pay are the property taxes. That house makes me money just sitting there.” He grinned. “I have partnerships with several eco-friendly energy companies. I use their products and advertise them; they advertise that Q Architecture uses them, and I keep track of energy in, energy out, and cost vs. savings and send them back the reports. Quinn's like a guinea pig; she lets me install all the new products in her home to test them with someone who will use them. Her glassed-in breakfast nook?

“I've seen it; what about it?” Tenn nodded, grinning. This was one of the few topics that brought Quill completely out of his shell and his excitement and passion for it was contagious, and Tenn enjoyed listening to him.

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