Page 70 of Temptation

“Oh, it's you. I was expecting Quinn.” Quill came up the stairs, yawning and stretching. Tenn closed the dishwasher and started putting the leftovers in the fridge.

“She was a little drunk last night; she didn't even notice me getting out of bed.” Tenn grinned. “Including me pulling my arm out from under her. She didn't move.”

Quill chuckled, then checked his watch. “Bishop and Rilla won't be down until after ten, and if Quinn was that deeply asleep, we probably have at least an hour and a half before she gets up. Want to go for a drive and check out a house I have available? I think it'll be exactly what you want.”

“Sure, why not?” Tenn dried his hands on the dish towel and grabbed his keys from the top of the microwave. “We need to stop and get a coffee though.”

“Yep, that's a given.” Quill led the way out of the house and over to his car. “Have you heard from Viki at all?”

Tenn shook his head. “No, but I spent most of yesterday afternoon patching holes in the walls and cleaning the spare room, so anything of hers that was left out around I tossed in garbage bags. I took a couple of pictures and sent them to her with the message that if she didn't get them out of the garage when she got home, I would put them out with the trash. Then I put her on “do not disturb.”

“Holes in the walls?” Quill pulled his seatbelt on and glanced at him. “What did she do?”

“The night Quinn posted the picture of her and Joel having a movie night, Viki saw it and had a massive tantrum. She tried to get me to have sex with her, and when I refused, she broke two mirrors and a bunch of picture frames and put holes in the walls in an attempt to get me to pay attention to her.” Tenn explained. “Instead, I put on my noise-cancelling headphones and played games on my phone until I went to sleep.”

“So, she's lost her mind.” Quill shook his head, disbelief clear on his face, put the car in gear, and headed to the nearest coffee shop.

“Basically, yeah.” Tenn nodded in agreement. “But she’s been on a very slippery slope for a while now.”

“And you're poking the crazy bear by tossing her things?” Quill chuckled. “Is that a good idea?”

“I told her to pick up her crap so I could patch the holes, and she didn't. I also told her if she damages my house again, she'll pay for the repairs. I'm kinda hoping she got the text in front of Joel and had a massive tantrum, then has to explain why I’m tossing her things.” Tenn ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “I’m just so done with her and her complete disrespect for me.”

“No, I get it; I just don’t want you to lose the house in the inevitable fire she’s gonna set.” Quill gave him a warning look. “Because I can really see her doing that if her temper tantrums have evolved to include property damage.”

That gave Tenn pause and sent a little shiver of fear down his spine. Quill's ability to accurately predict behaviour wasn’t helping. “Don’t put that out to the universe.” He cautioned as he pulled out his phone and checked Viki's messages.

If you toss my stuff, I'll report you for theft.

Tenn smirked. She thought she had him. “She says she's going to report me for theft.” Quill chuckled as he pulled up to the drive-thru and ordered their usuals while he responded.

Go ahead; they're in the garage, not in the bins to go out yet. I'll press charges for destruction of property and vandalism, then have you removed from the house.

I knew those cameras would come in handy.

Massachusetts is a two-party consent state, remember?

It's my house; I put them up for security purposes, and I didn't need your permission to do it; I just had to tell you they were there.

By staying in the house, you've consented to be filmed and recorded.

Security purposes. Bullshit. Why do we need security cameras?

I need security cameras because my wife had a temper tantrum like an overgrown toddler and destroyed a room.

If you think you have any chance of coming out on top here, you need to seriously look at your behaviour over the last week and re-evaluate your life

I have to go to class. I'll see you Sunday night, and we can talk.

There's nothing to talk about. I'm still waiting for proof that you made an appointment with a therapist.

Tenn put her back on “do not disturb” and took the coffee from Quill. “I wish you had introduced me to Quinn. She would have been the incentive I needed to leave.”

“Yeah, I probably should have.” Quill acknowledged. “She wouldn't have gone back to Joel, and you guys would have both been much happier. But I had to be sure of a lot of things first. Besides what I've already told you regarding her eating and stuff, I didn't know if you and Viki were just going through a rough patch and would work it out. Joel was putting a lot of effort into fixing things with her; she was in a weird place of wanting him to take a long walk off a short pier and forgiving him, and I didn't want another Bishop situation on my hands.”

“Bishop situation?” Tenn almost choked on his coffee. It was a situation? “She didn't make it sound like it was a situation.”

“It was more a situation on my part. Bishop isn't monogamous; he never has been and never will be. He does love people and love them deeply; it's just not limited to one person. He loves Rilla and would happily die for her, and he also loves Quinn and would happily die for her. He was devastated when she backed out of their thruple. He understands why and doesn't push, but there's a lot of hope behind him joking about rejoining them.”

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