Page 105 of Maybe You

“Well, this is awkward,” he says.

“Very,” I agree. In addition to hoarse, I now also sound phlegmy. This is going so well.

There’s another knock.

“Oh thank God,” Quinn mutters and strides to answer the door.

There are voices, but neither belongs to Sutton.

Instead, Quinn marches his boyfriend into the room.

Oh, good. More people clued into this situation is just what we need.

“I can walk,” Steph is saying, eyes aimed over his shoulder at Quinn. “Jesus, what’s with the manhandling? Just a hint, you should really get me naked if you want me to enjoy it.”

In response, Quinn pinches Steph’s cheeks between his thumbs and forefingers and turns him toward me.

“What are you—” Steph says, just before his eyes land on me. “Oh,” he says, and follows that with an “Ooooh,” and another “Oh!” The first of the three ohs was the most measured one, before things apparently started to click.

I really wish I was wearing pants.

But Steph gathers himself quickly and sends me a wide smile and a friendly “Hey, Wren!” Like it’s normal I’m here now that he’s got all the ohs out of the way.

“Yes. Hi,” I rasp.

“Caught a cold?” he asks sympathetically.

“Seems so.”

“You should have something warm to drink,” he says. And he’s off. By the time I catch on to the fact that we’re having tea, Steph’s already in the kitchen, banging the cabinet doors open.

Quinn and I observe in still mostly awkward silence from the sidelines.

After a few minutes, Steph turns around and shakes his head.

“Who are we kidding? I don’t know where anything is or frankly even how to make tea.”

Quinn sends him one of those affectionate smiles he keeps exclusively for Steph.

“You were going to make tea?” he asks.

“It was the first warm drink that popped into my head.” Steph shrugs.

“I’m pretty sure Sutton doesn’t have tea anywhere in here,” I say.

“Bummer.” Steph looks around thoughtfully before his eyes land on me again. “What about whiskey?”

I point to one of the cabinets. Steph opens it and inspects the bottles for a bit before he grabs one.

“Lemon? Honey?” he asks me.

I point to another cabinet and the fridge.

“Can you boil me some water?” Steph asks Quinn.

“What are we making?” he asks while he pours the water into a pot.

“A hot toddy.”

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