“So how do you wanna play this?” Theo asks, pressing the door closed behind him. “Should we both go talk to her, or what?”
I give a little shake of my head, looking to the stairs. “Let me talk to her first, on my own. See if I can sway her.”
“Alright, kid,” he sighs, raking a hand through his hair. “But like I said before, I don’t think this is gonna work…”
“You just leave this up to me,” I say with a wave of my hand, turning on a heel and heading for the stairs.
“Good luck,” Theo calls after me, chuckling softly. “I’m gonna head to my dad’s office, check in with him.”
“Sounds good!” I chirp as I hit the bottom of the stairs, bounding up them to head for Quinn’s room.
Her door is cracked open, but I give it a little knock anyways before poking my head inside. “Quinn?”
She’s sitting on her bed with her legs folded beneath her, laptop resting upon them.
“Brooke!” Her face lights up when she sees me, lips stretching into a beautiful smile. “What are you doing here?”
She picks up her laptop, setting it on the bed beside her and scooting to the edge as she gestures for me to come in.
I push the door open further and step inside, and seconds later Quinn is crossing the room to greet me, arms outstretched. She pulls me in for a hug, squeezing tightly.
“So how’s it going?” Quinn asks as she releases the hug and steps back.
“Good!” I grin. “Things are really busy with the IT unit, it’s all hands on deck.”
Quinn arches a brow. “You’re not here to recruit me, are you?”
Busted.
“Is it that obvious?” I chuckle.
She rolls her eyes, cocking out a hip and setting her hand upon it. “I’ve heard my dad talking about how all the packs are making recommendations for IT recruits.”
My heart sinks. “So he already asked you?”
Quinn shakes her head. “No. I don’t think he’s too keen on the idea of me moving to the complex.”
“Yeah, I get that,” I sigh. I glance over at her computer, then back to her. “You’re so talented, though, and I think you’d really love it. Won’t you consider just giving it a trial run, seeing if it’s something you wanna do? I’m sure your dad would come around if you found it was something you really wanted.”
Quinn purses her lips, considering. “Maybe. I don’t know.” She blows out a breath, turns away, and walks over to her window, folding her arms and staring outside.
It wasn’t a ‘no’, so I press further. “Why don’t you come stay for a week and see how you like it?” I suggest. “We could really use your help at the unit, especially now that we’re putting new security systems in place and we’ve got my program integrated in Denver.”
“Really?” Quinn snaps her head sideways to look over at me, her interest piqued.
I nod quickly. “Yeah, we’ve got over a hundred known shadow pack affiliates that we’re tracking with it.”
She brings her hand to her chin, pinching it between her knuckle and her thumb. “Iwouldlike to see that thing in action…”
“So you’ll do it?” I ask, a little too enthusiastically.
Quinn heaves a sigh, turning back to face me. “I don’t know, Brooke…” She scrubs a hand over her face, and it strikes me how similar her mannerisms are to Theo’s.
“Clay can always come visit,” I offer. “If that’s why you’re unsure.”
Clay and Quinn have been dating for nearly a year now- he’s part of the reason she didn’t sign up for summer training camp at the squad after graduation, even though she was initially interested. Clay had to stay in Summervale to help his dad with the family business and basically told Quinn that he wouldn’t do a long-distance relationship. As if the distance between Summervale and the complex could be considered ‘long’.
She gives a little shake of her head. “That’s over.”