Page 19 of No Place Like Home

Having had enough of mine and Quincy’s bickering, Simba started to walk away. I followed him while Quincy put the bowl and water in his car. I needed to get away from Q and clear my head. I was acting like a bimbo, wasn’t I?

Since Q wasn’t back yet, I snuck another whiff at his hoodie, and that was when I noticed the Q and H on the right-side pectoral. Quincy Hardwell.

“Personalized. Go figure.”

“It’s a prototype.”

“Jesus! You scared me. What are you, a ninja?” I hissed, taking a step back.

I was mostly embarrassed; he might have caught me sniffing his hoodie like a weirdo. In my mortified state, I somehow ended up next to Simba.

Great.

“Babe, I’m fucking huge; there’s no way you didn’t hear me coming.” He said it smiling.

He shouldn’t have been allowed to smile, at least not near women. It was disarming.

“Whatever. Come on, let’s get your beast his workout.”

He grinned.

“So, a prototype for what?”

“I got a deal with a company. It comes out next year.”

My eyes almost bugged out of my head. I pulled at the hoodie so I could see it properly.

“Wow. Quincy, that’s amazing.”

I didn’t know much about football, but this was his third year. Getting a partnership meant he was working his ass off, right?

“Your hard work paid off, although I think it’d look dope if it had some holographic black lines. Sporty, but going out casual.”

“Noted. Simba, come back.”

“Why doesn’t he have a leash?” Me eating grass would not have happened if he was tied up.

“He’s trained,” was Q’s ever-so-simple response.

“Me falling flat on my face didn’t exactly screamhe’strained.”

“Jessamine.” There was laughter in his voice.

He was giving me a full smile; it made him look younger. I remembered watching one of his college games. Blake had friends over, and they passed the camera over Q. He seemed so serious. His willpower alone could have moved mountains.

“What part of ‘I will cut you’ didn’t you understand?”

“So, Cubbie is the only one who can get away with it?”

I was deffinetly hearing things, because there was no way he meant that in an accusing way, right?

“Blake likes to annoy the shit out of me, and calling me by my name is the quickest way.” I shut my mouth once I realized that I’d overshared.

But if I was honest, it felt nice to talk to someone other than my friends, who I guessed were more like my family. It made me realize how closed off I had been. That I was starving for human connection.

“So, how’s your job?” I changed the subject quickly.

It took Q a while to answer my question. We passed Lee’s Bed and Breakfast. Mrs. Lee was at the reception desk, and when we passed by, Quincy tapped the window and waved at her. She smiled at him and waved back, but didn’t come out when he kept on walking. I looked at the interaction, and it made me happy for him. He really could have turned out worse.

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