Page 44 of Whatever You Need

“So,it looks like you’ve finally caught the dating bug.” Quinn smirked over the saw table I had set up in my living room. I had called him and Logan to help hang and tape a few pieces of drywall. Of course, I had to go into the details on why I needed to speed things up on this renovation.

“If that’s what you old folks are calling it these days.” I cocked an eyebrow and spun the screwdriver around in my hand.

“Are you kidding me?” Logan said, pulling the pencil out from behind my ear and writing down a few measurements. “The poor sap has been walking around with hearts in his eyes all week.”

“Christ,” I said, glancing over his shoulder to where Amelia and Emery were singing along to Christmas carols while swiping their paintbrushes along my kitchen cabinets. Fucking blue. I let out a chuckle. I couldn’t believe I was actually going through with this.

“I like her,” Quinn said at my side. “She’s good with Emery too.”

“She’s great.” I smiled, watching them make a mess as they poured the paint into the trays. It hit me how right she looked in my kitchen. How I liked seeing her with Emery. How perfectly she fit everywhere in my life.

“Does she know how you feel about her?” There was a long pause, and I knew from his expression that he knew what she meant to me. Even if Amelia didn’t. Even if I hadn’t fully admitted it to myself yet.

“I want to be smart about this.” I glanced over at Quinn who gave me a strange, yet not so subtle smile. “Besides, things are still new, and we barely know each other, so don’t go getting ahead of yourself.” My friends weren’t used to seeing me with a woman outside a bar, and they have been trying to pair me up with random people for as long as I’ve known them. I haven’t had a relationship in over a decade, and it annoyed me that I was being so transparent with my feelings.

Logan took out a utility knife and made the last cut so we could hang the final sheet of drywall. “I think this is it.” Once we had it secured, we stood back and looked at our handiwork.

“Not bad.” I grabbed the Gatorade off the sawhorse and took a huge sip.

“How did things go with Antonio and Sienna last night?” Quinn asked, handing me the measuring tape so I could put it back in my toolbox.

My eyes moved over his shoulder. “Well…” I laughed. “It was fine until Sienna tried to make a play for me the second her husband left the room. That did not go over well with Amelia. Remind me never to piss her off.”

Quinn smirked. “Sounds like she was defending her territory.”

I shook my head and ran my hands down my dust covered jeans. “We were just pretending, remember?”

Logan chuckled next to me. “I hate to break it to you, pal, you might have been pretending last night, but there is nothing fake about the way you two keep glancing at each other. Mark my words, you’ll be married with a baby on the way this time next year.”

I glared at him, hating that he was partly right. Even though Amelia and I were still getting to know each other, our chemistry was undeniable. Just watching how sweet she was being with Emery caused something in my chest to shift. As if she could sense me staring at her, she turned her head and caught my gaze. Christ, she was gorgeous. This woman had knocked me on my ass before I even knew what happened.

I pulled my eyes away from her when I felt my friends grinning at me. I turned to Logan. “Speaking of kids,” I said, in an attempt to steer this conversation in a different direction. “I thought you were bringing Sabrina with you.”

He threw his hands on his hips and blew out a breath. “Vanessa figured Brina would be bored while I was over here working, so she told me it would be best to keep her home.”

Logan and his ex-wife shared custody of his young daughter. If you asked me, that woman was going to end up on the evening news one night. She was half a step away from crazy town. Vanessa caught Logan’s eye when she was busing tables at a local sports bar. They dated for six months before she got pregnant with Sabrina. Logan, being the man he was, did the right thing and married her. I gave him so much credit. He tried and held on as long as he could for his daughter’s sake, but that woman sucked all the patience and love right out of him.

“Didn’t you tell her that Emery was here?” Quinn asked, even though we both already knew the answer.

“I didn’t want to argue with her and say anything to set her off.” He looked embarrassed. “You know how she gets.”

“Dad,” Emery called with Amelia following her in from the kitchen. They both had blue paint staining their clothes along with matching smiles.

“Sorry,” Amelia said softly, rubbing her fingers along Emery’s cheek. “I swear the paint will come off.” She looked up at Quinn with an apology in her eyes.

Quinn stepped in front of his daughter and knelt down. “It looks like you had fun painting. Did you happen to get any on the cabinets?”

“It was so much fun. Can Amelia, Uncle Marco, and Logan come over for dinner later?”

Quinn’s eyes softened, just like they always did with his daughter. “Your brother isn’t feeling well, kiddo, remember?” He leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose. You would never know that Emery wasn’t Quinn’s biological daughter with how much he loved that little girl.

I stepped toward Amelia and wrapped my one arm around her waist. “You’ve got a little paint on you too,” I said, picking the dried blue paint out of her hair.

She tipped her head back and looked at me. “What do you think?”

I let her go and surveyed the open room. Thanks to my family’s construction business, I scored a good deal on materials. I upgraded things that I normally wouldn’t. Amelia and I went to Home Depot this morning and picked out the backsplash and brushed nickel knobs for the drawers. I was surprised with how great everything looked with the stainless-steel appliances.

“It actually looks better than I thought it would.”

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