Page 174 of Saving Sparrow
Quentin blew out a breath. “Guess I should talk to him.”
“It’ll be fine. And look, I have the perfect peace offering.” I pulled up Rachel’s number, running down my conversation with her.
We held hands as we headed for the roof’s door. “So, what are you gonna do?” he asked. “What new experience will you try?”
I stopped, thinking long and hard. “I’m gonna learn how to drive.”
Elliott slipped a cotton dress over his shoulders just as we walked into the spare bedroom.
“Hey,” Quentin greeted him.
“Hey.” Elliott sounded cautious.
“Glad you’re back,” I said. “How did training go?”
“It went okay.” He shrugged, downplaying things. “I start Monday.”
“Cool.” I tried my best not to be sick. Regardless of what I’d said to Rachel and Quentin, it would take some time to adjust to the changes.
“Just for a few hours,” he reminded us, smiling awkwardly. It felt like we were walking on eggshells.
Quentin tilted Elliott’s chin up. “It was more than justokay. You’re trying to hide how excited you are.”
Elliott’s bottom lip quivered, and Quentin pulled him over to the loveseat, tugging him onto his lap. I stayed by the door, giving them space. “I hate that you have to pretend for us, pretty girl. I hate that we haven’t been better friends to you lately, especially me. Things are going to be different now.” Quentin glanced at me. “We’re gonna grow, I promise. Now, let’s start again—and this time, no holding back. How kickass was training?”
A huge smile broke out across Elliott’s face. “It was incredible. They introduced me to everyone, and they were all so nice. They showed me how to work the register—but I wasn’t really good at that, so they put me in the stockroom.”
Quentin chuckled at his enthusiasm, and I smiled with pride for them both. “Let me guess, the stockroom is exactly where you want to be?”
“Definitely. I get to unbox new shipments, stack them on the shelves—sneak a peek inside.” He turned to me. “I bought you something, Guelly.”
“Really? Can’t wait to see it.”
Elliott went on, hands gesturing as he spoke. I couldn’t believe we’d been afraid of this. Watching him discover something new was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
Quentin combed his fingers through Elliott’s hair, trailing soft kisses up and down his shoulders.
“I missed you two,” he said to Quentin once he’d replayed everything. “I almost turned back like ten times. Maybe I’ll just do it for a little while. I mostly agreed to piss you off.”
“But you ended up loving it,” Quentin said. It was written all over Elliott’s face.
“I did.” He averted his gaze.
“Don’t ever feel guilty about that,” Quentin said.
“Work there for however long you want,” I added.
Elliott glanced between the two of us as if trying to gauge our sincerity. We hid our fear behind our smiles.
“On another note.” Quentin pulled Elliott’s phone from his pocket. “Rachel and Kayden will be here in two hours.”
“Wait, what?” Elliott snatched the phone, gaping at Rachel’s number. “I don’t get it. Why?”
“I went to Rachel’s dorm to apologize for how we’ve been acting. I got her number for you.”
“You… you did that for me?”
“I’d do anything for you, Ellie.” Even if it hadn’t seemed that way lately.
