“Well, that’s the more important part for me anyway. Shapes and shit.” He cringed, then looked at Eliza. “We never really established how much cussing we can do on camera. Should I try that with a little less potty mouth?”
She shook her head, a slight smile on her face. “We’re on streaming, and the motto from your channel was…well, I can’t say it.”
“Six fags and a fag hag fix your house.” Robinson said it in his low, quiet voice. Then he looked around and a large grin spread over his face. “What? We all know what it was.”
“I didn’t.” Quinn processed all that info as fast as he could, hopefully without showing anything on his face. If that meant they were all queer, all potentially into dudes…
Not helping my crush at all. Zero percent. Danger, danger, danger.
The butterflies suddenly exploding in his stomach didn’t take that warning seriously. They were overjoyed at the prospect.
Chapter ten
Jake
Jake held his breatha little, fighting against the urge to get closer, see the screen, see what Quinn was actually clicking in the design styles. Also, he didn’t need to hover. Quinn wanted some respectful, professional space between himself and the people working on his house. Which was valid. Jake could—and would—respect that, even if he’d screwed up on it before.
The silence carried on as the camera whirred, and they had some sort of capture on the screen as well so they could slot the footage into the final product and show what he was actually selecting. Gave Jake a little time to wake up, and to feel guilty about missing things. Hell, he was late and still didn’t manage to put his shirt on like an actual, functional adult.
After about ten, fifteen minutes, Quinn clacked the mouse down on the tabletop. “All right. I think that’s good. This is…pretty thorough.”
“We’re just getting started.” Mason slid the computer back over to him and clicked to make the portfolio. “We’ll let that collate so we can get a look at it all together. But in the meantime, we still have more stuff to talk about on day-to-day use.” He inclined his head toward the coffee. “Good thing you brought enough to keep us alert.”
Jake blinked. “You brought the coffee? You didn’t need to do that.” He looked the cardboard containers over and frowned, then caught himself and forced his expression placid. He wasn’t butting in with Quinn any more than the job required. Even just to comment on his generosity.
“I wanted to give something back, since you’re all doing everything for me right now.” His gaze lingered on Jake just a moment longer than felt totally natural. All Jake could allow himself to do was top up his coffee and add in some more cream and sugar, then smile.
“So, let’s talk.” Aras folded his hands on the tabletop and leaned a bit forward. “Robinson and I are a big part of the kitchen and the bathroom. Big part of everything, thank you very much, but especially there. So, do you cook? How much do you cook?”
A wave of annoyance rose up through Jake, but he bit it back. Aras talked to everyone like they were annoying him and wasting his time. He couldn’t very well go off on him for that, no matter how much he didn’t like the…whatever tone it was Aras was using with Quinn.
“Not much for the kitchen. I do some basics. I batch cook rice and freeze it, batch shredded chicken and freeze it.” Quinn shrugged. “The most I do day-to-day is chop lettuce and fruits and veggies, make salads and that kind of thing. And then a lot more eating out and ready meals than I probably should be eating.”
“And do you wash mostly by hand or in a dishwasher?” Robinson had a pencil poised over his notebook, waiting for the answer. “Not any judgment on any of our parts, but I’d probably put in a different sink and faucet if you’re more likely to do it that way.”
“Mostly by hand, yeah. I just never feel like the dishwasher is very necessary for me. Doesn’t seem like I ever make enough dirty dishes for it to be worth bothering, and since I work from home, they don’t tend to stack up very much.”
Robinson nodded and scratched some info down. Jake watched, since Robinson always had such lovely handwriting. Tight and flowing. “And while I have your attention—and please, stop me if this feels too invasive—are you a bath or a shower guy? Or both?”
“Both. Mostly showers, but I like to soak in a tub.” He glanced to Jake with a tiny grimace.
So he had a tub, from the sound of things. He didn’t need to borrow Jake’s hotel room.Makes me look fucking desperate. Trying even harder to insert himself into Quinn’s life, where he didn’t belong.
Quinn leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Since we’re talking…bathroom stuff. Any shot at a bidet?” He quirked up one eyebrow and pink brushed across his cheekbones. “You know. It’s not a major must-have, but it would be nice.”
“They are nice.” Robinson wrote that down as well and circled it. “We’ll take care of you.”
“Yes, clean ass. I’ll work that into the electric so you have an available outlet.” In spite of the flippant tone, he did tap that into his phone. “On electricity, how much access do you need in the bathroom? What kind of devices do you use in there now? Hair dryer, smart speaker, curling iron? Anything you would want to that you currently don’t have a good spot to plug in?”
They went over and over every bit of information. Ozzy made sure he didn’t have any allergies, and asked about plans to get any pets in the near future, to make sure they didn’t plant anything that could cause trouble. Evander asked some really out-there questions, but Jake knew he was trying to pin down a mood to help decide on lighting, paint finish, all the little factors that took a house over the threshold into being something truly special. Mason and Bunny went back and forth, figuring out if there were any rooms that he thought might need to serve double duty on the regular.
Then it was Jake’s turn. He’d written down the questions, but of course forgot them in his rush to get out of the hotel room in time.Hopefully I remember them all. At least the highlights. “All right, we talked about some of your needs, but I don’t know if we ever talked about your future plans with this place. You’re going to live here for now, but what are you seeing in five years? Ten years?”
Quinn’s mouth opened, then shut. He drummed his fingers on the table and chewed his lower lip, which Jake foundentirelytoo sexy for both of their own good. It took a bit for him to eventually answer, though. Sort of answer. “Why does that matter?”
“For your ease. The longer you plan to stay, the more custom built-in stuff we can reasonably put in here. But if you plan to move before too long, I can build stuff that you’d be able to take with you and make any built-ins more universal and resale friendly.” Every part of Jake’s brain lit up bright red. Talking to Quinn about whether he wanted to abandon his grandpa’s home, his childhood home…Jake wanted nothing more than to check in with him, make sure this was all okay. He wouldn’t do it. He would hold to those boundaries.Didn’t expect them to be tested this much so fast.
Another long pause before Quinn responded. “I don’t see myself moving any time soon. I mean, who knows what thefuture really holds. Anything could happen. But it’s not in my plans, especially not if you build me a nice, built-in gaming center. And a little library for all the books I pretend I might read some day.”
