He stumbled out of the car, waving to the rideshare driver, then made his way into the hotel. When the elevator opened onhis floor, he stepped out right into Evander, almost plowing him over. “Shit. I’m sorry, Ev.”
Evander caught himself from falling and turned it into a curtsy. “No worries. I have a really hard time sleeping in hotels, so I come down and wander the streets most nights.” He was dressed completely uncharacteristically, basketball shorts and a jumbo-sized hoodie that swallowed his hands into the sleeves and hung halfway down his thighs. “You’re getting in this late? Are you that behind on work, because you know Linda’s crew and Bunny could help you out. So could I. Shit, most of my work’s done until we get to final staging and everything.”
Jake spun that question around in his mind, debating how honest to be. “Just nice to be alone for a bit, but I still want to do something with my hands.” His back throbbed and twitched as he said that, wear and pain weighing on him from so many days of overworking, but he’d take that before sitting alone in the hotel room, cringing every time he had to use the bathroom and saw the soaking tub he and Quinn had shared.
Evander looked him up and down. “Right. Not like you, no offense. I know we haven’t hung out a lot, maybe things have changed, but since when do you ever need alone time that isn’t lounging around gaming or some shit?”
“What gaming am I doing here in the hotel?” He had his phone, so of course he could dosome, but it just made him long for real gaming. With Quinn. Working on the house was bad enough. Jake wasn’t about to seek outmorereasons to think about the guy who suddenly wouldn’t talk to him.
Evander shrugged. “Point taken. But you know, if you want some company or an ear or whatever, I’m clearly awake and I don’t have anything better to do right now.”
Ev didn’t press the call button right away, jutting out his right hip and waiting. Not pushing the issue necessarily, but also notgoing anywhere and not looking away from Jake while he stood in place.
And I’m not heading straight to my hotel room either.“We’re not exactly, chummy, Ev. Like you said, it’s been a while.”
He nodded, clicking his tongue. “Suit yourself. But being distant doesn’t mean I don’t care about you. Or anyone else. Even Oswald…deep down.” He turned finally and tapped the button for the elevator, lighting up the screen above the carriage doors as it ascended.
Jake still didn’t walk away. He and Evander were never the tightest duo—he’d always been closest with Bunny—but they got along as well as anyone else back when they were filming for the channel. And if anyone in the crew was likely to be fine with him complaining about Ozzy—which would almost definitely happen if he committed to this chat—it was Evander.
The elevator door opened and Ev waved at him. Jake stuck his foot in and went back inside the elevator. “Diner?”
Evander bobbled his head in contemplation. “I could eat.
They headed out of the lobby and across the street, where a run-down Mom and Pop joint stood on the corner, bright red sign in the window letting everyone know they were open 24/7. Including for holidays, apparently. But open didn’t mean busy. There were two other occupied tables inside, so the waiter showed them to a little booth in the back, well away from the door, then took their drink orders before heading off and leaving them with the oversized menus.
Jake tried to read and look over what they had, but the simple fact was, he didn’t know that he actually wanted anything to eat. Even though he’d hesitated, now that he’d committed to this, he wanted totalk. “I need this to be total cone of silence, okay?”
“Oh. Must be serious.” Ev closed his menu and folded his hands on the table. “What’s going on? I’m not going to tell a soul.”
One thing to always appreciate about Evander: he was honest. If he said something like that, he meant it. That commitment to honesty had gotten alittletoxic in his relationship with Ozzy, but when he made a statement, it could be trusted, and he’d done nothing to suggest that had changed over their time apart. So Jake spilled. Not everything—some stuff was Quinn’s to share or not, like his work and stuff about his grandpa—but he hit on the important points to get everything squared away and making sense.
“Now he hasn’t talked to me at all since that day. I stopped pushing, but I can tell he’s not doing the best.”
Ev nodded and the waiter brought over their slices of pie, coconut cream and strawberry. He tapped the tines of his fork against the edge of the plate. “Do I even need to point out that I may not be the best person to come to for relationship advice? Not trying to weasel out or anything, but you were there for me and Oswald. And our breakup.”
“You’re an old friend. That’s good enough for me.”
Evander sighed. “Well, I think the problem is that Quinn’s not communicating whatever is wrong. Maybe he never will. You both agreed to a temporary thing from the sound of it, so it could just be that he’s done. Nothing you can do about that.” He tapped his fork a few more times, looking up to the ceiling. “But you know, it is getting close to the final walk-through before he’s not allowed on site anymore. If things haven’t cleared up between you by then, he would at least have to be there alongside you for that.”
“I know that. But piling that on him without warning? I don’t know, it feels wrong.” He scraped at the crust of his strawberry pie, watching it flake away into dust on his plate.
“Not ideal, no question. But as much as he deserves space and freedom, you deserve to not get totally ghosted like this.” He reached across and grabbed Jake’s hand. Only for a moment,very lightly. “It all sucks, though. And there’s a non-zero chance Oswald starts flapping his gums to everyone and letting them know. I can’t recall a time he was evertactful.”
Jake nodded, his stomach twisting tighter. “That’s the big thing for me. It’s not anybody’s place to spout off about this. Quinn was hesitant from the start. Didn’t want feelings getting involved. He’s sensitive, and he’s really raw with all this stuff going on in his grandpa’s house.”
“Really?” Evander chuckled. “Didn’t notice that when he snapped during the last round through the house.”
Jake gave the best smile he could, but nothing about that was funny to him, even after working it out with Quinn. “I just hate the idea of him getting hurt worse by this, all because we came to town. We’re supposed to be helping, and if this makes him feel bad…”
Ev nodded, but didn’t say anything else. They sat in silence the rest of the time, slowly picking at slices of pie while Jake stewed.
Chapter twenty-seven
Quinn
Quinn couldn’t say howmany times he’d picked up the phone to text Jake over the last few days. Dozens, easily. Everything felt uncomfortable. Nowhere was nice. He hadn’t been gaming at all. Not for lack of desire, but when he sat at the TV, he remembered them playing Armored Spirit, and when he tried to go for mobile games, that meant his cell phone was in his hand. Too much temptation to call or text.
Which would only make it that much harder to pull all the emotional tangles away.
