She rose and laid a hand briefly on his shoulder. “I’m going to dash to the little girl’s room, then there’s some more specifics I want to go over with you. Nitty gritty stuff, since we can’t have you coming over to the house all the time.” She gestured lackadaisically toward the counter. “Order whatever you need. It’s on the corporate card.”
She stepped away and Quinn sighed, drumming his fingers on the tabletop. Partially out of nerves, and partially to try and work out the stiffness and numbness from clutching himself so hard. Hereallywanted word on Jake, but that was just the infatuation rearing up again. Something he needed to get quashed down fast if it was already proving this problematic.A couple weeks and I’m obsessed. What the hell?
He went up to the counter and scanned over the menu, then ordered an iced dirty chai latte. While he waited at the other end of the counter, his hand drifted down to his pocket and grabbed his phone. It felt ridiculous, being nervous to use his phone. He was a grown man with free will. Just because he hadaccessto Jake’s number didn’t mean he would call him or text him or anything like that.
He flicked through the apps, not sure what he was even looking for. If he was looking for anything at all, even. He checked the few notifications that popped up, including his VideoHead app. He only subscribed to fifteen or twenty channels, the stuff he really wanted to make sure he could always find, and let the algorithm guide him back to anything else. It worked for him. But he kept the updates on to make sure nothing slipped by. So he checked to see what it was.
Jake’s face in a thumbnail. Everyone from Pine Point Fixer Uppers, staring up at him from the tiny phone screen, but of course he focused in on Jake straight away. Right when he was trying to hold out and not think about him.I should unsubscribe so that doesn’t happen again.
He hovered over the button.
“Quinn?”
The barista. He turned off his screen and went for the coffee sitting on the counter. Then Eliza came out and headed back to the table. “All right, so let’s get into this.”
Chapter thirty-four
Jake
Finally, Jake got toget out of the hotel room and head back to the job site. Getting out like that didn’t make the car ride any more pleasant to go through. He was crammed into the SUV with everyone, although thankfully Ozzy was in the very back and he was in the front seat. Nobody seemed ready to argue that point, and he didn’t care if it was because they wanted the two of them separated or if they were just babying him over his trip and fall.
It was mostly silent once they all got out and started toward the trailers. Mason tried a handful of times to lift the mood, but nobody was having it. Especially Jake. While he was happy for a little more freedom, he didn’t have the energy to pretend. Not then and there. He didn’t want to be around Ozzy anymore, that much was for sure. He hated the feeling of being back at thathouse and looking at all the work they’d been doing, reminding him of Quinn.
And he couldn’t stop the incessant voice in his head, insisting the collapse of everything was on his shoulders.Hecouldn’t keep his shit together.Hegot involved and fucked everything up.Hefailed to reconcile.
All the excitement of the gang getting back together had faded, leaving him some combination of numb cold and hot rage.
“Boys. Bunny.” When they were almost at the trailers, Eliza’s voice called over from the front porch. She was back in a black suit, with her hair tied back into a tense bun. When they turned to look at her, she waved them over. “We need to have a chat before we do anything. Maybe a long one.”
Her shoulders were back and high, but stiff, and she was standing unnaturally still, like she was holding herself back from even the slightest movement. One more weight added to the pile on Jake’s shoulders. This was her first time out as a show runner, and because he’d fucked up, it was about to ripple out and knock her over. Maybe it already had.
They headed inside and into the living room. The large, L-shaped sofa had been moved in during his imprisonment in the hotel, as well as the coffee table and two armchairs, and they’d attached his low, custom shelving unit to the wall, stretching it across the back of the couch.
They all took their spots, Jake and Mason in the chairs, Aras, Bunny, Ozzy, and Evander on the couch, and Robinson sitting cross-legged on the floor, resisting every insistence to get up on the couch or grab a chair from somewhere else.
Eliza stood in the little entry point to the sitting area, hands clasped behind her back, and scanned around all of them before starting in. “I think it might be time to get blunt with all this. I’ve already told Quinn we’re finishing this job, even if it takes longer. I haven’t made any other decisions, and neither havemy higher-ups. We can still make the next house, it just means we won’t really have any rest time between jobs. A day or two at most, if we push like hell to get the work done fast here.” She looked up at the ceiling, but only half a second before snapping her gaze back down. “Where do you all stand, and where does the show stand? Total honesty. I need the lay of the land, Homescapes needs it, and you all need it so you can make informed decisions.”
Like her appearance suggested, she meant business today. Jake looked around at everyone, and they all did the same, like no one wanted to break the ice and say the wrong thing. But he couldn’t help but notice that too many eyes landed on him too long, too often.
Maybe it was too much isolation, or the fact thatOzzyhad the nerve to join in, waiting for him to do something, or it was just being in Quinn’s house again, but his filter broke. If they wanted him to talk about it, then by God he would talk about it. “You want honesty? Fine. I’m not respected, and maybe it was always like this or maybe it’s new, but that’s how I’m feeling. And why the hell should I stick around and do this if you don’t respect me?” He didn’t yell, even though he easily could have, but mincing words was off the table.
Eliza nodded when no one else said anything. “So I take it that’s one vote against sticking with the show. Now I’m not trying to put the pressure on with this, but to make certain you all understand the situation: Homescapes will be asking for their currently received payment back. But they’ve already told me that they’re open to repayment plans.”
The silence hung in the air forever before Mason finally broke it. “I don’t want this to be over. And I don’t want us to end on this note. I’m in for the long haul.” He angled himself in the armchair to look straight on at Jake. “If there’s something I can change about how I’m treating you—”
“Stop being self-sacrificing, Mason.” Ozzy shook his head, fidgeting on the couch and tucking his legs up underneath himself. “We’re all adults. He’s talking about me, not you and your endless wellspring of positivity.”
“Iamtalking about you, but there’s plenty to go around.” Jake sighed and looked at the floor. Easier than looking at everyone when he went into it. “I’m not just a workhorse for you. I have things I want to do. I’m tired of managing emotions for everyone and keeping the peace. I had a good thing going with Quinn, and I messed it up, but it’s not like anyone here helped the situation.” Another thought rose up and healmostquashed it. But if they were going to do this, then there was no point holding it back. “And you know what? I’m tired of comments about how stupid I am.”
Mason jumped right in. “Jake, come on—”
“No. I’m not ‘coming on’ about this. I know how you all think of me, and I hear the way you talk. And yeah, especially you, Ozzy. I know I’m not the smartest guy in the whole galaxy or whatever. But I’m not some walking, bumbling idiot.”
A beat of silence yet again. Then Robinson stood. “I’m sorry.”
Jake sucked in a sharp breath, then finally looked up, right into Robinson’s face. His instincts rushed up, telling him to push back against the implied accusation. He couldn’tthinkof anything that Robinson had done. But if he was apologizing, he felt some responsibility. So Jake just nodded.
“Shit. I’m sure I’ve run my mouth about something.” Aras leaned forward. “Probably while we’re on the job here.” He clicked his tongue. “I don’t think you’re an idiot. Smack the crap out of me if I start making you feel bad.”
