Mason nodded. “We don’t leave things half-assed. It was toward the end, though, so I’m glad it made a good impact.” He shifted around, putting himself between Quinn and the hallway that led out to the back yard. “We want to save the best for last, so let’s go on upstairs and see the progress.”
Quinn nodded and headed up. In the bathroom, he got passed off to Robinson, who smiled gently as he explained the changes. Quinn only barely registered him as he checked out the bathroom. A massive tub looking out into the tall trees of the neighbor’s property, with a separate shower tucked into the corner. All very light and bright, with plush towels stacked up on a built-in shelving unit. Like everywhere else, the place smelled pleasant. Quinn looked at Robinson again and nodded. “Are you guys going to tell me what air freshener you use? I need to stock up.”
He laughed. “I’m sure Evander will be more than happy to share.” Robinson gave him a quick tour, talking about the water pressure and the new water heater they’d put in—considering Quinn couldn’t remember his grandpa ever changing it out, it was probably well overdue—then guided him out to the tiny laundry closet. New machines there as well, stacked on top of each other, with shelving tucked into the side for any detergents or dryer sheets or whatever would fit in the little space leftover.
His office was next. The more he saw, the more overwhelming the whole thing became. Even the feel of the carpet, the lack of squeak in the floorboards, the quality of the light…it was still his house. His grandpa’s house. But the way it alwaysfeltinstead of how it was those last several years.
Stepping into the office, Quinn stumbled to a stop. His eyes prickled again. “Where did you find so many pictures?”
“Well, we didn’t just chuck stuff into the trash and move on.” Mason again, joined now by Aras. “We went through and, when we found this stuff, we went ahead and got it framed.”
Quinn walked slowly through the office. An entire gallery wall, full of photos of him. His grandpa. His grandma. The day he moved in with them. His sixteenth birthday. Camping, even though his grandpa hated staying anywhere less fancy than a three-star hotel. His grandma out in the flowerbeds, covered in dirt.
He turned and his vision blurred, but not before he saw the air purifier. The same damn one they’d looked for. The one he’d finally found, proving his grandpa wasn’t totally out of his head. Tears dripped down his cheeks as he walked up. “Damn it. You guys got me.”
“It was a good model,” said Aras. “Shame to let it go to waste. Plus it’s got a dehumidifier built in. Good for the computer.”
Quinn nodded and swiped at his eyes, then took in the rest. They hadn’t brought in any electronics to fill the desk, since he had everything at home, and they’d already told him they’d need some pickup shots once he got everything settled. A plush chair in deep emerald sat in front of the desk, which he lowered into with a groan. “Holy shit. I mean crap. I mean—”
“You can curse up a storm.” Aras cracked what may well have been the first smile Quinn had seen on his face this entire job. “Either it makes it through and we’re on a TV-MA home reno show, or the editors earn their keep bleeping us.”
Quinn chuckled and took a few moments looking around to try and get his composure. He imagined his computer there, his keyboard and mouse and all his paperwork. Walking from the bedroom—still unseen—to the bathroom, down to the kitchen for coffee, then back up to spend his day up here crunching numbers.
And since he was in fantasy mode, he let himself imagine he wasn’t alone. He let himself picture himself running into a tall, smiling blond guy who smelled suspiciously like sawdust.
Chapter forty
Jake
It was hardly Jake’sfirst rodeo, but he still hated waiting like this. They’d done it on the channel just like they had to for the show, the crew deposited in appropriate spots around the property to explain what was going on. It made total sense that he would do the breakdown of the gaming room. It made sense for that to wait to the end, since it was the area most specifically customized for Quinn. But standing there with Bunny, nothing but waiting and straining to hear footsteps coming closer, Jake couldn’t stand still. Fidgeting, shifting his weight side-to-side, glancing around as though Quinn might have been hiding in some dark corner the entire time.
“You’re dancing like Marv when he has to potty.” Bunny nudged him in the side. “You good?”
“Just nervous. Hope he likes it.” That wasn’t a lie, but it didn’t go into all the details, all the thoughts chasing themselves incircles around his brain. Thoughts and fantasies and hopeless dreams. He didn’t know how it would work—mostly because it wouldn’t—but Jake couldn’t let go of the idea ofsomehowbeing together with Quinn. A guy so sweet he cried about finding his grandpa’s air purifier? A guy so welcoming, he let some stranger into his apartment just to play video games? A guy so emotionally mature that he knew enough to be protective of himself? Something like what happened between Quinn and Hunter would break too many people.It would have broken the hell out of me. There was definitely a part of Jake that wanted to find this Hunter asshole and beat him down.
All of that, constantly spinning inside of him, with no sign that Quinn was any closer to walking through that door. Andthatwas all he was thinking of if everything went well. If Quinn hated the room—
Footsteps straightened his spine and he leaned on Bunny’s shoulder, putting on his best possible face. The door opened and Mason and Evander stepped inside, followed by the slim, familiar frame of Quinn, wearing a checkered button-down and khakis that dragged Jake’s gaze down to his bulge, the curve of his ass, the tightening of the material around his slender thighs…
Before he bricked up completely on camera, Jake gestured around the room. “This is what we came up with. I think it’ll suit your needs.”
He let Quinn take the lead, walking through the space. He ran his fingertips along the curve of the hanging desk. His eyes traveled up the shelves hanging from the wall, which was Jake’s cue to reach into his pocket and hit the button for the lights, turning on slowly cycling rainbow strips tucked along every edge.
Quinn moved to the other corner, with bookshelves and plush chairs in cerulean, gold rivets adorning the arms. Out ofnowhere, he flopped into one of them and kicked his feet up onto the oversized ottoman, then tilted his head back and looked upside down at Jake, grinning as wide as he’d ever done the entire time they’d been working here. “You did good.”
Jake smiled back, doing his best to suppress the pang of sorrow from looking at him, while also taking in every detail.He looks so happy. I’m not going to be the one to put a damper on that.“I know this is the really important part of the house, so I made sure it works. Kitchen? Who needs food? Bathroom? Who needs to shower? You can do all that in video games.”
Quinn laughed, then popped back up. “Seriously. You guys all did amazing.” He nodded to Bunny. “Guys and Bunny.”
Evander moved a step closer. “Not to toot our own horn too much, but it really did come together, I think. I don’t just say that every time. It’s really a nice place.”
“With a nice backyard that still needs revealing.” Mason swooped back in to take over. “I think you’re going to continue to be impressed.”
They led him away, and one camera guy stayed behind, hanging in the doorway. “Once we’re done out there, we’ll swing through and grab everyone, do some shots out front of everyone leaving, that sort of thing. I’m sure you know the drill.”
Jake nodded. “Thanks.” Then, once he’d left, Jake slumped into the same chair Quinn had just vacated and looked up at the ceiling. “It’s a damn cool room, Bunny. He deserves it.”
“Yeah. It is a damn cool room. I’ll have to have you and Ev come over and work on something for the kids.” She took the other chair in the reading nook. “You’re going to ruin that pretty face if you keep frowning like that.”
