“Sorry, Perrin,” Matt grumbled, before turning to me. “We all met him at the coffee shop and then over here a few times, you know we didn’t mean anything by it. It’s Quinn’s fault, you know how he is,” Matt said. “Hot new guy in town. Not like we weren’t all going to wonder.”
“No offense taken,” Perrin said, cheeks pink again, still cleaning cuts on Quinn’s face and holding Quinn still so he can’t protest what Matt had said. “I, uh, traveled a lot for the past few years, every few months or so I had to do the coming out conversation. Glad to get it over with, honestly.”
Perrin
I let my eyes slide to Jack for a moment, and found a stormy sea of blue and green waiting for me, so I focused on the face of his brother, one that was just now starting to reveal anything about what had happened to him.
“So,” I said, clearing my throat. I paused to ask Jack for the flashlight out of my bag; the light of the dining room wasn’t ideal for treatingsomeone, it was too low and intimate. It looked like the bleeding was done and his pupils were reacting normally,soI could start treating the other injuries.
“Tell us what happened, Q,” Matt said from his seat beside his brother. Honestly,it was the first time I had heard anything close to serious in his voice.
“I was at the nightclub,”Quinn started.
I held up a hand. “You were hit in a nightclub?” I asked. Quinn nodded to confirm, and I shook my head. “Jesus,the germs,” I breathed.
“Jack’s fault, P,” Quinn said in defense. “I was dancing, having a good time actually, met these two bears who . . ..” Quinn cuts off when Matt sayssomething like “twink” and Jack snortsa laugh he tried to hide.
Quinn is under six-feetmaybebut it would have to be by half an inch at most. With his dark hair and copper eyes he has almost an exotic look. His body lookslike one that would be coming out of a yoga studio or maybe I would say that he was built like a dancer, instead of the swimmer’s build and additional muscle of Matt and Jack, and the third brother, Baylor, that I had only met in passing. Regardless, he definitely wouldn’t fit many definitions of a twink. His muscles are too tight and dense for the term; he was too tall. He does have the pretty face, though.
“Only a fucking twink inthisfamily,” Quinn grunted with no malice. “But, guess who was there, asshole?” He clearly said to Jack. “Bryan.”
I felt Jack stiffen. I slipped my gloves off, reaching in my bag for some antiseptic wash that would keep any infection at bay. I also pulled out a few other items I needed, lining it out on the table, and then put a fresh pair of gloves on.
“Bryan hit you?” Jack asked.
“No, of course not. But he wanted me to fucking talk to him, about you.”
“Asshole,” Matt muttered and Jack laughed in agreement.
“And, he wasdrunk, Jack - like smashed. Worse than New Year’sEve, which, he knew you were avoiding him that night, by the way,” Quinn added.
Jack groaned softly and shook his head.
New Year’s Eve, as in, the night before I met Jack?
“How much have you had to drink tonight, Quinn?” I asked as he paused, I needed to know before I tried to give him anything for the pain.
He shook his head. “Two beers, that’s it, and it was like an hour ago.”
Jackmeetsmy eyes. “Quinn’s not a big drinker; he’s always tasting his own beer,” he says, assuring me.
I had met Quinn a handful of times in the past week or so. He is thebrewmasterat the bar right off the main lift, and he is an architect. It’s not that I thought he would lie to me, but I know from experience in the ER that someone who had too many at a club might underestimate how much they actually consumed. Itwouldexplain the profuse bleeding.
“He’s always bled like that, even when we were kids,” Jack added and I nodded in response, imagining the scrapes this crew got into in their youth and instantly felt for their moms. I can see the Mann brothersbeingquite the handful.
“Anyway, so, he kept trying to pull me away from the two bears,” Quinn continued, “Bryan won’t stop, and I’m trying to avoid the guy because . . ..” Quinn trailed off, eyes looking at me for a moment.
“Because you were about to get in some burly threesome?” I supplied, realizing that if it was just his brothers here, this story would be told with excruciating detail. I wanted to be part of that disclosure, thatclosenesswith this group of men, I realized.
“Don’t hold back on my account. You aren’t going to offend my virginal sensibilities, either,” I assured him. “Must have misplaced those with my heterosexual ones.”
I didn’t bother to tell him that even without any personal knowledge, I work in a hospital for goodness sake. I’ve seen some shit. Threesomes gone awry aren’t even in the top-twenty.
Quinn and Jack snort another laugh, and Matt just mutters, “You are going to fit in fine, P. But you should know that when it comes to Quinn, leather daddies are more like it.”
Quinn winced at where I was now treating his busted lip.
“Not true, Matty. Jesus, not even a little bit. Anyway, they didn't take too kindly to it, the way he was coming off like a jealous lover or something,” Quinn said.
