Kat asks, “Was it both of them?”
“No, just one. The one who made the call the first night.”
I watch Kara open her mouth, but I jump in first. “He called to apologize for waking me up and for the wrong number.”
Robbi asks, “So, what’d you say?”
“That it was okay. I don’t know. We talked for a while. I found out a few things about him.”
Susanna joins the conversation. “Like what?”
“He’s a rugby player.”
“How do you know that?” Kara snaps.
I quickly glare at her, then answer, “He was in a gym. There was a team logo behind him, so I asked him what it was.” I decide to add more. “There were other guys working out around him.”
“Rugby?” asks Bryant. “Where is this guy from?”
“He’s British,” responds Patsy.
Bryant has taken an interest now. “Is he professional?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. He looks like he could be a professional athlete. His body, I mean.”
“Jesus. Do you guys really believe this shit?” Kara spits, crossing her arms in front of herself like a petulant child. What the hell is her problem with me?
“Fine. Here.” I pull the phone out of my little purse. Searching the FaceChat for recent calls, I find his number. Without another thought, because beer has given me courage, I hit the Call button. My roommates have squeezed in closer. If Kat could crawl onto my lap, I think she would. Turning on the speaker, we hear it ring once, then twice. When it rings a third time, I assume he’s not going to answer. Just as I’m about to hang up, I hear him. “Quinn. Love.”
Thank. Fuck.
He’s lying on white sheets. His hair is messy, and he’s shirtless. I can see more of his tattoos from this point of view. “Hi, Cooke. Did I wake you?”
“You did, love. Turnabout’s fair play, eh? Where are you? It’s noisy. Are you in a pub?”
I snort. “A bar. I’m with my friends. They didn’t believe me when I told them about your wrong number. They thought I made up the whole Maxwell Quinn debacle.”
“Debacle.” He chuckles, and it sounds sexy and sleepy. “I’d call it kismet rather than a debacle, love, because I met you.”
“Oh.”That was nice.
“God damn it, Quinn. Let us see him.” Kat’s bouncing in her seat.
“Right.” Talking to Cooke, I tell him, “I’m turning the phone so you can meet my friends.”
“All right. Only fair after me mates the other day.”
Without another word, I hold my phone up so everyone can see him. I start with Bryant. “That’s Bryant. Then Patsy.” I skip Kara. Ha! “Then there’s Kat, Lindsay, Robbi, and Susanna.” I pull the phone back to face me.
“Who was the blonde? You didn’t mention her name.”
Of course he noticed that. “Oh, that’s just Kara.”
I feel the phone being wrenched from my hands. I’m gobsmacked that Kara just took my phone. “Hi, Cooke was it?” Kara preens. “You’ll have to forgive Quinn. She’s very rude. We’re used to it, though.”
Cooke sounds surprised. “Oh?”
“Yeah, we barely tolerate her. She—”
