Okay. I thoughthedid, but whatever. Not my business. I setmy phone down and lean back. ‘Tell me something interesting. Distract me.’
‘I have a new job. I’m working for Thorne.’
I blink at him. ‘For…the FBI?’
He laughs and rolls his eyes. ‘No. He opened a private investigation office. I got certified last year. Just had my first case.’
Well. Holy shit. I don’t know what I expected from Quinn, but it’s not that. It’s not that he’s not capable, but also…I’m not convinced heiscapable. He’s always been the disaster one amongst all the brothers.
‘Why you look at me like that?’
‘It’s nothing,’ I sign quickly.
He leans forward. ‘I’m perfect for the job. Deaf eyes. See everything.’
I’m also not convinced he knows what that means, but I don’t want to be rude. ‘Tell me about it. Your first case. What was it?’
‘Cheater,’ he spells with a shrug. ‘Mostly cheaters. Some rich guy. His wife hired Thorne, and he put me on it. I caught him with video and photos. She left him. Divorce.’
Sounds sketchy, to say the least, but Quinn seems happy. ‘You have more cases?’
‘Start next one soon.’
‘Tell me,’ I say. This is, at the very least, keeping my mind off Dex.
He swipes his hands on his pants, then sets his now empty plate down and stands up. ‘Sorry. Can’t. I have a date. Let’s get coffee soon.’
And then he just…leaves. Of all the fucking times to ditch the Deaf goodbye, it has to be tonight. He’s going to leave me here to wallow in my quiet, angsty, horny mood that I have no plans to do anything about because I’m not helping Dex cheat again.
I’ve become a person I don’t like, and yet I worry if I see him again, I may not be able to help myself. The least I can do in this moment is not jack off to thoughts of him, how good he felt, how nice he tasted.
My cock jumps in my pants, and I glower at it.
No. I will not. I refuse.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
DEX
Thom’sin the office when I make my way inside after my last spin class. My thighs are on fire from the workout. Normally, I don’t go as hard as the students, but I needed to get some of my aggression out. And some of the sexual tension that’s been burning through me like a wildfire.
Maybe I need to get laid. By someone who isn’t Rome, that is. Though my brief relationship with Lexi and having very good sex with her hadn’t turned off any of my desire for him, so that probably won’t help.
“What’s up?” Thom asks, staring at me.
I shake myself out of my thought spiral, but I’ve forgotten what I’d come in here for. “Uh…never mind.”
“Okay,” he says slowly. “You done for the day?”
I shrug. Technically, I am. I’ve been here since six this morning in hopes I might catch a glimpse of Rome, who usually liked an early morning workout, but he’s been suspiciously absent. The last few days, Rome has been a fucking ghost.
Thom clicks his pen obnoxiously, stopping just before I leap over the desk and strangle him. “Well, if that’s all…”
“Have you seen Rome?” Damn it. My fat fucking mouth.
He stares at me. “Like…today?”
“No. Like at all. I think he’s avoiding me.”
