Now that the danger had passed, Eren lowered his hands and grinned, looking far too mischievous for Quinn’s liking. “I’ve been listening to you guys giggle all night, so I was awake when I heard you stumbling in the kitchen. I’m here so I can bring you to your room and keep you from falling down the stairs.”
Eren’s frown suddenly vanished, and then he asked, “Why are you so jumpy? Did August do anything?”
August? What the fuck did August have to do with this conversation?
“No,” Quinn said, lowering his voice into thedanger zonelevel that never failed to make Eren nervous. “August is great. I told you not to start with the alpha male bullshit, so drop it. If you really need to know, Bea and I were watching creepy serial killer documentaries, so excuse me for turning into a spazz when someone, who is supposed to be in bed, jump scares me in the kitchen.”
His glare must have been acting faulty because instead of being nervous, Eren resumed his grin and grabbed the bottle of wine, tugging Quinn forward with it.
“I keep telling you to stop watching scary shit before bed. The girls get super confused whenever they wake up and find all the lights in the house on. Lights won’t stop a serial killer.”
Quinn was a bona fide chicken; a fact he wasn’t ashamed of.
“Are you going to be nice to August tomorrow?” Quinn said, using the abrupt topic change to stun Eren enough so he could grab the wine back.
Like all the other times, Eren’s poor, overworked brain started conjuring fuck knows what images involving Quinn and August, and he went motionless and wide-eyed.
“Are you panicking because it’s us, or because you weren’t expecting one of yourbrosto play for the other team?” Quinn asked, cursing himself for being such a catty drunk.
“What? No—” Eren looked appalled. “I had a feeling he was bi after his drunken confession at the loser’s party last year. He told Esme and me that he had no friends and couldn’t find a girlfriend. Then he started rambling about how guys were pretty, and how he should try dating one. Then he tried to kiss Logan, but they were both so drunk that I don’t know if they remember.”
That was…a lot to unwrap.
Quinn pushed the fridge closed, plunging them into darkness, but before his pulse could start racing, Eren crossed the room to find a light switch.
“Logan and Bea were at the party together, weren’t they?” Quinn asked when he returned.
Eren snorted and folded his arms over his bare chest. “Ohyeah, but she was just as hammered as the rest of them, so she didn’t seem to care.”
Quinn pinched his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. “Yeah, sounds about right.”
“It’s not about that,” Eren said, bringing them back on track to the original question. “It’s just that you’re like my brother, and he’s…August. He can be difficult, and he smiled less than ten times before Niko showed up. He’s got the attitude of a hormonal teenager that’s trapped in the body of an adult, and I fucking love him because he’s my teammate, but sometimes he’s a big, careless idiot.”
Quinn shrugged. “I’d say he’s comfortably above average, so nothing to get excited about.”
He opened his eyes in time to see Eren smack himself in the face. “And that—that right there! I see him walking with his dick out all the time, so comments like that will make me think about you two fucking whenever I see him naked.”
Quinn needed more wine and for Eren to go away before he clubbed him over the head with the wine bottle.
“You’re such a crybaby,” said Quinn, reaching a wobbly hand out to poke Eren on the nose. “It’s just sex. It’s not like I’m bringing you home another brother-in-law.”
Eren’s scowl made Quinn burst into giggles. He looked like an angry puppy when he was grumpy.
“Help me bring snacks upstairs and then go to sleep,” he ordered, sweeping his arm to gesture at the pantry. “I can’t carry all of this by myself.”
“The entire pantry?” Eren asked, his tone irritated. “I have a feeling that you guys are partaking in something more than wine.”
Oh boy, were they ever.
“Hey, I’m an artist. I didn’t choose a life that came with mandatory drug screening,” said Quinn. “Besides, weed is legal, unlike that menace to society growing on your face.”
Eren touched his beard, frowning as he ran his fingers through the patchy spots of hair. “I was never good at growing one. Sue me.”
Quinn snorted so hard that he wobbled, making Eren scoff and shake his head—but he went to the pantry to do as he was told.
Once an appropriate amount of chips, cookies and alcohol was collected, they delivered it to Quinn’s bedroom without anyone falling down the stairs.
Bea jumped when Quinn reappeared, but her fear vanished in the next instant, replaced by a scowl matching Eren’s. “Where did you go to get more wine? Italy?”
