She looks down and takes a moment to stuff her boob back in her dress. “Better?” she asks, looking up at me. For the first time in an hour, she’s grinning a little.
“Better.” I look at the entrance to the parking lot. The car is long gone. “Who was that chick?”
“How the hell do I know? Maybe she’s one of Rebel’s old girlfriends who wasn’t a girlfriend.”
I put my arm over her shoulders and guide her to the front door. “Don’t be like that. Come on, let’s go have a beer.” The incident with the Beemer girl has somehow let off some of the stress that was bogging us down. I’d send her a thank you text if I knew her number.
“I’d rather have a chocolate milk,” Teagan says, pouting.
“Fine. If you insist on giving my lactose intolerant behind diarrhea, then so be it. Chocolate milk it is.”
“Ew. You can have a beer. I’ll have a chocolate milk.”
“Okay, if you say so. But just know that I would sacrifice my digestion for your happiness.”
She walks into the office ahead of me, waiting and locking the door behind me as I pass through. “Thanks. That means a lot. I’m not sure that anyone has ever made that pledge to me before.”
We make our way upstairs and before we’re even to the apartment door, we can hear music booming out of Colin’s place.
“I guess that was Colin’s date,” Teagan says, opening up Rebel’s door.
“She didn’t seem very happy about it,” I say.
“Maybe he kicked her out of bed.”
We’re only in the room long enough for me to sit on the couch before there’s a knock at the door. A blonde head pokes itself in, and then two dark eyes are staring at me. “Teagan in here?”
I point to the kitchen. “In there.”
Teagan comes out with a beer for me and stops when she sees Colin’s head. “What?” she asks, annoyed.
“Hey, don’t shoot. I’m just making sure you’re here. Rebel’s worried about you.”
Teagan says nothing, but her jaw hardens and her eyes narrow.
“Tell Rebel to go punch himself in the junk,” I say, joining Teagan with a hard look of my own.
“Wow. That’s pretty serious. What’d he do to earn a junk-punching?” Colin comes in the rest of the way as he types out a text.
“He lied,” I say.
“Quin, don’t say anything,” Teagan says, going back into the kitchen.
I wait until she’s busy in the fridge before talking again. I use a low whisper so she won’t hear me. “He told her Olga was nothing, but tonight Olga told her differently when we were at the club.”
“Oh. Shit. That’s not good.” Colin drops into an armchair next to me. “So what’s the deal? Is she super pissed or just kind-of pissed?”
“Super. As in, she wanted to go sleep at her place tonight.”
“Damn. What exactly did he say to her …? About Olga, I mean.”
“Not sure. Something like it was nothing. Maybe they hooked up once or twice.”
Colin shrugs. “I don’t think it was much more than that. I mean, I wasn’t around all the time, but I never saw anything serious.”
“What are you guys whispering about?” Teagan asks, walking into the room with her chocolate milk.
“The weather,” I say with a bright smile. “Tickle your ass with a feather?”
“What did you just say?” she says, playing along with me.
“I said, isn’t it particularly nasty weather we’re having?”
Colin stares at us confused as we giggle like idiots.
“Sorry. Time warp throw-back. What were you saying?” I look at him, my face the picture of maturity.
He looks askance at me and then addresses his answer to Teagan. “I was saying that I wasn’t around all the time, but I never saw Olga over here as Rebel’s girl. If he told you she was nothing, I’d believe him.”
“Of course you would,” says Teagan, dropping onto the end of the couch opposite me. “He’s your brother.”
“Yeah, but if he’s being a dick, I’ll call him a dick. He’s never lied that I’ve ever known about.”
“Well said,” I smile in respect.
He grins back. “I’ve got a special way with words.”
“So who was that chick that almost got her ass kicked on the way out of here?” Teagan asks.