Another part of me knew, even without speaking to her, that Quin would absolutely want to fight it. Not only was she not a “just let it slide” kind of a person, in any aspect of her life. But also, there was no way she would be okay with people knowing her business the way they now did, and not being able to at least say that she tried to fix it, or control the narrative.
She was the original Type A personality, and would be freaking the fuck out that the world had seen her in what she probably considered a “compromising” position. From the angle I’d been viewing the drama—both first-hand, and in the video—she’d been less compromised, and more fucking stunning.
“Just come home, and we can talk about it then. I know, I know, but I’m gonna need that address if we’re going to come get you.” King made a drinking motion to me with his hand. That made sense of why it was taking quite so much work to get the details.
“Okay. If you’re sure? Because we really don’t mind coming to get you. In fact, we’d prefer it.” He nodded, although obviously she couldn’t see him. “Okay, can you make sure Deone sees you into the car, then, and then text me when you’re on the way? Can you do that?” He frowned while he listened. “I’m not in any way suggesting you can’t look after yourself, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be concerned. Fine. Just get back here. We’ll talk then. All right, bye.”
After hanging up, he looked at the screen as though he suspected that somehow the handset was responsible for whatever had gone down at the other end of it. Then he looked from the phone to me, confusion stamped across his face, before putting it down on the table.
“So, I think maybe she’s had a ‘little’ to drink.” He air quoted the word little. “She refused a lift, and is getting a car home. I guess she’ll be here soon.”
“How is she?”
“Exactly as you would expect a slightly drunk woman—who has just discovered that a video of her fucking two guys on a private jet has been leaked to the press—would be. Let’s just say it’s not pretty.”
“Oh shit.”
“Correct, but at least she’s talking to us, and coming home. It could be a whole lot worse at this point.” Never a truer word was said.
“Also correct.”
Chapter 18
King
When Quincy got home, she seemed to have sobered up a little. I didn’t know if it was the car journey, or having time to think things through alone, or the fact that she’d listened to her voice messages and had confidence that the issue was being competently handled, but when she fell into my arms as she walked in the door, she was definitely a little more together than she had been when I’d spoken to her on the phone.
I enveloped her in a hug instantly and she burrowed into my chest, hiding her face in the folds of my shirt. The telltale quiver of her body confirmed what I’d already guessed.
“Shhhh... baby, it’s okay. It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay.”
She pulled away from me, looking at me through the mess of tears clinging to her lush lashes. “How can you know that? It’s not going to be okay.”
“Let’s not have this conversation here. Come through to the kitchen, Rome’s there. We can all sit down and talk.”
She followed me, but I felt her hesitation. When we got into the kitchen, she went to Rome. I noted that he’d initially hung back and waited for her to go to him, rather than vice versa, but as she approached, he reached for her without hesitation, hugging her close just like I had only moments before.
As I stood watching them, I was struck, as I always was, by how fucking good they looked together. And so right. It was a fact that I’d previously tried to ignore, because acknowledging it felt like a knife twisting in my guts. This time it didn’t feel that way. In fact, it felt as natural to see her in his arms as it did to hold her in my own.
After a short while, he pulled back and kissed her on the forehead, then stepped a little farther away, before nudging her chin up the crook of his finger, forcing her to look at him.
“Hey.” He was so tender with her, I barely recognized him. I marveled to myself how someone could unexpectedly come into another person’s life and turn it upside down, like Quincy had done to ours.
“Head high, Q. It’s going to be okay.”
She pulled away from him roughly, looking agitated. “Why do you both keep saying that?”
“Because it’s true.” We spoke in unison.
“No it isn’t. How can it be, when the entire world has seen me... do that?”
“Do what?” I was still making us all coffees. “It’s grown-ass people having consensual sex. There aren’t many people who can say they haven’t done that.”
“But it’s the three of us.”
“So? You’ve slept with two men you love. Whose fucking business is that, but ours?”
“Nobody’s, but that’s not the way these things work. People are always looking to judge someone, even more so, women. You guys will probably be dubbed ‘love gods,’ while I’ll be the slut who serviced you both on a plane.”
“It’s not like that at all.” I found myself getting defensive, even though it was just us in the room.
“We know that, but the public doesn’t. They know what the media tells them—you’ll be heroes and I’ll be a whore. Of course it’s not right, but it’s the way it is. Wait, what did you say before?” She was perched with her ass resting on the edge of the table. I handed her a cup of coffee, and she took it, looking grateful.
“Which part?” I prompted.
“About being in love.”
“Hmmm?” I feigned nonchalance.
“King.” The warning note in her voice was clear. It probably wasn’t the time to play with her like that. If her eyes were laser beams, I’d be bleeding out on the kitchen floor for sure.
“I said... you slept with two men you love.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. What did you mean by that?” Her brows were knitted together with concern as she spoke.
“Is this a trick question?”
She shook her head vehemently.
“Well in that case, I’m pretty sure I meant exactly what you thought I did. We know.”
“You know what?” She took a slow sip of her coffee, before putting the cup down on the table next to her.
“That you love us both.”
“I don—”
“Don’t lie to us. We know.”
“I’m sorry.” She looked like a deer in the headlights. “I didn’t mean to...” Her voice trailed off. My stomach lurched, and my heart wrenched as I watched her eyes fill with tears.
“I know I should have called it off between us. I tried. I mean, not very hard, because I was weak, and selfish. I knew it was the right thing to do, but I didn’t want to lose you. Either of you. But now it’s out in the open, we can move on. I’ll stay in Deone’s spare room until the lease is up for the tenants in my apartment. Let’s try to keep things amicable for the album and tour, though, okay?” Her bottom lip trembled, and the tears welling at the brim of her eyes seemed dangerously close to spilling. “Regardless of whatever’s happening between us outside of the studio, or stage, we have a good thing going on musically. It would be a shame to ruin that just because I couldn’t...”