Page 141 of Open To Negotiation

Me

I hate you all.

Quinn

*kiss face emoji*

“I can’t believe she wanted to name him Mint,” Jaxson said, taking a pull of his beer as he leaned his hip against the railing.

I turned from the barbeque to watch Quinn call Thor over from the other side of the lawn where he was with Noah. When his name was called, he sprinted full speed over to her, barking with excitement causing Quinn to laugh loudly, her head tilting back.

It was my favorite thing, seeing her happy.

I got a lot of those laughs now, in our quiet mornings together or our nightly walks with Thor. She was in every piece of my life, every corner of my home. At one point in my past, I would’ve thought it would be suffocating but it turned out to be the best thing. I couldn’t get enough of her.

“And thank god Asher found that trainer, otherwise you would have a demon on your hands,” Will said, coming up on my other side. I watched Thor grab a toy and play keep away with Noah. They were out there trying to tire him out before the game started.

“That dog might love him more than me,” I commented with a smile. Thor loved Quinn the most, but Ash was a very close second.

“Man is a dog whisper.” Oli shook his head.

It was a beautiful day in January, the chinook had hit yesterday melting a lot of the snow, leaving a clear sunny sky today. And even though my deck was heated and covered, we were taking advantage of the sun. It was crazy what felt warm in the middle of winter here.

I was distracted by Quinn for another moment before I realized that all three men were watching me. “What?” I asked, looking between them.

“It’s nice to see you this happy, mate.” Jaxson slapped me on the shoulder.

“Never seen you smile so much,” Will added as Oli just smiled.

I couldn’t deny that. Life was undeniably better with Quinn in it.

The sliding glass door opened, and as Asher stepped out, Thor barked. He abandoned Quinn, running up and demanding a hello and some attention.

“Your dog is a menace,” Asher grumbled, not mentioning why he was late.

I looked over to see Noah and Quinn in the yard, standing there chatting. Noah’s hands were flying as she scrunched up her nose and sent him a little grimace at whatever story he was telling.

Like she could feel me watching, her eyes bounced to mine. She sent me a bright smile before she went back to her conversation with Noah.

“He’s a puppy, you’ve got to give him some slack. Plus, he honestly gets worse when you’re here.” We all looked down to see Thor sitting at Asher’s feet, looking up at him with a wagging tail. It was this way with Noah’s family dog too, that dog was stuck to his side when he was home.

“Why were you late?” Will asked, looking over at Ash.

“Just behind,” he grunted, crossing his arms over his chest.

Tilting my head, I watched him closely. He was the one I understood the most, the one who understood my grumpiness and sullenness, although he took it to a whole other level. But something had been off with him. He was hiding something but pushing him wouldn’t get me any answers. He liked to talk less than I did.

“Are we going to eat before the game? I’m getting weak from hunger,” Noah complained as he and Quinn came up the stairs, earning eyerolls from a few of us. Quinn was carrying her jacket since she stripped it off earlier, leaving her in my Cambridge sweater.

I turned to grab the last of the meat off the grill, using the distraction to avoid getting hard at the sight of her in my clothes. The possessive feelings I had over her hadn’t gone anywhere, in fact they might have gotten more intense.

“The rest is ready inside,” Quinn told everyone as they all headed through the doors. Oli took the plate from me as Noah started trying to explain why he wanted Knight Enterprises to allow the employees to have naps in the office, I didn’t hear the replies as they went inside.

Quinn was about to walk past me, but I snagged her around the waist, pulling her into my chest. “Hi.” She looked up at me with a smile, resting her arms over my shoulders.

I brushed my lips against hers, once, twice before I deepened the kiss as she leaned into me. Before either of us could get carried away with our friends in the other room, we both pulled back. “Hi, Love.” My voice gruff.

“What’s that look for?” There was a light blush on her cheeks, it was one of my favorite things. How even after eight months together I could still make her blush.