Page 61 of Open To Negotiation

At least she was constantly texting me now and contributing to the group chat. After she’d woken up and read through our messages, she had decided that although it was a terrible way to pick up women, Noah was likely to make it work. She also assured them that there was no need to file a restraining order. Now they were deferring to her opinion on anything relating to women and they were loving getting her input.

“Is Quinn coming later?” Noah asked as I moved into the kitchen.

Jaxson’s apartment was warmer than mine with soft couches and wood accents. But the thing was so high tech I was afraid of touching anything. He could basically control the whole thing through his phone, including the big screen TV that rose from the floor as the curtains came down covering his view of the mountains.

“Nice to see you too,” I grumbled as I grabbed a beer and went to join Jaxson and Asher in front of the TV.

“Who brought fruit?” Will asked as he dropped on the couch beside me.

“I did.” Three sets of eyes all went to me. “Quinn told me I should,” I muttered.

“No one is going to eat it,” Oli said with a laugh as he came into the room.

“So… is Q coming?” Noah asked again.

“You don’t read the texts closely enough,” Asher said.

The game started and all their focus turned to the screen, but I was only half paying attention. I needed to plan a date for Quinn. I’d asked her on Friday before she kicked me out if I could take her out since she pointed out that we hadn’t had a first date.

I wanted to beat on my chest when she agreed without hesitation. She told me if I could give up a club night she could be free Friday or we could do Saturday. I’d quickly said Friday because that meant I could maybe convince her to also spend time with me on Saturday.

The problem was, I didn’t plan dates. Sure, a dinner here or there but never a date with someone I cared about. So the pressure was high, it was stressing me out.

And I was not a man that stressed about much.

“What’s the nicest restaurant in town?” I blurted out in between Will grumbling about the ref’s call and Oli claiming he knew what they would do next. All the men’s eyes locked on me, the only sounds coming from the TV.

“Are you feeling okay?” Noah asked as he reached over to put his hand on my forehead like he was going to feel my temperature, but I swatted his hand away.

“Never mind,” I grumbled as I rubbed a hand over my jaw. I knew this was a bad idea.

“Come on,” Will said, shooting me a look. “You never ask for help, it’s just surprising.”

“Assume this has something to do with Quinn,” Asher stated, watching me closely.

“I don’t normally put thought into where I’m going with a woman. I take them somewhere nice for a meal, go to her place and then never see her again. There is a lot of pressure with Quinn and Friday is coming up fast.”

“You’re missing Friday at Pulse?” Noah questioned me with a hurt look on his face that I ignored.

“Quinn’s putting pressure on you?” Oli asked skeptically as he tossed some popcorn in his mouth, also ignoring Noah who would gripe about Friday if we gave him attention.

“Of course not, but she deserves the best from me.”

“Look at Grump One, having feelings and liking someone,” Noah beamed as he put a hand on his chest.

I gave him a shove and rolled my eyes. “Fuck off,” I muttered as the other men laughed.

“Why does he get to be Grump One?” Asher looked at Noah.

“Don’t worry.” Jaxson patted him on the shoulder. “Looks like you’re going to get the number one spot soon.” I glared at him long enough that he put his hands up in surrender, hiding his smirk as he looked away.

“Jokes aside,” Will pulled out his phone, “Quinn isn’t the kind of girl to be impressed with somewhere just because it’s fancy, she won’t care. But you still need the right date vibe and good food.” I waited as he tapped around on his phone before looking up at me. “I think I’ve got it.”

16

Quinn

“God why am I so nervous?” I asked Aubrey over Facetime. She was in the nurses’ lounge on the break she’d taken to talk to me. Because I was freaking out a little.