Quinn's Hart Read online

  "I doubt that." Quinn frowned. "It might be better if you waited until tomorrow to ask me."

  The instant reply told Josh exactly what he wanted to hear. Quinn wanted to spend time with him, but for some reason the man had doubts about Josh's own desire. Josh could fix that soon enough. He smiled. "I don't need to wait, Quinn. I'd like to spend the afternoon with you tomorrow. If you don't want to, say so, but I'd like it if you did."

  At last Quinn turned toward him, his eyes dark and unreadable in the dim light. "I'd like that, too."

  "Excellent. We can make plans during lunch." Josh leaned against the wall again, relaxed.

  "Okay." Quinn focused his gaze forward once more.

  It was hard to tell in the dark, but it looked like Quinn was smiling.

  * * * *

  Back at the hotel, they took the elevator to the seventh floor. They both went the same way at the fork in the hallway. They passed room after room, and Quinn didn't turn off.

  Josh's room was the last one on the right. He laughed when they reached the second to last room and Quinn halted. "This is your room?"

  Expression puzzled, Quinn nodded.

  "I'm next door." Josh pointed. "I can't believe we haven't run into each other yet."

  Quinn grinned, wry. "At least I'm not next door to Clay. Or Damien."

  Putting a hand to his chest, Josh faked hurt. "I think I've just been insulted."

  Quinn laughed and unlocked his door. "Good night." He disappeared inside the room.

  "Night, Quinn." Josh walked the short distance to his own room and let himself in. He put his bags of souvenirs on the floor.

  Getting ready for bed a few minutes later, he glanced at the wall and wondered what Quinn was doing next door. The same thought went through his head as he lay in bed. Only a wall separated them. Was Quinn thinking of him?

  An image of the other man's big, muscular body popped into his head. He'd always been, if not larger than his boyfriends, at least the same size. What would it be like to have all those muscles, and all that strength, next to him? Would Quinn go slow, cautious and shy like he seemed to be, or would he be aggressive once he broke out of his shell?

  For the most part Josh topped because that was what guys expected from him. He didn't mind bottoming, even enjoyed it with the right partner. He would be willing to bet Quinn could make him enjoy it. The man had an aura of gentleness that tempered his obvious strength. He'd never hurt anyone. Josh would bet on that, too.

  The turn of his thoughts had Josh squirming. His dick pressed against his boxer briefs, hard and hot. Top, bottom, mutual blow jobs, even a good make-out session, anything sounded good right about now.

  Closing his eyes, he slipped his hand under the waistband of his underwear and grasped his erection. He gave it a slow, languorous stroke, imagining Quinn's large hand in place of his. He hissed and repeated the motion, adding a squeeze to the head.

  His other hand slid up his chest to toy with an already peaked nipple. His fingertips teased the tiny nub as his other hand continued to stroke his cock. He moved faster, the tight friction driving him crazy. Primed by his imagination, his orgasm built quickly.

  In his mind's eye, Quinn closed his lips over Josh's nipple while his hand continued to pump his dick. Josh's head fell back. Heat spread through his body, and he arched into the pleasure.

  With a stifled gasp, he came, semen gushing over his hand and stomach. He flopped back onto the bed. A breathless laugh slipped out. He'd come harder than he had in weeks from jacking off to a fantasy of a guy he barely knew, but he was too satisfied and sleepy to care.

  He snagged a tissue from the box on the nightstand and cleaned up the mess enough to sleep without sticking to the sheets. He could take a shower tomorrow morning.

  As he drifted off, he wondered if Quinn was thinking about him.

  Chapter 6

  * * *

  "We Are Family" blared next to Quinn's ear, jerking him out of a very pleasant dream starring a certain sexy brunet. He scowled and scrabbled for his cell phone. Stephanie was always changing his ringtones, and her special tone always had lyrics about friends or family. Since she was his former foster sister and best friend, he let her get away with it.

  When he finally managed to capture the phone, he flipped the case open. "Hello?"

  Stephanie's voice, way too bright and cheery for morning, blared in his ear. "Good morning, sunshine! How'd it go yesterday? Did you talk to anyone?"

  Since she'd called early, he decided to tease her a little. "The first night was terrible. Some guy asked if I wanted to tie him up and beat him."

  Her voice instantly became apologetic. "That's awful. I had no idea that kind of man would be there. I'm so sorry."

  "It's no big deal." She sounded so disappointed he couldn't bear to tease her any more. "You were right, I'm having fun. I met a guy yesterday, and he asked me if I wanted to hang out this afternoon."

  The squeal Stephanie let out almost broke his eardrum. He cringed and held the phone away. He could still hear her easily. "You met someone? Did you say you'd hang out? Is he nice? Is he cute?"

  "Jeez, Steph." He laughed. "His name's Josh. He's definitely cute. So cute I'm not quite sure why he wants to spend time with me when he could get any of the guys in the group. And he'd have to be pretty nice to put up with me and my moods, don't you think?"

  His friend went from squealing to serious in warp speed. "Don't put yourself down, Quinn. You're a great guy. Maybe this Josh is smart enough to figure that out."

  He had no answer for that. He hadn't found a man yet who had thought he was great enough to hold on to. One afternoon together didn't give him the right to expect anything from Josh. He would have to see how things went and try not to hope for too much.

  A quick glance at the clock told him he needed to get up if he wanted to have time to shower and grab something to eat before he caught the shuttle to Epcot. "I have to go. Epcot today."

  "Have fun! And keep me updated."

  "I will. Bye, Steph." He flipped the phone shut and climbed out of bed. Unlike the day before, he was more than ready to get going.

  * * * *

  Despite Quinn's best efforts, the morning dragged. He enjoyed the shuttle ride, sitting on the big back bench seat with Josh, Steve, and Art, more than the park itself. The first attraction they visited, inside the huge sphere at the front of the park, was interesting enough, but his partner, Doug, was a whiny bore. The next ride was a simulated space flight. He ended up with Clay, who giggled and flirted through the whole six minute ride. Being partnered with Art for the test track ride was a huge relief. The man was quiet, but when he spoke he had something interesting to say. Quinn saw Josh a few times, and they exchanged hellos. The bright smile Josh gave him any time their eyes met made Quinn's heart leap.

  The final paired activity, a science and invention related attraction held at one of the pavilions, was the worst of all. It would have been interesting and fun, except Quinn got stuck with Damien, whose barely concealed scorn and veiled insults cut in spite of Quinn's attempts to ignore them. Quinn couldn't help withdrawing into himself, which only brought on more insults phrased to sound helpful, or kindly meant, although they were neither. Comments like, "You know, you'd be a lot more interesting if you talked," and "At your height, you probably shouldn't wear that color. It makes you stand out way too much," could hardly be construed as helpful, no matter how sugary the tone.

  They were nearing the exit when Damien turned to him, a fake smile on his face. "You don't seem to be having fun. Maybe you should go back to the hotel after lunch."

  For about half a second, Quinn considered the advice. Then he remembered Josh's invitation. Rather than reply to Damien's suggestion, he shrugged.

  Fortunately, Elaine appeared at the exit and announced it was time for lunch. The men followed her in the direction of the restaurant. Josh fell into step beside Quinn. "Hey. How'd your morning go?"

  Quinn's grimace must have been answer enoug
h. Josh frowned. "That bad, huh?"

  Once again, Quinn's mouth ran off without any input from his brain. "It's better now that you're here." Way to scare him off, idiot.

  Instead of the uncomfortable silence he expected, Josh smiled at him and said, "Ditto."

  Quinn smiled back, Damien's obnoxious remarks fading into unpleasant memories.

  * * * *

  Lunch was a lot more pleasant than the day before, in part due to the different seating arrangements. The large group was broken into two tables of six and one of eight. Josh claimed one of the smaller tables. This time, when Josh sat, Quinn took the seat beside him without hesitation. Art and Steve joined them, as did Ray and Lyle, who laughed and joked together and seemed very chummy.

  The food was good, and the conversation amusing. Quinn didn't say much, but nobody made him feel bad about that. It was nice to be able to sit and listen without feeling pressured to talk.

  For dessert, Josh asked if he'd like to share a chocolate mousse. Quinn had never shared a dessert with anyone before, and the experience was unexpectedly sweet, in more ways than one. He got up the nerve to tease the other man about his junk food intake and being a bad example for his patients. To Quinn's shock, Josh retaliated by swiping a spoonful of mousse across the bridge of Quinn's nose. They all sat there in dead silence for a minute, and then the whole table burst into laughter, including him. It felt good to be comfortable enough to tease and be teased.

  After lunch, the six of them headed to the first of the areas representing different countries that ringed the park's large lake. Unlike the previous day, there weren't many rides. The different theme areas were decorated in the style of the countries they represented and had mostly shows, shops, and restaurants.

  At the first pavilion they came to, Steve picked up a small package of some strange candy made with chili peppers. "This is weird." He paused, a grin appearing on his narrow face. "Hey, I've got an idea. Let's make this interesting."

  Ray rubbed his chin. "How?"

  "I say we have a contest. We each put in five dollars. The guy who finds the weirdest thing at one of the shops gets the money at the end of the day."

  Frowning, Lyle picked up a different kind of candy. "But what if the weird thing is really expensive? I'm not buying some freaky thing that costs a hundred bucks to win thirty."

  "Hm, good point." Steve tapped his fingers on the shelf, thinking.

  Quinn looked around the group. "Josh has a digital camera. You guys do, too. I'm the only one without one, looks like. So why don't we split up into pairs and take pictures of what we find? We can compare pictures tonight and vote on who found the weirdest thing."

  "Great idea, Quinn."

  Quinn blushed at Josh's admiring grin. "Just trying to save us all some money."

  Everyone agreed to the plan, and they split up. Over his shoulder, Steve called, "You guys are going down."

  "In your dreams, Steve!" Josh turned to Quinn. "Okay, we're on a mission. I hate losing."

  Quinn had to laugh at the other man's competitive streak. "What's this we you're talking about? Every man for himself."

  Josh looked so surprised that Quinn burst out laughing. "Okay, fine. But if we win we split the money."

  "Of course." With a beaming smile, Josh started to scour the pavilion for something suitably bizarre.

  * * * *

  Quinn had never liked shopping, but being with Josh made the experience fun. Their conversation centered on people they saw and items in the stores, and Josh's running commentary kept Quinn chuckling. Josh decided to buy one food item and one random thing at each country's shop--the cheesier the better, he said. As a man who had never owned many frivolous possessions, or many possessions at all, really, the idea of buying random things just for the kitsch factor was odd to Quinn.

  At the third pavilion they went to, Josh found a truly unusual, and hideous, statue and took a picture of it. He moved in close and showed Quinn the image, grinning like a kid. "We've got this one in the bag. Nobody's going to find anything as weird as this."

  Quinn just shook his head and smiled. Excited, flushed with predicted victory, Josh looked wonderful. His eyes lit up, and his gleeful smile encouraged Quinn to join in. Due to their close proximity, Quinn could feel the warmth of Josh's body. He sucked in a breath and caught a light, spicy scent that had to be Josh.

  Quinn had a sudden urge to kiss him, which he quickly stifled. For all he knew, Josh wasn't attracted to him at all and only wanted a new friend. He needed to remind himself of that before he started getting his hopes up. That never worked out well. Annoyed with himself, he started walking toward the store's exit. Josh trailed behind him.

  Outside once more, they strolled along the path and over a bridge. Every two seconds Josh stopped to take pictures. He snapped a quick picture of Quinn, who grimaced when he realized what had happened. Getting his picture taken was one of Quinn's top ten least favorite things. He looked so big and surly in pictures. But maybe he always looked that way. He frowned at the thought.

  "I need to find a restroom. I think there's one coming up." Josh tried to juggle his camera, map, and bags until Quinn took pity on him and grabbed the camera. "Thanks. You need to stop, too?"

  "No, but I'm thirsty. Why don't I hold your stuff for you and go get us something to drink?"

  "That'd be great. Thanks, Quinn." Josh handed off his bags, and with a quick smile over his shoulder he headed for the restrooms.

  A nearby stand advertised ice cold lemonade. That sounded pretty good, so Quinn made his way to the line to get some. He'd been waiting about five minutes when he sensed someone behind him. He didn't turn until he heard a familiar and unwelcome voice.

  "Well, look who it is. Hey there, Quinn."

  He turned to face the newcomer, stifling a scowl. "Hello, Damien."

  The other man smirked. "Having a good time?"

  Like you care. He forced a smile. "Yes."

  "Good. That's good." Damien ran his well-manicured hand through his perfect highlighted hair. "Josh is nice, isn't he?"

  Wondering where Damien intended the conversation to lead, Quinn nodded.

  "It's cute how he's taken you under his wing. Nobody else in the group would have done that." His expression all innocence and concern, Damien leaned forward. "I hope he remembers to save some time for himself, though. You wouldn't want to monopolize his whole vacation, would you?"

  How was he supposed to answer a question like that? No matter what he said his answer would be used against him. Quinn opened his mouth to say something--he wasn't sure what--but before he could he reached the front of the line.

  The cheerful young woman behind the counter swished her blonde ponytail and smiled at him. "What can I get for you?"

  "I'll take two lemonades, please."

  She told him the total and another worker got the drinks. Quinn dug his wallet out of his pocket and paid. "Thanks." He picked up the two cups and looked around for Josh.

  Apparently Damien hadn't intended to buy lemonade, because he followed Quinn out of the line. Quinn tried to ignore him by watching the people who walked by. He spotted Josh coming toward him and smiled. Ignoring his uninvited tagalong became a lot easier.

  Josh grinned back and loped over to him. Quinn handed him one of the drinks, which made his grin widen. "Lemonade, great. I'm thirsty." He took a big drink.

  The sight of Josh's lips pursed around the straw, and his throat working as he swallowed, sent Quinn's mind to places it shouldn't be going. To distract himself, he said, "There's a band starting at the next pavilion in a couple of minutes. Want to head over there?"

  Damien butted in before Josh could answer. "That sounds like fun. Mind if I join you?"

  "Not at all," Quinn muttered through clenched teeth.

  Josh started walking toward the next pavilion. Hurrying to catch up, Damien walked beside him. That left Quinn a little behind them, by himself. Damien moved closer to Josh and began chatting about something, not attempting to i
nclude Quinn in the conversation. Whatever he'd said, it made both he and Josh laugh.

  Quinn didn't try to catch up, or force his way back into the conversation. Damien might be obnoxious, but he was a lot more attractive than Quinn, and apparently funnier, too. Quinn was out of his league, and he knew it.

  Chapter 7

  * * *

  Somehow, when he wasn't looking, Josh's day had turned to crap. He'd planned to spend the day hanging out with Quinn, getting to know him better. Instead, he was stuck listening to Damien blather on about things he could care less about. Since Damien had shown up while he was in the bathroom, the man had hung onto him like a leech. Quinn hadn't said anything in a long time, probably because he couldn't get a word in edgewise.

  There had to be a way to get rid of their third wheel. Josh had hoped to take Quinn to one of the nice restaurants and talk over dinner, like a real date. No way did he want Damien along. He risked a glance at Quinn, unhappy to see that the other man's remote expression had returned.

  He paused to take a picture of a cool Japanese pagoda and gather his thoughts. Of course, Damien stood right beside him, in his personal space. Quinn hung back so far he looked like he wasn't with them at all.

  "You okay, Quinn?" Josh tried to meet the big man's eyes, but Quinn stared at the ground.

  "I'm fine." His voice sounded anything but fine.

  "You definitely are." Clay appeared like magic and plastered himself against Quinn's side.

  The urge to smack his head against the nearest hard surface rose, and Josh had to restrain a snarl. Now he had two unwanted people to get rid of, and with Clay's limpet-like grip on Quinn's arm, that wasn't going to be easy. He didn't want to come right out and tell Damien and Clay to get lost. Being rude wasn't his preferred method of dealing with annoyances, but he was starting to consider the idea.

  If he could just get Quinn to look at him, he would feel a lot better about the situation. The way Quinn had withdrawn worried him. It reminded him too much of the shuttle ride, and dinner the first night, when the big man had somehow managed to become invisible despite his size.