by Jayne Rylon
Together, Trevon and Devra were easily two of the most beautiful people he’d ever seen. The world’s finest duo. What were the odds of that?
Quinn knew better than most that bonds forged by circumstances were stronger than those of blood, but something about the way Trevon clasped Devra’s hand over his bicep as they neared made him sure they were in this—and all things life threw at them—together. Devra hooked two fingers through Trevon’s belt loop, then glanced up at Quinn from beneath long, curled lashes.
Without a hint of intimidation, but rather with a fierce possession, she spoke for Trevon. “I’m Devra. His wife.”
Did Trevon often forget to mention that last tidbit, or did she feel the need to remind Quinn because she could tell he had a thing for her mate?
Either way, he had to be careful. He wasn’t a home wrecker, and he really could use Trevon’s help at the shop.
Quinn retreated a step or three, jamming his hands in his pockets as he rocked backward onto the heels of his boots. Well, shit. “Nice to meet you.”
“Same,” she said with a smile that softened her. It sounded like she meant it, too. He thought he detected the hint of an accent in her tone, but when she spoke so little, it was hard to tell for sure.
“You know what we were talking about before?” Quinn asked Trevon, forcing a smile through clenched teeth. “Your bike might be a mess, but you’re one lucky son of a bitch.”
“I wouldn’t exactly put it that way,” Trevon mumbled under his breath.
Devra snapped her gaze to him then frowned. Her perfect posture wilted.
Quinn arched a brow, but Trevon had already turned away to reassure his wife that everything was fine.
Except it wasn’t. Their illusion was shattered in that moment.
Something was fucked up here, more fucked up than Quinn lusting after a married man and his equally married wife. But he wasn’t about to get tangled up in their affairs.
“Have you two made a decision?” Quinn wondered. It would probably be easiest if they said they’d agreed to pass. But that would also be boring, and lonely. He held his breath as he turned toward Trevon.
“When I started to tell Devra about the position you offered me, I realized I probably didn’t ask enough questions.” Trevon cleared his throat. “I mean, about the pay and hours. Plus if I take the job, I’ll need to look for somewhere to stay that’s close enough that I can walk to work because…well, you’ve seen my ride. And places around here are mostly houses. Pretty big ones.”
Quinn hadn’t been privileged his whole life. What now seemed like a modest neighborhood to him would have seemed like castles once, too. He understood the guy and his worries.
He had an idea, and hoped Gavyn wouldn’t mind that he offered.
“Uh, yeah. Sorry, I’m not used to hiring people.” Quinn smiled at Devra and Trevon, wondering idly how stunning their kids would be. Damn. Was it any wonder his brains were scrambled? He had to get it together. “The position would be full time. All our mechanics at Hot Rods and here make the same amount. Five an hour over union wages.”
“That’s…great.” Trevon’s eyes widened and he stood a little taller.
“Well, yeah. But, that’s not all. The Hot Rods built their shop into what it is today because they’re invested in it.” Quinn found it easy to talk about the shop. It had been his life for four years now. “We follow the same model.”
“We don’t have any cash for that kind of thing.” Devra nibbled her lower lip and clenched Trevon’s arm, gently tugging him back toward the bike.
“Not that sort of investment.” Quinn stopped her before she could bite a hole in herself. Especially since he couldn’t kiss it and make it better. “What I mean is that for every year you work at the shop you get an ownership bonus. Shares in the garage.”
“For the mechanics?” Trevon tipped his head. “Seriously?”
“Everyone who works here gets a piece of the profits. Hell, even when I was just sweeping the floor at Hot Rods, they cut me in. We’re a family.” So it said a hell of a lot that both he and Gavyn had been willing to take Trevon in right away. There was something about him that Quinn wanted.
For the shop, he clarified mentally. Wanted for the shop.
Right.
“That’s unbelievably generous.” Devra nudged Trevon in the ribs as if telling him to take the job before Quinn changed his mind.
But he had one more thing to sweeten the deal. He couldn’t say what made him do it except that he saw in these two people some reflection of the kid he used to be. On the verge of losing it all. They clearly could use some help and he was in a position to pay it forward. Finally.
Maybe it made him feel better about himself, or maybe he was actually doing the right thing like his brother had. But he said, “There’s a tiny home out back. My brother, the rest of the Hot Rods mechanics, Gavyn, and I built it several years ago with some help from our friends who own a construction crew. After living in it a while I had some ideas about how to improve the design for what I like and built a second one. The first one is mostly storage, and guests sometimes stay there. It’s nothing fancy, but it has all the essentials. If you help me clean it out, you’re welcome to live there.”
He stopped himself short of saying rent free. The scared kid buried inside him reminded him how much it had meant to him to earn his keep at Hot Rods. He wasn’t trying to emasculate Trevon in front of his wife.
“How much would the rent be?” Trevon asked.
“Four hundred a month is probably fair. You’ll see, it’s called tiny for a reason. It’s not luxurious. But it is cozy and your commute would be pretty damn short.” Quinn smiled. “Feel free to bargain with me if you think it’s worth less.”
“We don’t even need to see it.” Trevon looked at Devra, who nodded emphatically, making her thick hair swirl around her. “We’ll take it. The house and the job.”
In that instant, Quinn’s suspicions that they didn’t have a lot of options were confirmed.
Damn. What was their deal?
Curiosity ate at him, warring with the side of his brain that screamed it was none of his damn business and that he shouldn’t get involved in their personal matters. That was going to be kind of hard with them living a hundred feet away and Trevon working with him all day, though.
“What he means to say is thank you.” Devra hugged Trevon, squeezing the shit out of him. Quinn did his best not to be jealous. Yeah, right.
Then she dashed toward Quinn and flung her arms around him, too. She rose up on her tiptoes while dragging him down at the same time to kiss his cheek.
She murmured, “Thank you,” against his ear before returning to Trevon’s side.
Trevon wrapped her in an enormous bear hug and spun her around. Her feet kicked as both of them laughed like they’d won the lotto.
Quinn tried to keep his cock from getting fully hard, but it was no use. Thankfully, the gray jumpsuit he wore over his jeans hid a lot.
This was going to be an awkward situation. But his male role models had taught him that doing what was right was far more important than doing what was easy and this was obviously one of those situations.
He knew it even before Trevon lowered Devra to the ground and she buried her face in Trevon’s shirt to hide her sniffle. She knuckled moisture from the corner of her eye as stealthily as possible before beaming up at Trevon, who grinned.
The love between them was obvious, even if they hadn’t officially kissed to seal the deal. They cared for each other deeply. Quinn could see it clearly and tried not to be too envious of their bond.
From the doorway, Gavyn whistled. “Now that’s what we need more of around here. Welcome to the team.”
After some congratulations and ice-breaking conversation, Quinn encouraged the couple to go take a look at the cottage that was their new home. He stayed behind with Gavyn, needing some space to absorb what had just happened as much as the couple did.
When they’d left earsh
ot, holding hands as they walked excitedly toward their new home, Gavyn ruffled Quinn’s hair. He said, “They needed that. You did good, kid.”
“We’ll see.” This had the potential to be amazing or a disaster for the shop and for him personally. He could only hope it turned out for the best.
“You had a thing for him right away, didn’t you?” Gavyn asked quietly.
“Doesn’t matter.”
“She’s a good match for him.” Gavyn grunted. “Both sexy, and sort of sweet. Very corruptible. They seem like…exactly your type.”
Quinn wasn’t sure he could have pinpointed what his type was. At least not until he’d met Trevon and Devra. Now he admitted to himself that Gavyn was right.
He spun and kicked his toolbox, his boot leaving a dent in the side of the red metal.
“What the hell are you going to do about that mess?” Gavyn asked.
“Absolutely nothing.” Quinn waved his hands. “I don’t fuck around with people’s relationships. You know that.”
“Too bad. They’re both smoking hot and seemed to be staring at you plenty when they thought they could get away with it.” Gavyn shrugged. “You never know what they’re into.”
“That’s their business. And their problem.” Quinn slammed his toolbox closed, then threw his dirty rag in the hamper. “I’m going over to Hot Rods for a couple hours.”
Hanging out with his brother and the close-knit gang of mechanics would remind him how precious those sorts of bonds were and why he absolutely couldn’t do anything to ruin the one Devra and Trevon had forged between them.
“Good plan. I heard Ms. Brown was making her famous barbeque chicken mac and cheese for dinner.”
As if he needed another reason to duck out for a while. Quinn couldn’t resist Ms. Brown’s cooking. “You coming?”
“Hell yes.” Gavyn and Quinn were on their bikes and halfway to Hot Rods before Quinn realized he probably should have told Trevon and Devra where he was going and when he’d be back. It would be weird to get in the habit of having other people around, though it could be good, too.
He debated turning around to tell them but then wondered if they’d be busy christening the tiny house. It was damn uncomfortable to ride his motorcycle with a full-on boner, so he left them to their own devices and concentrated on the delicious meal waiting for him instead.
It would have to be enough to satisfy him, for now.
7
For all of the fifteen glorious minutes it took for everyone to gather around the picnic tables under the pavilion the Powertools crew had built the Hot Rods for Christmas last year and pile their plates with ooey-gooey carbs, Quinn was distracted from the Mr. and Mrs. Russell situation developing at home. He should have realized his nosey-ass family wouldn’t leave him alone for long, though.
“So, tell us more about this guy you rescued earlier.” Carver, his brother’s husband, accented his demand with the roll he held in his hand, about to stuff in his face.
“His name is Trevon. He rides an antique 1938 Indian Chief that’s in need of a new distributor, and just about every other part on it.” Quinn tried to keep a straight face as he very intentionally avoided telling them how gorgeous the man—and his wife—were. “But he fixed it himself while I was taking care of my afternoon schedule. In fact, he did such a good job of it that Gavyn told me to hire him. So I did. He’s moving into my original tiny home. I guess that means we’re neighbors.”
His next bite of Ms. Brown’s famous barbeque chicken mac and cheese got stuck in his throat. He took an enormous pull from the glass of ice water in front of him, draining the whole thing.
“Whoa.” Tom nodded from the head of the table. “That’s great news. You two have been working your asses off lately. Alanso, too. It’s time to expand. I’ve been saying that for over a year now.”
While there were plenty of murmurs of agreement and heads nodded, these people knew him far too well to let him get away with such a clinical description. Even the mention of a rare vehicle wasn’t enough to keep them from lasering in on his private life. Most times he didn’t mind.
Today…well, he was still a little bitter.
“Is that going to be messy?” Roman wondered. Figured his brother would get to the point. He was too intuitive for his own good sometimes. Or maybe they were more similar than he realized sometimes.
“Being a mechanic usually is.” Quinn shrugged, hoping they’d take the hint. He didn’t want to talk about it.
“Quit that shit.” Holden plopped down on his other side. “It’s not like you to be evasive when it comes to people you want. What’s up?”
“It’s messy as fuck, okay? Trevon is married. He brought his wife with him.” He might as well save them some time and spill all the beans. “She’s also gorgeous and, obviously, equally off limits.”
“Ouch.” Holden put his arm around Quinn’s shoulder and squeezed before returning his attention to his dinner.
“Yeah.” Quinn dropped his head back. There was no reason not to come clean. Between all of them, they might as well have been the fucking Scooby-Doo gang. They found out everything eventually. “I was planning on making a move before I knew that little factoid.”
“Oops.” Kaelyn, Bryce’s wife, wrung her hands. “Are you freaking out about that? I mean, Bryce told me nothing happened on the ride back to town. Just because you thought about it doesn’t mean you crossed any lines.”
“No. And I won’t with either of them, now that I know. I’m capable of keeping my hands, and other parts, to myself.” Quinn had no doubts about that. He’d nearly fucked up a close personal relationship once before, when he’d been young and foolish. He wasn’t about to let his dick get him in that kind of a mess again.
“But he’s going to be working with you. If there’s an attraction…” Sally tried to warn him. She should know. She had worked at Hot Rods with Eli and Alanso, her two husbands, for years before they’d gone from friends to lovers. Being near them daily without showing them how she felt had tortured her. And them.
But that was different. Quinn had barely met Trevon and Devra. He didn’t even know them. It was just a physical attraction, that’s all. Not love. Simple lust.
“There was a spark, sure.” He adjusted himself—both the way he was sitting and his junk, which was uncomfortably riled despite the lecture he’d given himself a hundred times in the past several hours. “That doesn’t mean I have to do something about it. I’m not sixteen anymore. I know better.”
“Not every situation is black and white,” Nola pointed out. Her husband, Kaige, nodded in agreement without pausing his fork-to-mouth motion.
“You’re grown enough now to understand life isn’t always simple.” Roman knocked his shoulder into his little brother’s. “Hell, you had to learn that early. So maybe this time you need to go slow, careful, and navigate the situation with finesse instead of a sledgehammer. Maybe the results will be different.”
“Nah. They’re married. A couple. They don’t need any intruders. That’s that.” Quinn dropped his head in his hands, his food suddenly unappealing.
“Is it?” Sally’s caustic tone drew his gaze. Uh-oh. What had he said?
Quinn mentally rewound his words. Oh. Right.
“Tell that to Eli. I mean, technically I’m married to Alanso. That doesn’t mean shit.” Sally glared. “I love them both equally. More every day. Although that’s not how things started between us all, that’s how it is now. They hooked up first. Don’t you dare tell me I should have been satisfied that they were happy and walked away from them when I knew how much better we could be as a threesome.”
“Technically….” Alanso said, his Cuban accent intentionally heavy. “You did. Well, you drove really fast, crying to the Powertools. But I wasn’t about to let you escape that easily. Sometimes you have to fight for what you really want. Besides, without you, Eli and I never would have lasted. We weren’t complete until you came into our lives…and our bed.”
Sa
lly smacked him and looked over at Nova and Nola’s daughter, Ambrose, who didn’t seem to notice the grown up talk as she chatted with her grandmother, Ms. Brown, about her friends at daycare.
“Guys. You’re getting ahead of yourselves here.” Quinn rolled his eyes. “I’ve known them for all of a day. Yeah, they’re both smoking hot. And yeah, there was definitely some sexy vibes going on, but that’s nothing like knowing someone for years and realizing they’re your life partner.”
“It has to start somewhere,” Gavyn said, shocking the hell out of Quinn, who figured the Hot Rides owner would want none of this drama impacting business. “I was there. What I saw today was…kind of magical. You three clicked right away. And I don’t think you were the only one noticing the possibilities. Being close-minded and shutting people out when they need you is, in principle, equally as bad as coming between two people who would suffer from your interference.”
“If I could do it all over again, I’d never wait so long to act on what every bit of my soul was telling me to do.” Eli grimaced. “It’s the biggest regret of my life that I didn’t take action sooner. Think of all the time I wasted. It makes me sick.”
Sally hugged Eli. “We’re together now. That’s what matters.”
“All I’m saying is that both Bryce and Gavyn noticed something special. They’ve seen you with plenty of your fuck buddies and never mentioned it to me before.” Roman bumped his forearm into Quinn’s gently. “We want you to be happy and this was the first time they’ve seen you smile like that in far too long.”
“No one’s going to be smiling if this goes bad,” Quinn grumbled, afraid to hope that the Hot Rods were right. What were the odds that he’d found exactly the two people he’d been searching for since he realized he was bi and that it might take more than one partner to satisfy him?
