Page 22 of Playboy For Hire

I walked inside and scanned the room for him. It was crowded, with people talking, laughing, and moving through the space in little clusters and huddles, eddies and swirls. Quinn’s grandparents hadn’t just invited their extended family. They’d invited friends, old coworkers and neighbors, and half the members of the church they used to go to in DC.

Swingy jazz music filled the room, with bright trumpets and trombones punctuating the guests’ conversations. I couldn’t see farther than ten feet in front of me, so I began to weave through the crowd. I was almost on top of Quinn before I realized I’d found him.

It was his mom, Barbara, who saw me first.

“Ryder, sweetheart,” she called out. “Come over here. We were just talking about you.”

She snagged my sleeve and tugged me gently towards Quinn and Robert, his father. I shot a nervous glance at Quinn. They’dbeen talking about me? Was he going to tell his parents we were breaking up or something?

“Well, that explains the burning in my ears,” I said with a grin. “I can only assume you were discussing my roguish good looks and devil-may-care attitude.”

“We were actually asking Quinn more about this bocce league,” Robert said. “He’s never been interested in sports before. I used to take him to Orioles games as a kid, and he wouldn’t even look up from his book.” His dad laughed. “Now, when he was high school valedictorian and graduatedsumma cum laudefrom Penn, I wasn’t complaining. Top of his class in his JD/MLS program too.” He clapped a hand on Quinn’s shoulder. “Couldn’t be prouder of my boy. But still—bocce?”

Quinn looked vaguely uncomfortable, and despite his earlier anger, the look he shot me was a clear plea for rescue.

“There’s actually a lot of strategy in bocce,” I said. “Sure, aim matters, but so does being able to switch between offensive and defensive play and predicting your opponent’s moves. I’d say it’s as much psychological as physical. And Quinn’s the smartest guy I know, so…”

I held my hands out and gave a helpless, endearing smile.

“So that’s how you two met?” Barbara asked.

“Yeah,” Quinn said. He still seemed uncomfortable. “Ryder kicked my ass the first time we played each other.”

“Purely through luck,” I said. “We were on opposing teams, and yeah, my team won, but by the end of the night I didn’t even care about that. I just wanted to know who the cute guy in the glasses was who treated each round like it was a chess game. So I walkedover and asked if he’d tell me what was in the notebook he’d been holding all night. Turned out it was statistics and player histories, and honestly? I was smitten.”

Quinn flushed, and I continued. “I don’t need to tell you guys this, obviously, but you have an amazing son. I feel very lucky.” I looked over at him. “Sometimes I mess up and say stupid stuff. I know I don’t deserve him, but I’d rather apologize to him than be with anyone else, you know?”

Would Quinn understand what I was getting at? I was laying it on a little thick for his parents, but I hoped I was getting my point across.

Quinn smiled sheepishly. “We can both be idiots at times. I’m not always the easiest person to get along with. I can be kind of quick to judge. But Ryder reminds me to keep an open mind, and I’m grateful to have him in my life.”

I heaved an inward sigh of relief.

“If that isn’t the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard,” said Barbara. She smiled at me. “I’m glad you’re pulling Quinn out of his shell a bit.” Then she looked over at him. “This one’s a keeper, honey, you got that?”

Quinn shuffled his feet in embarrassment, but nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

There was something almost sad about the way he said it. Before I knew what I was doing, I took his hand and gave it a squeeze. He looked at me in surprise, and I flashed him a smile, squeezing his hand one more time before dropping it.

The evening transitioned into dinner soon after that. I found Quinn and myself seated at a table with his cousin Laytonand Layton’s wife Amanda, his cousin Julie and her boyfriend Brandon, and Emily and Chuck Miller, the children of Quinn’s grandparents’ former neighbors. Everyone was friendly enough, but Quinn seemed subdued.

Julie laughed and pointed at a bunch of tables close to the front of the room. “All our parents are up there being fancy,” she said, “and we’re stuck back here. I feel like we’re at the kids’ table at Thanksgiving. They must have put all the non-married people together.”

“Speak for yourself, Jules,” Layton said in mock offense. “You might be living in sin, but Amanda and Iaremarried.”

“Yeah, but you don’t have kids of your own,” Julie said. “Which makes you still a child in this family’s eyes.”

Brandon laughed. “Anyway, we might not be living in sin for too much longer.”

Julie swatted at him playfully. “One of these days, you’re going to have to put up or shut up. You can’t keep teasing a girl about proposals like this without making her go crazy.”

“Maybe I just like you crazy,” he said. He pulled her in for a deep kiss, one that lasted longer than any of the rest of us wanted.

“Get a room,” Chuck said.

When Brandon finally pulled back, he waggled his eyebrows in Chuck’s direction. “You’re just jealous because some of us can actually get girls.”

“Oh, you’ve got girls, do you?” Julie said. “And who might they be? Because I know you’re not talking about me.Iam awoman.”

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