I make a strangled noise.
Lily hums, then giggles.“Should we have a moment of silence for his innocent brain?”
Vivian straight up guffaws.“I mean, was it innocent, though?”
Quinn points aggressively.“That’s the real question.Inquiring minds must know.”
“Oh my god,stop,” I groan, pressing my palms to my eye sockets.“He made fun of it.He—he practically narratedit out loud with a goddamn dramatic reading voice.Okay?And I’m pretty sure it broke his brain.”
Carlie laughs into her glass.“I’m actuallyin lovewith this.”
I glare at her.She better not write about this.
Tasia bites the side of her lip.“Okay, but was he making fun of it?Or was he, like,a little bit into it?”
Vivian gasps, gripping Quinn’s arm like he will somehow anchor her to the room.“YES.Did it turn him on?”
I choke violently.“WHAT?No?—”
Quinn grins.“That’s avery strongdenial.I can say with certainty that if I weren’talreadygay, that scene alone would have me flipping to the poly team.”
I gawk at him.
But in the back of my brain, now I’m actually wondering.
Did it?—
I mean, he was flustered for a second.His face kinda flushed.I mean, I didn’t look down or anything—not that I would.Dear god, what in the freeze-dried hell is this?
My phone vibrates again.
I glance down, praying for it to be literally anyone else.
Nope.
It’s Joel.
Joel: Come on, Ace.Have you asked them about the Dirty Bastards thing?Inquiring minds want to know.
I stare.
I starehard.
I groan, loudly, tossing my phone onto the table.
“What now?”Vivian practically sings as she reaches for my phone.
I sigh dramatically.“He wants me to ask if any of the guys would be game for starting a DirtyBastardsbook club.Yes, he knows I’m here and we maybe sorta talked about who else comes to the meetings.”
Once again, for a single moment,absolute silence.
Vivian cackles.“You know what this means, right?If he read it, and he got flustered, there’s no way he wasn’t at least alittleturned on.And now he wants to start his own book club?Come on.That’s not a coincidence, that’s a coping mechanism.””
I blink.My brain stops.
Wait.No.That’s not?—
But—