Page 36 of Dad Next Door
He laughed and patted his stomach. “People love ab shots. Wanna know a secret?”
“What’s that?”
“Those abs are all angles and poses.” He lifted his shirt and showed off a relatively normal-looking stomach. It was still flat and toned, but the washboard abs were absent. “Now check this out.”
He flexed. The move transformed his fit stomach into the airbrushed one from his Instagram posts.
“Holy shit.” I leaned closer to examine him. “How is that possible?”
“Like I said, angles and posing.” He relaxed, and his stomach went back to normal. “I don’t edit or add filters to my photos because it’s impossible to maintain that on film, but also because I don’t like how they’ve become normal. I can only imagine what seeing all these filtered and edited photos is doing to people’s self-esteem, especially teenagers. But I guarantee that model is flexing and using their angles in every ab shot you see online.”
“I had no idea.” I sat back as he dropped his shirt. “But I see why your Instagram is as popular as it is. I can only imagine what your other socials look like.”
He grinned and sipped his wine. “You went for my Insta first? I thought you’d go right to the porn.”
“I was tempted.” I chuckled and swirled the wine around in my glass. “But I figured I’d need more time to truly appreciate the scenes.”
Quinn laughed, his cheeks pink and his eyes bright. Was he feeling the wine buzz too?
“Well, I look forward to your thorough analysis later. But back to the wedding and making Simon’s head explode with jealousy.”
“Right, the fake date.” I crossed my legs and rested my ankle against my knee. “As much as I like the idea of customizing a date, I’d rather you go as yourself.”
“Really?” He looked surprised.
“Yeah. You’re already giving me massive clout by being ten years younger than me and a literal model. But even without that, you’re smart, a great conversationalist, and an amazing person. Anyone would be proud to have you, Quinn, on their arm. You don’t have to pretend to be anything because you’re already everything.”
Quinn stared at me for a few beats, his gaze intense and probing.
I cycled back through what I’d just said. It was the truth. Had it come out wrong?
He cleared his throat and lifted his glass to his lips to take a long swallow. “Sounds like a plan. Now, tell me everything I need to know about the couple, Asshole McDouchenozzle?—”
I let out a snort of laughter that was so loud it hurt my nose. “Asshole McDouchenozzle?”
“Too nice for Simon?” Quinn quirked his eyebrow playfully. “We could go with Douchey McDoucheface.”
I toasted him with my glass. “Asshole McDouchenozzle it is.”
Quinn leaned forward and clinked his glass with mine.
I relaxed in my seat. “Ready for a crash course in wedding attendees and what you can expect?”
“Hit me.” Quinn made a bring it motion with his hand.
Grinning, I started listing the details of the wedding and reception.
I’d been twisted up in knots for months about showing up to the wedding alone, but all that stress was gone and replaced with excitement, knowing Quinn would be there with me.
7
TRISTAN
I lay in bed with my phone in hand and most of my menagerie of pets snuggled into their bedtime spots. Freddie was sprawled out on the other side of the bed, his head on the spare pillow and his back to me, and Mili and Shadow were curled up together in the far corner where they wouldn’t be disturbed. Jinx was snuggled under the covers and fast asleep on my chest. The only ones missing were Maple and Koda, who were in their usual spots in Leo’s room.
Last night felt like a dream, a blurry one thanks to the two bottles of wine we’d finished, but still a dream.
Quinn had brought me home and handed me off to my very amused sister, who’d sent me to bed with multiple bottles of water and a lot of teasing. I’d been out of it but had checked out a few of Quinn’s porn scenes before falling asleep.