Page 17 of Temptation
“We didn't get that much done, which means we need to get together again tomorrow, right?” Tenn looked at her hopefully.
“Yes, but maybe we need to find a place where we won't have interruptions.” Quinn smiled.
“I have just the place.” Tenn smiled happily as he hugged her goodbye, way too thrilled that she agreed to spend more time with him. “See you tomorrow.”
“Night Tenn.”
Chapter Eight: Sleeping Arrangements
Quinn
After a final wave goodbye, Quinn shut the door behind Tenn and went down the hall to the bedroom, opening the door without knocking to see Joel standing in front of the dresser mirror, trying to see his back. “Are you okay?” She wrinkled her nose. “Why does it smell so musky in here? How much porn did you watch?”
Joel made his way over to the bed slowly. “I fell down the stairs at Harry’s earlier; I was looking for bruises.”
“Oh. Would you like me to rub some icy hot on it?” Quinn walked over and opened the window again. “Marathon jerk-off sessions mean the window stays open. It fucks reeks in here.”
“Sorry.” He actually seemed a little remorseful. “I would appreciate it if you would rub icy hot on my back.” Quinn nodded and went into the bathroom. She was a little surprised at her lack of emotion regarding Joel’s cheating and his audacity at doing it in her home, but figured it had to do with the last four months and the total lack of affection and acknowledgement she had gotten from him, returning a few minutes later with muscle relaxers and the icy hot.
“Here.” She held out two pills. Joel sank onto the bed and swallowed the pills. “Lie down.” Swallowing the revulsion, she squirted some of the icy hot into her hands. “Where does it hurt?”
“All over.” Joel groaned as he lay on his stomach. “I went down hard, Babe.”
“Poor thing.” Quinn started at his shoulders and worked her way down, adding more icy hot as needed. “What were you doing at Harry’s?”
“He moved the Poker game to this afternoon so I could join.” Quinn couldn’t believe how easily the lies fell from his lips. He didn’t even blink.
“As long as the money for your games comes from your fun money account.” She murmured.
“Don’t worry, it is.” He fell quiet as she finished up. She got up and went to the ensuite to wash her hands. When she came out, he was sitting propped up on the pillows, watching as she dug in the drawers for her pyjamas. “So, we’re not doing Sunday dinner anymore?”
Quinn shook her head. “Nope.”
“Why not?” He appeared genuinely confused, which only served to frustrate Quinn, but she bit her tongue.
“I told you why.” She finally found the night dress she wanted and pulled it out of the drawer. “Good night.”
“Where are you going?”
“Spare room. I’m going to start sleeping there.”
“What?” Joel shifted up, looking shaken. “Why?”
Quinn paused in the doorway, wondering how to explain this in a way that wouldn’t give away how much she knew and decided to go back to her issues before she found out. “Two weeks ago, I asked you to either prove you wanted this relationship to work or get out, and so far, all you’ve done is get upset with me for “flirting” with a married man in front of my husband and his wife. I need you to realize just how fucking done I am -”
“I wanted to have dinner together tonight! You’re the one who said nope and fucked off!” Joel sat up painfully and glared at her. Anger flared up as his outrage, and she whipped around, still trying to remain as calm as possible so she wouldn’t give things away.
“Yeah, I did. Because last week you bitched and complained about it and then fucked off and didn’t come back until midnight while I cried myself to sleep. Why would I put myself through that again? I also told you that being constantly rejected for sex was destroying my self-confidence, and you haven’t done anything to improve that either. Instead, you spend an evening that you knew I would be out for in here fucking masturbating to women trying to sound like children and faking their orgasms. You say you want to stay married to me and put in exactly jack for effort. So, until you can prove that you want this to work, I’ll sleep over there.” Quinn turned to leave. “And Joel? The clock’s ticking.”
She shut the door softly and walked into the room next door, pleased she had managed to handle that as well as she did. As she climbed into the spare bed, she made up her mind. Monday was a long day for the salesman at Rhyme Porsche. All the paperwork they neglected over Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, which were the busiest days for sales, had to be done, which meant Joel usually didn’t get home until after nine. He was going to be the one moving to the spare room. She was willing to bet Rilla, Quill, and Bishop would come over to help her move things out, including the bed, because she was definitely getting a new one of those. Pleased with her plan. She rolled over onto her back and studied the ceiling. She both wanted to drag this out and make him suffer and wanted to kick him out. An idea struck her, and she pulled out her phone and brought up Tenn’s contact. It was the second anniversary of her last relapse on Wednesday, and she just decided she wanted to celebrate.
How do you feel about bowling?
Tenn
Tenn got home just behind Viki, pulling into his spot in the driveway as she unlocked the door. He noted she was limping and seemed to be in a rush to get inside. He took his time, collecting the folder Quinn had given him and putting the contents in the folder he was keeping in the glove compartment, locking it up carefully. He went to the kitchen to get a snack and found Viki standing with a bottle of Advil and a glass of water.
“Everything okay?” He asked as he dug out a bag of baby carrots and ranch dressing.