the back. “She came here because of you. She could’ve gone anywhere in the world, and you wouldn’t have heard about her hardships until she wanted you to hear about them. But she came here because when it’s all said and done, this is where you call home. I don’t know Quinn very well, but she seems like the type who doesn’t want to be a burden on anyone else.”
“She and I are the only family both of us have left. I should’ve made more of an effort to be part of her life. Especially since her divorce from Peter the prick.”
Baby chuckled. “Peter Pritchard is quite the unfortunate name.”
“He’s quite the unfortunate asshole—even more so if that report Gavin showed me was true. Quinn always seemed relatively happy with him, so I never made my opinion known until recently. But he was bad for her.”
“He hurt her?” Baby couldn’t stand the thought of someone hurting Quinn with her soft skin and quiet eyes that took in so much.
“No, not physically. And I doubt even emotionally. She just could never relax around him. Always trying to be perfect and proper and...Ivy League. Everything about him reinforced that need in her.”
Suddenly, the tightly wound bun and the pressed trousers and the classic blouses made a lot more sense. Baby had thought maybe it was just Quinn’s personal taste or the fact that she was a little older and perhaps not as interested in fashion trends.
But maybe, even here in Wyoming, she was trying to fit a mold she was so used to seeing herself in that she couldn’t get out of it.
Baby didn’t want that for her. He wanted her to feel free to be herself—whoever that was.
“Riley, I haven’t known Quinn that long, but I care about her. I know she and I have a lot of differences, but I’m still hoping I can talk her into going out with me.”
Phoenix sat his elbows on the bar and leaned back, stretching his legs out in front of him. “I hear you already talked Quinn into going out with you. Weren’t you guys at dinner when Gavin found you?”
“Basically.” At least Gavin had had the good sense not to mention that Quinn had been in Baby’s lap kissing him senseless when he found them. “I keep making some fundamental errors with your sister. Let’s just say she’s probably confused as to whether I’m really interested in her or not.”
He turned to look Riley in the eye. “I am interested. I don’t think she’s looking for anything long-term with someone like me, but I respect her, and I’d like to help her find the side of herself that has been stifled under a thick professor veneer.”
“Are you looking for my blessing?”
Baby wasn’t sure exactly what he was looking for, but he knew he didn’t want to fight with a friend.
“I don’t know. And just know I don’t mean any harm to your sister.”
“I’m not sure if brothers are supposed to be protective of their older sisters or not, but I still am. Quinn is, like you said, smart and funny. But she’s also—”
“Innocent,” Baby finished for him.
“Yes. She’s been locked away in her academic tower. She might be older than you, but she’s not more experienced than you.”
“I’m not going to take advantage of her.”
“Then if you can get her to say yes, I definitely won’t stand in your way. Quinn is smart. She can make up her own mind about what she wants.”
Baby smiled. He was going to make sure that what she wanted was him.
Business at the Eagle’s Nest was picking up, as it always did on a Friday night. The DJ was already pumping out the 80s music.
It was going to be a good night. Now more than ever.
He and Riley both tilted their chins up in greeting as Finn and Zac walked through the door. That meant Charlie and Anne were joining in the girls’ night out celebration. Riley went to say hello.
Soon Aiden, Cade, and Gavin strolled in. The Linear guys didn’t always show up every time their women had a girls’ night out. They trusted them, but given that the last time they’d all been together Girl Riley had been kidnapped out from under their noses, the men were feeling a little extra protective.
The women had learned how to put up with it.
Gabriel Collingwood and Kendrick were next through the door. That meant Gabe’s fiancée, Jordan, would be taking part in the festivities tonight, which always