Free Getting Rough by C.L. Parker

and tucking them back under his pillow. Ignoring Demi’s and Sasha’s laugh, he attempted to change the subject. “Cassidy, how’s your mom?”
    “Well, you know… She looks like she fell from a ladder, but she’s going to be okay. My ma’s a scrappy little thing. She’s not going to let a couple of broken bones, some scrapes and bruises keep her down for long. I was scared to death, of course, but the good news is that the doc is going to let her come home tomorrow.”
    Quinn sighed. “Oh, thank goodness. The girls and I were going to come out, but my stupid boss wouldn’t let me off work, the heifer. She said I’ve taken off too much lately, which is all because of Daddy.” His expression soured. “I hate him. I hate his very existence, the fat bastard.”
    Daddy wasn’t fat, but he
was
Quinn’s most recent ex-lover. A very rich, very married, very hot ex-lover who didn’t like the ultimatum Quinn had given him to come out of the closet or lose him for good. Daddy had chosen to stay with his wife instead, shattering Quinn’s heart to smithereens. Quinn had gotten even by shattering the bathroom mirror in the penthouse apartment Daddy had bought for him and then taken away. Plus he’d carved “He’s gay” into the wall, essentially forcing him out of the closet. Unless he did the patchwork himself, contractors were going to know the truth. And a truth like that, about someone with as much money and stature as Daddy had, was bound to get leaked.
    “Sorry, Cass, but we couldn’t leave him,” Demi said with a squint of her eyes as if it pained her to say the words. “Of course if you think you might need us, we can always split up and one of us could come there.”
    “Don’t be silly. There’s nothing for you to do here. I’ll mind the bed-and-breakfast for Ma until she’s back up on her feet and then I’ll be home in no time. I hope. Meanwhile, I want to talk about those handcuffs,” I said, grinning at Quinn.
    “You know what they say,” Demi started. “The best way to get over a man is to move on to the next. Quinn is all about forward progression.” She shouldered him playfully. “But just like Daddy, his new flavor is top secret, too.”
    “Oohh,” I said with a waggle of my brows. “Any clues on the identity of this secret lover?”
    Quinn huffed. “Y’all want to talk secret lovers? Fine, let’s talk secret lovers.”
    He was a little too quick to agree, looking at me as if I’d set something in motion that couldn’t and wouldn’t be stopped. I realized I found myself precariously standing in the middle of a trap before I had the opportunity to see the metaphorical net suspended overhead.
    With a quirk of an eyebrow, Quinn yanked on the rope. “Miss Sassy Cassie, do you want to tell them or should I?”
    He couldn’t have meant what I thought he meant. “Tell them what?”
    “Oh, so you’re going to try to play stupid? Okay, let’s see… How should I say this?” Quinn cleared his throat.
“Shaw and Cassidy, sitting in a tree. K-i-s-s-i-n-g,”
he sang.
    Nooooo!
“Oh, God.” Those were the only two words I could get out of my mouth.
    Demi gasped, loudly. “Shaw?”
    “Shaw Matthews?” Sasha asked. Which was silly because how many other Shaws did we know?
    “Fuck me,” I said, managing to find two more words.
    Quinn laughed. “Oh, I’m sure he did, girl.”
    My cheeks flamed red, that feeling of being caught in the act resurfacing yet again. “How did you know?”
    Quinn laughed some more. So much that he could manage only one syllable, but that one syllable said plenty. “Shaw.”
    “He told you?” I was outraged, ready to cut off his balls for cutting my legs out from under me.
    My roommate got his laughter under control and sighed heavily. “Not really. I
might
have suggested I already knew. And he
might
have assumed you’d told me. So I
might
have let him.”
    “You tricked him?” I ran my hands over my face. “Oh, my God, Quinn, you’re such an