He was drinking a cup of coffee leaning against a wall when he saw James and he didn�t look happy. He didn�t really see what Quinn saw in him. He was ok looking but for a black he was pretty darn pale. He was short. Just a bit taller than Quinn. He was in good shape, better shape than Nick but he just wasn�t for Quinn. Not this guy. How could Quinn like him and James. They were totally different.
He didn�t say anything to Nick but he leaned against the opposite wall with his arms crossed and stared at him. At any other time he would have been intimidated by that but now he wasn�t. Now that he knew Quinn wanted him around and she loved him. She actually said it. It was the first time he ever told a girl he loved her first. And not only did she not say it first, she didn�t repeat it after he said it. That�s why he knew she really did love him. She didn�t say it after getting caught up in the moment.
He continued to sip on his coffee and look around the hall and it seemed to make James more and more irritated.
�So you�re finally paying child support?� He didn�t need to justify his actions to James but he answered,
�I�ve been paying child support since I found out MacKenzie is my daughter.� He could only figure James didn�t know that and that made Nick happy. Whether taking pleasure in someone else�s discomfort was a nice thing or not he didn�t care. He had been treated like shit for a while from all these people and anytime he had the chance to feel as if he had the upper hand he was going to enjoy it. .
�How much?� That was crossing the line. That was none of his business. Even if he had some right to know once he was married to Quinn he wasn�t married to her yet and he could only hope it never happened but he couldn�t tell Quinn not to marry James. He would have to ask his lawyer to look at putting MacKenzie�s money into some type of account that couldn�t be touched.
�That�s none of your business.� James obviously didn�t like the answer and Nick honestly didn�t care.
�I�m going to be taking care of Mac-� Nick had enough of his round about comments that he was more of a man that Nick was,
�You can�t even take care of her now. Why aren�t you paying Quinn�s bills if you�re there, unlike me.� James quickly pushed himself off the wall and stood directly in Nick�s face,
�What the fuck is that supposed to mean?� Nick gave him a look of boredom. He wanted this to last. He wanted to turn the knife slowly,
�Quinn needs help. House payment, car payment, bills, credit cards, insurance. She�s not working right now and her vacation days are over so she�s not getting paid while she�s away from work.� He looked James directly in his eyes and went for the kill,
�She had to depend on someone so I�m paying all her bills and the child support as well.� He smiled,
�Someone had to step up and do it.� Before he knew it, his shirt was in James� fists and James was in his face,
You can take care of Mac, that�s your responsibility and you aren�t doing anything special when you do, that�s what you're supposed to do. But Quinn, is my responsibility. You will not take care of her. She is not going to take your money.� Nick shook his head,
�That�s her choice and she decided she wanted my help.� James shook his head and gritted his teeth,
�Not after I talk to her.� Nate came up to them and whispered in an angry tone,
�Whatever your problem, take it somewhere private. You are not going to embarrass my family. Besides, this isn�t about either one of you. It�s about my niece�s health and I highly doubt either one of you is fighting over who gets to give her a sponge bath.� With that he walked off and didn�t allow either of them to say anything. He looked around and noticed a couple of people were watching them.
�We can take this outside.� Nick felt like he was being challenged to a fight. He seemed like he was in seventh grade but accepted,
�Fine with me.�
Nick followed James outside and they stood near the edge of one of the parking lots.
�Let me ask you a couple of questions. Why aren�t you around for Quinn. I never see you. For someone who wants to marry her so bad you sure aren�t here nearly as much as you should be.� James was angry,
�Don�t question me.� Nick didn�t hesitate to rebut,
Oh, but you can question me? Question me about my daughter and what I do for her? That�s none of your business that�s between me and Quinn.�
�It does have something to do with me. I�m going to marry Quinn.�
�Yeah, yeah I heard that a million times but like I said, that�s between me and Quinn. Not you, its none of your business.� Nick wasn�t going to let him get away with not answering his question,
�Like I said, where have you been?� James balled his fists at his side and for one brief moment Nick thought he was going to have to fight.
�I�ve been working so I can help Quinn. I don�t get to sit around on my ass and collect money. I have a real job.� The last thing Nick was going to do was defend his job and how he went about making money.
�You�re never around and that�s what matters. Is that how it�s going to be when you're supposed to be taking care of her?� James� facial expression seemed to change and it was almost that of a weird amusement,
�You care just a little too much.� Nick felt he card just enough considering the feelings he had for Quinn, they were dead on target.
�She deserves to be cared about.� He smiled,
�You have a thing for her still. That�s fine. Cant say I particularly blame you. She one beautiful woman but remember she�s all mine. She�s going to be my wife.� That was unfortunate. Quinn didn�t need to be with this clown. There was no way he made her happy. Quinn liked to have fun and she liked to laugh. There was no way this guy, with that stick permanently up his ass, could make her laugh and have fun.
�She�s my daughter�s mother. If she�s not happy that�s not good for my daughter. So yeah. I care.� James didn�t look as if he was buying it,
�Make sure that�s the only reason you care.� He walked off pulling a set of keys out of his pocket.
He pulled out his cell phone and called Josh,
�Hello?� He had forgot to go by the hotel and see his friend,
�Hey man, you already on the road?� Josh couldn�t stay with him forever although he wished he could,
�Yeah, I�m on 75.� Now that Josh was gone all he had was Mike and that wasn�t very comforting.
�Tell Quinn I�m sorry I didn�t get to see her but I�ll check her later. I�ll be back down to check on you guys. Hey, you want me to pack you some stuff and bring it down there next weekend?� His friend was always thinking of how to make people�s lives more comfortable.
�That�s ok. I�ll just buy whatever I need and the tour bus is already on its way back to Marathon.�
�So, how are things with you and Quinn. You didn�t kill each other too bad last night did you.� He smiled,
�No, we definitely didn�t kill each other. It was cool. No fights.�
�That�s good. You guys are going through the same thing. You need to be on each other�s side.� They were on the same side now and it was surely a lot better than fighting.
�We�re good now man. I don�t think we�re going to be having anymore problems.� In fact, he was willing to bet that.
Chapter 94
Reunited
Stories