Seeking Escape

23. A Need for Release

*** Quinn's POV ***

"Dre, hey man. It's Quinn."

Dre was another guy in the business. We had worked on a couple of films together and I had even had him on my livestream before. It was literally a cock-measuring contest.  He won, by viewer vote, which he believed hurt my ego. It didn't because I had no complaints in how I used my tool. But he slapped me on my back and told me he owed me for having a laugh at my expense.

"Hey Quinn. Are you calling in that favor?" He asked teasingly.

"Actually I am. You still have your bike? I'm thinking about getting one. I wany to see how my girl likes it." I fibbed. I couldn't give away exactly why I needed to take his bike for a spin.

"Oh, running big purchases past your chick? Must be serious. But sure, let's set it up." Dre replied, good-natured as usual.

Now came the weird ask. "Actually, any chance you could swing by now?"

"At night? Trust me, man. If you're looking to impress her, I'll let you borrow the bike for a day, you can take her along the coast and make a day of it." Dre said.

"Um, I have a possible opportunity that I need to act on. It would really help me if you could do it tonight." I stressed.

"Okay. Yeah, when were you thinking?" Dre asked.

"Maybe like an hour or two. We're at my mom's. I'll text the address. I'll also ask if you can follow us in my car back to her place." I hoped that he wasn't going to ask a lot of questions.

"Whatever you need Quinn, although I might have to ask your girl if she saw our episode." He joked.

"Right." I responded dryly.

"Text me your mom's address. I'll head out in about an hour, hour and a half." He informed me.

I hung up and rejoined Mom and Joyce who were talking quietly. I was grateful that Mom chilled out because she was pushing Joyce's boundaries early on. But sometime during me moving Mom's junk for her garage sale, the two of them seemed to have bonded. That was big for me, and given her strained family relations, I think it was big for her too.

"Everything okay, Quinny?" My mom asked. Joyce studied me with her eyes.

"Yep, my buddy Dre is bringing his bike over in a couple hours. Chinese ordered?" I inquired.

They nodded and I moved behind Joyce, hugging her back against my chest and inhaling her sea-salted scent. She tilted her head back to look up at me and mouthed the words, "Thank you."

I nodded and squeezed her. She turned her attention back to my mom and settled into my arms. I was content. We were making these connections, nestling into each other, making inroads and building trust. I was curious to know if she felt good too. The way she kept tossing me looks, I was pretty sure she felt it too.

Conversation was light and easy. Mom invited Joyce to help her price garage sale items during the week and to join her for the sale she was holding Friday and Saturday. Joyce looked at me hesitantly while she answered. "I work on Friday, but I can help throughout the week and come by on Saturday if you'd like."

"Sure, and from what you said, we should probably make a date to tackle Quinn's flowerbeds. Maybe next Sunday?" Mom pressed.

I groaned loudly but kept a smile on my face. "Mom, at this rate you're going to see my girl more than me this week."

"Don't worry, son. I'm not interested in cockblocking you." Mom teased, taking a giant bite of her eggroll. I rolled my eyes and glanced at Joyce who was hiding her smile.