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Julian let out an exaggerated sigh. “Fine. Once. And it was ‘Ahoy’.” He bit his lip. “Or it might have been a request to climb his ‘mast’,” he air-quoted.

The table erupted.

Quinn wiped tears from his eyes. “Please tell me there was an eyepatch.”

Julian looked skyward. “Okay, there was an eyepatch.”

Oliver nearly choked on his drink.

Theo shook his head slowly. “There are some things you can’t unsee.”

Julian lifted his glass. “For the record, he tipped extremely well.”

Finnley raised his pint. “To pirates.” Everyone clinked glasses.

Quinn took a sip, then glanced at Julian. “For what it’s worth, I’m impressed.”

Julian blinked. “By the pirate?”

“No,” Quinn said with a smile. “By the professionalism. Staying in character under pressure is a valuable skill.”

Milo choked on his drink.

Sebastian leaned back in his chair. “He’s got a point.”

Julian stared at Quinn for a moment, then laughed. “Okay, I like you.”

The conversation rolled on, voices overlapping, Finnley already demanding to know if there’d been a parrot involved.

I wasn’t listening anymore.

Quinn had leaned towards Julian when he’d said it, not mocking or prying, but simply accepting the information the same way he’d accepted everything else about the men at this table, with no judgement or awkwardness, just curiosity, as if he’d already decided this was normal. That they were normal.

Something in my chest shifted.

Quinn was charming them by simply being himself.

Theo caught my eye across the table. His expression didn’t change, but the corner of his mouth lifted.

He’d seen it too.

Quinn leaned into me, his hand landing on my knee beneath the table. It felt like a warm, instinctive gesture, and all the while he kept talking to Elliott as if nothing unusual had happened.

For a second I stilled.

Quinn hadn’t hesitated. He hadn’t checked the room, and he obviously hadn’t wondered if anyone would notice. To him, the gesture was simply natural.

My hand moved before I could reconsider, and I covered Quinn’s fingers where they rested on my knee, just for a moment, but long enough for him to feel it.

Quinn glanced at me. He didn’t say anything, but his small smile was impossible to miss.

Across the table Theo’s gaze flicked toward us. He took a slow sip of his drink and

said absolutely nothing.

Finnley suddenly squinted at us. “Are you two holding hands under there?”

Quinn made a choking sound.