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“So what’s Max like at home?”

I almost choked on my drink again.

Quinn blinked. “At home?”

“Yes,” Finnley said. “We only get to see Captain Discipline.”

I rolled my eyes. “That is not my nickname.”

“Oh, but it should be,” Julian said in a tone of utter sweetness.

Quinn stroked his chin. “Well, he’s very organised.”

“We can believe that,” Liam murmured.

“And he pretends he doesn’t like being distracted.”

Several heads turned toward me, and I glared. “That is not⁠—”

“But he does,” Quinn interjected with a grin.

Sebastian cackled, pointing at me. “Called it.”

I folded my arms. “You’ve known me two minutes.”

Quinn turned to me, completely calm. “Almost four weeks, actually.”

Not even a month?

And yet somehow that had been enough time for him to appear at Obsidian, disrupt my routines, laugh his way into rehearsal, meet the people I trusted most, and start rearranging the quiet order of my life.

“That’s not the point.” My voice shook.

Quinn tilted his head. “I think it is.”

That earned him a ripple of laughter.

Finnley wiped his eyes. “Oh he’s definitely a keeper.”

Quinn shrugged. “I just pay attention.”

Theo leaned back, watching the two of us.

Finnley looked between Quinn and me, then grinned slowly. “Oh yeah.”

“What?” I asked.

“You’re doomed.”

The group spilled out of the pub in small clusters, the night air cool after the warmth inside. One by one the others said their goodbyes, most of them demanding Quinn’s presence at the next rehearsal. Theo was the last to go, and judging by his expression, I expected a call at some point.

He’s enjoying every second of this.

Quinn lingered beside me on the pavement once everyone had drifted toward the Underground.

“Well, that was less terrifying than I expected.”

I frowned. “You were terrified?”