After Sunset

Chapter Four

"Where?"

"She has an apartment upstairs," Jake supplied helpfully.

"Oh, that's convenient."

"How well do you two know each other? I don't want to put anyone on the spot," Jake said.

"Not well enough," Dylan said wryly.

She felt she knew Quinn pretty well, considering she'd met her entire family. She knew the kind of people they were, and also that Michael character. But Quinn didn't know her well.

"How long have you two known each other?" Quinn asked.

"Years. We were neighbors growing up, so we went to the same schools," Jake said. 

"Was Dylan always this way?"

Dylan jumped on that. "Always what way?"

Jake chuckled. "Yeah, pretty much. She was an angry kid." 

"I was not an angry kid!"

"Have you two ever had a falling out?" Quinn prodded.

"Once or twice." Jake gave Dylan a pointed look. "Dylan slept with one of my sisters. When I found out, I went crazy on her. Didn't talk to her for a whole day."

"Oh."

"Jake," Dylan said with a warning note in her voice, "I thought we decided we'd never share that story."

An awkward silence descended on the table, and in the conversational lull, Dylan noticed the bar was starting to fill up. She looked at Quinn and wondered what she was thinking.

"Come on, it happened, I forgave you, it's in the past," Jake said.

"In my defense, your sister and I were both drunk, and for all we know, maybe nothing even happened," Dylan said.

"How many sisters do you have?" Quinn asked.

"Two. One older, one younger—Casey and Terry."

"And Dylan slept with..."

"Casey," Jake supplied.

Dylan exhaled loudly, and both Jake and Quinn looked at her. "Come on, you can't talk about me as though I'm not here."

"Quinn's just trying to get to know you," Jake said.

"She can do that on her own time," Dylan said.

"Fair enough." Jake turned to Quinn. "Do you mind if I get to know you?"

"No, not at all," she said.

Jake nodded. "Cool, now that's the spirit."

Dylan was interested in hearing what Quinn had to say, so she feigned disinterest while listening intently as the background noise in the bar got louder.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Jake asked.

"No."

"Girlfriend?"

Quinn shyly shook her head.

"What are you studying?"

"Law."

"Wait a minute," Dylan interjected. "The first day we met, I asked you if you were a lawyer and you said no."

"I'm studying law. I'm not a lawyer yet."

"Just like a lawyer to split that hair," Dylan muttered.

The alcohol was starting to give them all a buzz. Jake was making fun of Dylan, as he usually did, and Dylan reciprocated. They made sure to include Quinn in their banter, and by the time Jake was leaving, it was quite late and they were all drunk. Dylan couldn't let Quinn drive home in that condition, so she took her upstairs to her apartment.