Quinn:That makes one of us. Anyway, thanks. Everything okay with you?
Leo:Yeah, fine. Spring conditioning starts in six weeks, so I’ve been mostly volunteering at the youth program and lifting with some of the guys. We had two inches of snow here the other day. The city came to a grinding halt. They don’t know what to do with the white stuff.
Quinn:LOL I can just see it. It’s cold here, but a weird kind of cold. Damp all the time, like being in a tunnel or something underground. And down by the water, it’s frigid. No snow, though. Allan and Kara (his wife) go skiing in Tahoe, but not sure if I’ll get a chance to check that out.
Leo:You should try it. This is a great time for you to do stuff you never have before.
Quinn:I guess. Allan and I are starting to work on the book tomorrow. I’m glad, because I don’t know what to do with myself right now. I feel like I just transported my sorry self, with all the crap I can’t shake, to a different coast. Mostly I’ve been holed up here watching old movies and reading. I’ve made myself take at least one walk a day, though.
Leo:Go explore your new neighborhood. Take pictures to send me, if that will force you out.
Quinn:Are you going to reciprocate? Send me some photos of Richmond in the snow?
Leo:Of course. I’m never shy about selfies. Hold on.
A few moments later, Leo was there, grinning at me out of the phone. Behind him, I could see patches of snow on a deck.
Seeing his face made me want to cry. He looked so familiar and just so ... Leo. His hair was a little longer than usual; I’d noticed that at the engagement party, but I hadn’t risked commenting on it. It was too personal and might have led to touching.
His blue-grey eyes were bright. They seemed to be looking right at me, making me want to see them go smoky with desire, as they always did when we were together.
I wanted to tell him all of that, because we never held back anything from each other. But that too was risky, and so I stuck to something safer.
Quinn:The city shut down over THAT little snow? And is that your backyard? It’s huge.
Leo:Yeah, that’s what all the girls say, you know. Everyone loves the size of my ... deck.
The smile that spread over my face was one of those I couldn’t fight. It made me feel lighter and a little giddy, that Leo was making suggestive jokes to me. I wasn’t sure what it meant—that he felt safe to tease, since I was over three thousand miles away?—but I decided not to overthink anything.
Quinn:I walked right into that one, didn’t I?
Leo:You sure did. Now I showed you mine ... show me yours.
I wasn’t going to send him a selfie, not when I was sitting here in yoga pants and an oversized hoodie, with my hair a mess and not one bit of makeup on my face. He’d seen me worse, for sure, but I didn’t need to capture this image for posterity. I stood up and made my way around the sofa across to the dining room with its massive picture window, and holding my phone at just the right angle, so that there wasn’t any glare from the glass, I snapped a photo of the view, with the top of the Golden Gate showing. I edited it a bit, framing it and adding a filter, and then added it to my text and hit send.
Leo:That is a freaking amazing view. You weren’t lying. But it was missing one thing. One very important thing. YOU.
I was smiling big again as I typed.
Quinn:Sorry. Remember, we’re three hours behind you. I’m still in my pj’s and I look like a train wreck. I’ll send one when I feel like I won’t scare you to death.
Leo:Baby, I’ve seen you at your worst, and I’ve seen you at your best. You know it doesn’t make any difference to me how you look. But as long as you promise to send one soon—maybe one of you on a cable car—I guess I’ll learn patience.
I was considering my response when another text came through.
Leo:Just got in the car, on my way to the volunteer center. Can’t be late for the kids. Text me later, okay? Miss you.
Biting my lip, I sighed. It was hard to think about Leo’s life going on there without me. Even if I’d had the illusion of his attention for a few minutes, I wondered how often I really crossed his mind.
Quinn:Have fun and be safe driving in ALL THAT SNOW. ;) Miss you, too. Talk later.
“He’s gonna go for the pass here. Trust me, I know this.”
Tate Durham ran one hand through his short hair, damp with sweat. “I don’t know, man. Why wouldn’t he just run with it? Makes more sense.” He was hunched over, his head near mine in the huddle. “And why should I trust you? You don’t play defense.”
“Neither do you, doofus. But I know because he’s my brother, and he thinks he can exploit our weakness, which is defending the pass play.”
“Doofus? What are we, nine?” Tate jabbed me in the arm.
