Her eyes went wide and innocent. “What? I’m just ... eating my berry. It’s very juicy. Mmmm ...” Her eyelids drooped as she popped the rest into her mouth. “So good.”
“You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?” I gripped the edge of the table, frantically trying to think of anything else.Mini-camp drills. Gut busters. Lines. Bear crawls.
“Now why on earth would I be trying to kill you? I’ve got a vested interest in keeping you alive.” Her smile was simultaneously wicked and serene.
“Huh.” I crossed my arms over my chest and decided to change the subject before I gave into the pulsing need to drag her out of here and into the closest alleyway. “So Asher, your lunch buddy, wasn’t interested in you. Is there anyone else in the city I have to worry about? Any other guys who’re under the false impression they have a shot with you?”
All pretense dropped away, and Quinn shook her head. “No, Leo. I haven’t dated. This wasmytime, remember? I wasn’t out here to troll for men. If I wasn’t working, I was either exploring the city with Kara as my tour guide or camped out in my apartment watching a movie. And most of the time, I was texting you all the while. You know that Zelda and I went to a few clubs while she was here visiting, but if there’s anyone who’s proficient at keeping guys away from us when we don’t want them, it’s Zelda. A few danced nearby, but she never let any of them even buy us drinks, let alone sit at the table with us or—God forbid—lay a finger on us.” She leaned her chin on her hand, her eyes steady on me. “You’re all there is for me, Leo. It’s always been you, and it’s always going to be you. Forever. I don’t even see anyone else. They don’t exist for me.”
I wanted to jump up onto the table and do a dance of victory, but I was pretty sure that would’ve gotten us kicked out. So instead I settled for nodding gravely. “Good to know.”
“What about you?” She played with the green top of her strawberry, not meeting my eyes. “I mean ... I was married to Nate. If something happened then, it’s okay. I understand. I couldn’t expect you to ... wait for me. Not under the circumstances. And I know Sarah’s down in Virginia with you, so it would be only natural for you two to be together, even if it was only casual.”
“Hey. Look at me.” I leaned forward and reached to tip her chin up. “Nothing happened between Sarah and me. Nothing at all. She didn’t try to initiate anything, and I sure as hell didn’t. I wasn’t in any place ...” I thought about last summer, how angry and bitter I’d been. “Well, let’s just say, even if I’d been idiot enough to try something, I wouldn’t have gone through with it. Also, whether you know it or not, Sarah’s your friend. She spent most of the summer telling me that if I didn’t wait for you, she’d personally bash me in the head.” I winced. “Between Sarah and Zelda, they’ve definitely scared me straight when it comes to you. If I ever fucked up and hurt you, what was left of me when they were finished wouldn’t be worth anything to anyone.”
Quinn raised her eyebrows and smiled. “It’s good to have friends who aren’t afraid to play fast and easy with things like death threats and castration.”
“Sometimes you all scare me.” I shuddered. “Anyway, the point is, there never was anyone else. Corey’s wife Ellie wanted to set me up with one of her girlfriends, but once she heard our story, she was Team Quinn all the way. She can’t wait to meet you.”
“Is that Corey Iverson’s wife? I read an article about them. They’ve got quite the history themselves. Are they as cute in person as they sound?”
“Even more so, although they’re such genuinely kind people that they’re not sickening, you know? Ellie is kind of the team mom. She cooks for us, makes sure we’re all keeping to the straight and narrow, and she loves to play matchmaker.” I paused as something Quinn had just said struck me. “You read an article about Corey?”
Her cheeks pinked again, just a little. “I might have read anything and everything about the Richmond Rebels and all their players. I might follow the team on social media. I might even have—” She cast her eyes upward, biting her lip. “A team jersey.”
I had a sudden and vivid memory of the first night we’d had sex. Quinn had taken the initiative, booking a hotel room the night that we’d won our championship game in junior year of high school. And when she’d emerged from the bathroom that night, wearing my football jersey and nothing else, I was convinced I could’ve died a happy man, then and there.
She was still speaking, and I struggled to pay attention.Focus, man.
“Of course, I don’t have a Leo Taylor jersey. Not one from the Rebels, anyway.” She held up her fingers, counting off. “I have an Eatonboro High School Leo Taylor jersey—that one has some happy memories—”
“You’re damn right.”
“—and I have a Carolina University Leo Taylor jersey, and if I recall, that one saw its share of action, too—”
I nearly fell out of my chair. She was right. We’d celebrated my first college touchdown catch with her wearing that one. I’d been so pumped that night that I’d taken her up against the wall in my dorm. Suddenly my seat was extremely uncomfortable. I shifted, hoping she didn’t notice.
“But I need the Richmond Rebels Leo Taylor jersey to complete my collection.”
Under the table, I slid my foot up her calves to rest on the seat of the chair, between her knees. Quinn sucked in a quick breath and sat still.
“Tell you what.” My voice was hoarse. “If you promise to break in every jersey the way we did the first two, I’ll make sure you have one for every uniform we have—home and away—for every team I play for in my entire career.”
Quinn’s lips curved. “That sounds like a win-win deal to me.”
“But–” I held up one finger. “I can’t get you a Rebels jersey until you come back east. When you’re ready to come back, I’ll hook you up.” I stared hard at her, hoping she understood what I was trying to say. I would do anything for this girl—for this woman, because there was no doubt in my mind that she was that now. I would turn myself inside out, climb mountains, run races or win wars. But she had to show me that she was ready, and she needed to come home for me to be sure.
She watched me, and I could almost see the wheels turning in her mind. Her smile broadened a little as she nodded.
“I’ll hold you to that.”
“Another beer, Leo?” Allan Crocker held out the frosty bottle to me. “Good thing about being in the city is that we rarely drive ourselves anywhere, so you can definitely have a second without worrying about being behind the wheel. And of course, you’re still in the off-season, so you might as well live it up a little.”
I accepted the beer with a grin. “You’re not wrong, sir. Thanks.”
“Hey—no sir here, please. You make me feel like an old-timer.” He sat down on the other deck chair, and both of us gazed out over the nighttime skyline of the city.
“I’ve seen tapes of your games. It’s really an honor to meet you.” I’d been here in San Francisco for four days now. Most of that time had been spent playing tourist, sightseeing and eating in some of the best restaurants I’d ever tried. Quinn and I had both realized, even without really discussing it, that the less time we spent alone in her apartment, the safer we were. So each morning she cooked me a killer breakfast, and then we’d head out, only returning to her house when we were both worn out and exhausted, ready to fall into bed. Separately, that is, even though I knew we both wanted it to be otherwise.
