I reach the video room and walk in casually, not wanting to draw attention to myself. And why should I draw attention? I’m only wearing six chunky bead necklaces and an electric-blue bandana under my baseball cap.
Nothing to see here, folks.
I knock on the door—auto lock, and all—and a moment later, Scottie opens it. “About time, Fischer. You were supposed to be here four minutes ago,” she says in her bossiest voice.
“Sorry, got waylaid at lunch, Quinn—” I start, but Scottie’s mouth has found mine before the door’s even clicked shut.
Her lips are so warm and demanding that for a minute my thoughts scatter completely, and the only thing I can think of is how she got the mango smoothie, and I’m going to want to kiss her anytime I smell mangoes for the rest of my life.
She pulls back, her lips red, face flushed in a way it never is when she’s embarrassed. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I say, kissing her lips, wanting to taste her again.
“Are you sure? You feeloff. Like you’re not all the way here.”
I exhale a big huff. She wraps her arms beneath mine, and I lean against the table and pull her close. With her head against my chest, I inhale deeply.
“Coop is going ring shopping with Liesel when they get back. Apparently he’s been talking about it since we got here, and I’ve been so preoccupied with other things that I’ve missed the whole thing. Logan probably thinks I’m the world’s biggest narcissist because I left right in the middle of talking about it. And, you know, because they’ve been talking about it for weeks and I’ve missed it.”
“I’m sorry,” she says, sighing into me. I breathe in her lavender shampoo like it’s oxygen. “You could have texted me and stayed to talk to them. I’d have understood.”
“I know. But I get more time with them than I do with you, and I just … I want more, Quinn. It’s never enough.” My arms tighten, like I’m afraid she’s going to drift away if I don’t pin her to me. “I was worried you’d think you weren’t worth coming for.”
She’s quiet for a moment. Then, into my chest: “That’s … observant.”
I chuckle.
“I’m not sure I know how to be someone people worry about.”
I pull her a little closer and say, “I know. I’m working on it.”
She huffs a small laugh. “You’re working on worrying about me?”
“Around the clock. It’s a very demanding job,” I tease. “No, I’m working on teaching you you’re worth worrying about.”
She’s quiet again, but it’s a different kind of quiet than before. Lighter, somehow. “I’m sorry too,” she says finally. “About Logan. About all of it.”
“Thanks. We’ll be fine,” I say. “How’syourfamily?”
She rolls her face so she’s speaking right into the center of my chest. “I’m so tired of every text starting with ‘How’s Jake?’ I feel like I’m not even part of my own family. I’m the person they hired to take care of their child, except I’m not getting paid. And his agent got my number and texted me today.”
“No.”
“Yup. He said ‘There’s still time to do the right thing.’”
I jerk back to look at her. “What does that mean?”
“To sign on with Tide, maybe? I didn’t respond.”
“But Jake’s still on board, right? He knows the plan.”
“He was solid when we talked this morning. Today during the press conference, we expect they’ll ask him how he feels about his girlfriend not wearing his jersey or watching the other split squad instead of him, or something, and he’s going to say that’s not the kind of relationship we have, and he’s happy to see me doing so well in my career. Then he’s going to say ‘no matter what happens with us, our friendship was built on rooting for each other, and that will never change.’”
“That’s solid.Ifthey ask him about you.”
“They always do,” she says, sounding tired. I shift my arms around her and press my cheek into the top of her head, letting the weight of her settle against me. For a second, everything else goes quiet. “People are losing their minds that the photo he posted with me yesterday didn’t have like ten heart emojis.”
“His fans are going to hate me when they find out we’re dating.”
