Work was absolute chaos, from 6:45 AM, until well after 7 PM, every single night. Sean had me attend as many meetings as I possibly could with Jackie to get a feel for what I would be doing, and then Jackie kept me late most nights, going over things she thought I should know.

Most of the team seemed genuinely happy for me, though there were a few who were quite bitter.

The week after Jackie left was just as busy, if not more so. There were so many meetings, it was unbelievable. I had to stay late almost every night just to find time for the projects I was supposed to be working on but hadn’t had time for because of my new responsibilities. For now, I was expected to keep up with my old duties, as well as take on Jackie’s tasks. It was more than a little tiring.

On top of that, Chelsy had finally sent the requirements for the application. The timeline had been extended a little, but they wanted all applications in by the end of September, which only gave me three weeks, and Sean hadn’t been lying … it was rigorous.

Between football games, late practices, and my crazy schedule at work, I had barely seen Quinn. And had even less time to think about Carson. I hadn’t talked to him since our last hook up, but every night, in one way or another, Carson made his way into my dreams. One night, the dream of him was so real and intense, I was awakened in the middle of a real-life orgasm.

“Hmmm, what’s wrong babe?” Quinn had asked when my movements woke him up. I had snuggled up close to him, my bare breasts brushing up against his chest.

“Oh, nothing … just a really, really good dream,” I whispered. Quinn slipped a hand down my panties.

“How good of a dream?” he asked, then groaned when he felt how wet I was. I bit my lip and moaned as he dipped a finger inside me. “You got that wet just from a dream?” He breathed in my ear.

“Mmmhmm.”

“It must’ve been one hell of a dream.”

“It was, now shut up and kiss me.” I had two more orgasms that night.

---

Two weeks passed, and I had so far survived being in charge of the women’s design team. My application for the official position was due next week, but was practically done, and I had finally gotten a handle on all the meetings and new tasks.

I felt like I could breathe again. I was done with meetings, and pressing deadlines, so at 1:30 on a Friday, I decided to take the rest of the afternoon off.

I picked up a couple bottles of wine and headed home, with every intention of taking a nap, before spending the evening drinking wine and hanging out with Quinn.

As I turned down the hallway off the elevator, I could hear voices and laughter coming from our apartment, which was strange since I didn’t know Quinn had the afternoon off as well. Quinn and Carson were sitting on the couch playing Mario Kart, several beer bottles on the coffee table in front of them.

My heart sunk into my stomach, and I almost dropped the wine.

“Fucking Peach, get out of the way!” Carson yelled.

“It’s too late, man, you’ll never catch me!” Quinn chided. He stood up and cheered, his arms in the air, when he crossed the finish line only seconds later.

“Damn it! I was going to win that time.” Carson tossed his controller down onto the couch.

“Sure you were,” Quinn laughed. “Have you ever beat me at Mario Kart?”

“Shut up, man.”

Neither of them had noticed I was standing there watching their entire exchange.

“You guys having a good time?” I said, finally letting the door close behind me. They both visibly jumped and turned around to look at me. I laughed and shook my head at them.

“Chloe, what are you doing here?” Quinn said. Carson didn’t say anything; he just stared at me with his mouth open.

“I could probably ask you two the same thing.” The voice that came out of me didn’t sound like my own. I was trying so hard to keep my emotions in check, but seeing Quinn and Carson in the same room made my head reel and brought so many feelings to the surface that they all threatened to bubble over and make a giant mess. “I decided to take the afternoon off; it’s been so crazy lately, I figured I deserved it.”

“Same thing here,” Quinn said. “With another double-game day tomorrow, Rick let me leave at noon.” That didn’t explain what the hell Carson was doing here, considering he should also be at work right now.

“I’m just playing hooky,” Carson said, as if he could read my mind. “Quinn called and asked what I was doing this afternoon, so I left work, got some beer, and here we are.”

“Awesome, I’m going to go for a run,” I said. Suddenly, napping was the furthest thing from my mind.

“Why don’t you play with us?” Carson said.

“Yeah, you can be Peach,” Quinn piped in.

“You guys don’t really want a girl ruining the giant bro-fest you’ve got going on here, do you?” I took off my heels and walked toward the bedroom to change. “Besides, you wouldn’t want to end up embarrassed.”

“Oh, come on, you can’t talk shit like that, and then not play!” Carson called after me.

“Don’t worry, she’ll play,” I heard Quinn say. “And she’ll probably kick your ass.” They started arguing again about who was better at Mario Kart as I closed the door to the bedroom and changed out of my work clothes.

When I went back out in the living room, Quinn was in the kitchen making onion dip, and Carson was on the couch drinking a beer. I had put on running shorts and a tank top, even though I really had no intention of going running. I plopped down on the end of the couch, as far away from Carson as possible.

“Hey, will you bring me a beer?” I said to Quinn.

“I thought you were going running?” Carson asked, looking at me skeptically.

“And miss the look on your face when I beat you at Mario Kart? Nah, this will be way more fun.”

“I’m not losing to a girl,” he said all huffy.

“Don’t be so sure about that,” Quinn said, returning to the couch and handing me a beer. “She’s pretty damn good.”

“You probably just let her win so you can get laid,” Carson snorted.

“You know I’d never do that. I’m way too competitive,” Quinn replied.

“Are we going to sit here and chit chat, or are we going to play? I interrupted.

“Let’s play,” Carson said.

We spent the next two hours playing Mario Kart, and, true to my word, I kicked their asses. Quinn did win once, but only because Carson had crashed into me on purpose. Carson never even got close.

“I’m fucking done with this stupid game,” Carson fumed after I beat them both, again. Quinn got up and went to the bathroom.

“I told you I was good,” I said arrogantly. I leaned back on the couch and put my arms behind my head.

“I already knew you were good,” Carson said quietly, his eyes narrowed. I swallowed hard. God damn it, why? “But I didn’t know you were a Mario Kart prodigy.” Carson’s tone returned to its normal playfulness as Quinn came back in the living room.

“Derek and I used to play for hours,” I explained.

“Don’t feel bad, dude, she beats everybody.” Quinn patted Carson on the head like a little kid, and I laughed so hard I snorted.

Carson just sat on the couch and sulked, which made me laugh even harder. Quinn’s phone rang, interrupting my fit of laughter.

“Oh, hey Rick,” he answered and went down the hall into the bedroom.

“Wanna play again?” I said.

“I don’t think my ego can handle it,” Carson said dryly and ran a hand through his hair.

“I think your ego will be just fine.”

“Fine, one more game, but I swear to God I’m winning this time.” Carson scooted over on the couch so we were right next to each other; his hand brushed against my bare thigh and my heart skipped a beat. He smiled and ran his hand up the inside of my thigh under the edge of my shorts, and I inhaled sharply.

“Ready, let’s play.” Carson pushed the start button while my mind was still reeling from his touch.

“What? Come on, that’s not fair.”

“Life’s not fair, baby,” He laughed.

“Fucking cheater,” I mumbled as I navigated Peach out from behind Mario and Donkey Kong. Carson was Luigi, and was winning because he had cheated. I was gaining on him, but not fast enough.

“Come on, you stupid bitch, go faster!” I yelled.

“Easy there.” Carson laughed. “It’s just a game.”

“Bite me.”

Luigi crossed the finish line half a second before Peach, and Carson erupted into cheers. You would’ve thought he won a gold medal at the fucking Olympics. He danced around, rubbing it in my face.

“You beat her?” Quinn asked from behind us.

“Only because he cheated,” I sneered.

“Hey, a win’s a win.” Carson shrugged.

“I beat you like fifty times.”

“Yeah, but I beat you the last time, so that makes me the winner,” Carson taunted. I rolled my eyes and glared at him. His eyes met mine and neither of us moved. There was no playfulness in them now—all fire and desire. We stood there staring at each other for too long. Long enough that I was sure Quinn was going to notice the air between us had changed. It was no longer light and playful but thick and full of sexual tension.

“Carson, are you staying for dinner?” Quinn asked, opening the fridge.

“What?” Carson snapped out of his stare and looked over at Quinn.

“Dinner?” Quinn repeated.

“No, I’ve got to get going,” Carson replied. Thank God. I felt like I deserved a gold medal for keeping my composure for the last three hours. “I should probably go do some of the work I skipped out on this afternoon.”

Carson grabbed his jacket and headed toward the door. Quinn didn’t seem to question his abrupt exit, but I knew the reason behind Carson’s sudden need to leave. He was struggling just as much as I was.

“See you guys later,” Carson said, letting the door slam behind him.

“That was fun,” Quinn said. “I’m glad you got the afternoon off, too.”

“It was fun,” I said. I walked over and wrapped my arms around Quinn’s body as he stood and stared into the fridge. I didn’t realize I had missed hanging out with Quinn and Carson as just friends, but our afternoon of childish games had reminded me why I used to like hanging out with them in the first place. It was impossible not to think about how it would all end if Quinn knew.

“What did Rick want?” I asked Quinn, suddenly remembering his phone call.

“Oh, we’re leaving a little earlier than planned tomorrow. The weather in Corvallis is supposed to be shitty, so we want to get there early and get all the equipment unloaded and set up before it starts to rain.”

“Oh. That’s going to be a long day.”

“Tell me about it. You and Dani are coming to Eugene, right?”

“Oh damn it! I totally forgot! That’s probably why she tried to call me yesterday. What time is the game?”

“Not ‘til 8:30.”

“Fuck … I better call Dani,” I said. “There is nothing in this fridge. Do you want to order us some Chinese?”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Quinn said, finally shutting the fridge door.

I picked up my phone and walked down the hall to the bedroom. Dani answered on the first ring.

“I thought you were ignoring me in hopes I would forgot about taking you to the game,” she said.

“Normally I would say that’s the truth, but I actually really just forgot about it. It has been crazy busy at work.”

“Aah, I’m so glad you’re coming with me!”

“Quinn said it’s supposed to rain.”

“This is Oregon … it rains every day.”

“Dani! I already don’t like football; I’m going to hate it even more in the rain.”

“It’s only going to rain in the morning. We’ll be fine, I promise. You can’t bail on me now; I’d never find anyone else to go. And we had a deal!”

“Fine, what time are we leaving?”

“I’ll pick you up at 4:30, then we can get dinner in Eugene before the game.”

“You’re going to owe me more than dinner.”

“Love you!” Dani said and hung up before I could say anything else.

I groaned and collapsed on the bed. Quinn laughed from the doorway.

“I take it you’re still going to the game?”

“Yes, why do you and Dani insist on trying to make me like football?”

“We just like torturing you,” he said. I threw a pillow at him. “It should be a pretty good game; Utah is supposed to be good this year.”

“Maybe I’ll wear red.”

“You wouldn’t,” Quinn gasped dramatically.

“Anything is better than Oregon green.”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.”

“I think I will wear red.” I stood up and started to dig around in my closet. I pulled out two red hoodies and watched Quinn’s look of horror, before I pulled out the white Oregon hoodie he’d given me our first Christmas together. It had a big green “O” on it, but it was wearable.

“You about gave me a heart attack. I seriously thought you were going to wear red for a minute.”

“I guess you’ll just have to see what I’m wearing tomorrow,” I laughed.

“If you show up in red, I may never speak to you again,” Quinn said, his face serious but his eyes full of laughter.

“Of course you would … you love me,” I laughed. I let out a yelp as Quinn tackled me on the bed and tickled me.

“Stop, stop,” I squealed through my laughter. “I won’t wear red, I promise!” Quinn stopped tickling me, but didn’t move from on top of me. He held my hands above my head and looked at me intently.

“I do love you, Chloe,” he said before he leaned down and kissed me deeply. His lips were on my neck when the doorbell rang, letting us know the delivery boy was downstairs with our food. Quinn groaned as he rolled off me and went to get our food.

We enjoyed egg rolls, beef and broccoli, and sweet and sour chicken while we watched The Big Bang Theory.

“This was seriously just the day I needed,” Quinn said after we had cleaned up dinner. “I’m glad you came home early.” He leaned in and kissed me.

“Me too.” I yawned. I hadn’t gotten my nap, though, and was still exhausted. “Wanna watch a movie in bed?”

“That sounds amazing.” Even though it was only 8:30, we both got ready for bed. Quinn turned on Gone Girl and turned off the lights. We both fell asleep before Amazing Amy disappeared.

---

It was gray and gloomy outside when I woke up. I seriously doubted it would clear up before the game and made a mental note to take a rain jacket with me. I sent Quinn a text telling him to have a good day, since he’d left hours before I’d woken, and another to Dani just to make sure she hadn’t changed her mind about me going to the game. She hadn’t.

I was just about to get in the shower when I got a text from Carson.

The message sent a shiver down my spine. He knew exactly what to say to turn me on.

Quinn had never been much for sexting, so I decided to have a little fun with Carson while I got dressed.

I threw on a pair of jeans and a Nike jacket with nothing underneath, slipped my feet into a pair of Toms, and headed out the door. I replied to Carson on my way down the elevator.

I got in my car and headed north toward Carson’s. My phone vibrated every few seconds with a new text. I read them at a stoplight.

The texts didn’t stop the entire twenty-five minute drive to Alberta.

By the time I parked outside Carson’s apartment building, it felt like fire was coursing through my veins instead of blood, and the need growing between my legs was so intense it almost hurt. I took the stairs, two at a time; I couldn’t wait for the elevator.

Carson opened the door, wearing only his boxers. His hair was a mess, like he had just gotten out of bed.

“It’s about damn time,” he said. “I thought maybe you changed your mind.”

“Traffic was a bitch.” I stepped inside. Carson’s lips were on mine before the door clicked shut. He pushed me back against the closed door, his mouth devouring mine. I ran a hand through his hair and pulled him even closer. Carson dragged the zipper of my jacket down and smiled when he realized I wasn’t wearing anything under it.

“I think you missed some pieces when you were getting dressed,” he said, his words a hot whisper in my ear.

“What’s the point of putting on clothes if you were going to take them off anyway?”

“Touché,” he said. He undid the button of my jeans and pulled the zipper down. I wasn’t wearing any panties either. He removed my jeans, leaving me completely naked, no more than two feet inside his apartment “I swear to God, woman, you are going to be the death of me.” Carson stood back and admired the view, his hand automatically running through his hair.

We didn’t make it to his bedroom. We fucked right there on the floor just inside his doorway, and then again on his kitchen table.