Cheering ensued, Quinn making a perfect pass that had another player, I think it was Paul, gunning for the end zone.
“This shit gets intense,” Pippa mumbled around some popcorn.
“Oh, yeah. One time, I saw a bunch of fans from opposing teams get in a fight. It was a freaking high school game.”
Pippa laughed, her eyes stuck on Toby, who’d been benched for the first quarter and didn’t look very happy about it. “He’s pissed,” she said, her posture getting stiff.
“He looks it. Why’d he get benched?”
“No idea. Must’ve done something Coach didn’t approve of.”
When the second quarter rolled around, he was up and on the field before the coach could even send him on.
“Ax ’em, Tomahawks!” a guy hollered from behind, making us wince. His friends all joined in, getting louder as we neared halftime.
A person standing a few rows down facing me snagged my attention, her arms waving above her head. The man sitting beside her was trying to tug her back into her seat.
Quinn Sr. and Amy, Quinn’s parents. Nerves erupted, filtering through every cell in my body. She didn’t look mad, though. She looked happy. So hesitantly, I waved back before Quinn’s dad managed to get her back in her seat.
“Who was that?” Pippa asked.
“Quinn’s parents.”
She nudged me in the ribs. “Don’t be nervous. She was waving at you like a lunatic.”
I couldn’t help it. It’d been so long, and I didn’t know how they’d feel about me now. After these past few months.
“Oh, shit.” Pippa stood.
“What?” I asked, glancing around. Then I saw it, in the corner of the field, two players from either team, pushing and shoving each other. A fist flew, and I gasped. “Toby?”
“Yeah.” Pippa’s hands were covering her mouth, her body tense as if she was about to run down there but wasn’t sure if she could even move.
They were on the ground, rolling around, fists flying, before some of the other players broke it up. We watched, the crowd silent as the ref chewed their asses out, and the coaches got involved. Our coach stabbed his finger toward the sidelines, and Toby tore off his helmet, his arms spread out wide.
Murmurs and jeers filled the stands, but all we could do was watch silently.
Toby finally made a beeline off the field. His helmet was tossed to the ground, and he kicked a basket of water bottles over. He didn’t stop there, though. No, I could almost see the sweat bouncing off his hair as he roughly shoved his hand through it, then swore up a storm in the coach’s and referee’s direction. You couldn’t hear what he was saying, but you definitely could feel the anger and vulgarity of it.
“Oh, God.” Pippa sat down as Toby disappeared under the stands. The water boys scrambled to collect all the drink bottles Toby had scattered over the side of the field.
The Tomahawks all seemed to be unmoving, even when the whistle blew and the ref called halftime.
“I need to find him,” Pippa said, collecting her stuff.
“Wait.” What Quinn said to me earlier that week about Toby had me concerned. “Don’t you think you should let him cool off?”
She was already shuffling out of our row. “It’ll be fine. I’ll call you later.”
I wanted to believe her. I mean, she knew him much better than I did.
I finished watching the game with my stomach in knots, worried for Pippa, for Toby, and also about what the hell I would say to Quinn’s parents.
Turned out, I didn’t need to worry about that last part very much. I made it out of the stands and into the parking lot before Amy found me, immediately engulfing me in a hug that almost choked the life from me.
“Oh, my goodness,” she whined into my ear. “You’ve grown so much. You’re a real woman now.” Pulling back, she grabbed my shoulders, her eyes teary as they swept me up and down. Her hands moved up to frame my face, her lips wobbling. “You’ve always been effortlessly pretty, but now, you’re beautiful. Effortlessly beautiful.”
Quinn Sr. cut in. “Let her go, Ames.”
Reluctantly, she did, and my nerves resurfaced as familiar hazel eyes stared back at me. Then he smiled, and I knew I was okay. “Come here. Shit, look how tall you are.” I was gathered to his chest for a hug, Amy joining us.
“Don’t tell me you’ve had the reunion without me,” Quinn’s voice sounded from behind. We separated to find him standing there. He dumped his bag to the ground, his hair soaked and his shirt wet as if he’d taken the quickest shower known to mankind.
“Great game, kiddo.” His dad ruffled his hair, then pulled him to his side. It was crazy how much they resembled each other. Their large, broad frames, hair, eyes and the hard, square cut of their jaws. They even had the same smirk. But now, Quinn was almost an inch taller.
“Yeah.” Quinn sighed, looking around the lot.
They’d won, but I could tell he was thinking about what went down with Toby. “Have you seen him?” he asked me.
“No. Pippa went to find him as soon as he left the field, though.”
Brows furrowing, he nodded, and his mom clapped her hands. “Let’s go. It’s getting late. Have you got your bag packed, Daisy?”
Stumped, I blinked a few times. “Sorry, what?”
Quinn’s dad glanced away, laughing quietly.
I looked at Quinn, who was busy studying the ground. “Quinn.”
“Huh?” The look he gave me was so rueful, I wanted to smack him and kiss him stupid at the same time.
“Did you tell them I was going home with you?” I tried to keep the panic out of my voice. Tried.
“Maybe. I might’ve mentioned it, can’t really remember.”
“You can’t remember?” My brow rose.
His mom chortled behind us. “Not much changes, does it? Would it help if I told you I’ve already started preparing a feast for tomorrow?”
My lips twitched, and I pushed my glasses farther up the bridge of my nose, not removing my eyes from Quinn, who was openly grinning at me now. “Maybe.”
“Then it’s settled. I’ve already got everything ready, just in case we’re asleep when you arrive.”
Giving us a brief hug, they walked off to their car, Quinn Sr. telling Quinn, “Drive safe.”
“Oh, you’re so sneaky,” I hissed, whacking him in the chest once they were driving away. He grabbed my hand, pulling me to his body. He smelled like his shower gel, and I wanted to stick my nose into his neck and inhale. I tilted my head back, glaring up at his face. “What did you tell them?”
He licked his lips, eyes hooding as his arm tightened around me. “Just that you were thinking about it. Which you know translates to a yes when it comes to you and me.”
Scoffing, I pushed out of his arms. “That confident, are you?”
“Just waiting you out, but yeah, as I said, inescapable.”
“Happy Thanksgiving, beautiful,” Callum said, his arm looping around my neck and pulling me into his front. Quinn actually growled, which made me laugh. Callum smacked a kiss to my cheek before freeing me. “Chill, Burnell. She owes me a kiss because I won her a frog. Should I just take what’s mine now? Or would you prefer I wait until you’ve finally won her back?”
Quinn’s jaw was granite as he gritted out, “You put your lips anywhere near her again, I’ll rip them clean off.”
Callum gave me a wink. “Later then.”
Quinn moved, and Callum jogged off, laughing as he waved at me over his head.
“Fucker,” Quinn grumbled. “What the hell did he win you?”
“A stuffed frog.”
“The one you left in my truck that night?”
Ignoring the heat behind his husky words, I said, “I’ve been wondering where it went.”
Back at my dorm, Quinn waited for me downstairs while I packed an overnight bag.
Pippa wasn’t in, so I quickly pulled my phone out and sent her a text to let her know I’d be back on Monday.
Excitement and trepidation funneled through me as I walked slowly down the steps, unable to believe I was actually doing this. Not only was I spending two whole days with Quinn, but I was also going back home.
Quinn was on his phone when I opened the truck door. “Can’t get a hold of him.”
I climbed in and shut the door, putting my bag on the floor. “Toby?”
“Yeah.” He sighed. Putting his phone away, he turned the ignition over. “I hope he’s okay. Coach is pissed as hell.”
“Pippa’s probably with him.”
He hummed, the lights from the dash illuminating the worry on his face.
Grabbing his hand, I played with his fingers as we started the two-hour drive back to Clarelle.
Stretching my legs, I felt my foot nudge something in the foot well.
My frog. I picked it up, setting it between us with a sly smirk. Quinn looked down at it, looked back at the road, then looked at it again. His jaw was clenching, fingers drumming over the steering wheel.
Then, as we got onto the highway, he said, “I hope you’re not too attached to this.”
“What?”
His window wound down, and he grabbed the frog, tossing it out of the truck. “Now you don’t owe him a damn thing.”
“Quinn!” I spun around, watching it bounce toward a car driving behind us. “I liked it. It was cute.”
“I’ll get you a bigger one.”
His parents were indeed asleep when we arrived, and my heart grew ten sizes too big as I gazed at everything in his ranch-style home. It was exactly the same with only a few minor changes. “New fridge,” I commented.
Quinn tossed his keys onto the whitewashed entry table, kicking off his shoes. “The other one died right after Mom had made a huge grocery run for Christmas last year. She almost cried, I swear.”
“Oh, yikes.”
“Come on, it’s pretty late.” He took my hand, leading me upstairs to his room, which had hardly changed at all, save for all the pictures I’d drawn him that used to hang on the wall beside his bed. They were now gone. It stung, and tears welled.
Quinn put our bags down on the floor. Moving behind me, he wrapped his arms around my waist. “They’re still here. Mom saw me tearing them down and took them all. I know she kept them.”
Sucking in a shuddering breath, I nodded. “Where should I sleep?”
“Right there.” He pointed at the king-size bed. “With me.”
His parents had always been a lot more relaxed about letting us do things like that than mine were. Well, my mom wasn’t so bad. My dad was. “I’m hungry. Want something?”
I shook my head, and he squeezed me, lifting my feet off the floor and making me smile before letting go and heading downstairs.
Getting ready for bed, I felt unusually tired all of a sudden. I had a feeling it was the nostalgic and surrealistic haze that had swept over me as soon as we’d driven into town.
I just couldn’t believe it. That I was back here, and with Quinn.
After brushing my teeth, I climbed into bed and waited for him. He returned eating a sandwich and an apple at the same time and used his foot to nudge the door closed. “Your mama will probably still slap you stupid if you get crumbs all over your bed.”
He grinned, then shoved what was left of the sandwich into his mouth, stuffing it in with a large finger and struggling to chew. “Less chance of crumbs now,” he mumbled around it.
I laughed, covering my mouth with my hand to keep from waking his parents down the hall. “You’re real special, Quinn Burnell, know that?”
He leaped over me, his apple falling to the bed as he peppered peanut butter-scented kisses over my cheek. “Ew, no, no.”
He grabbed my cheeks, pinching them together with one hand, then put his lips on mine. It started out playful, but then I got over the peanut butter residue and pulled him down on top of me. “Want you,” he whispered, his hips rolling into me.
“Not here,” I said, though I was starting to feel desperate enough not to give a damn.
Groaning, he grabbed the apple, got up and went to get ready for bed.
Coming back into the room, he dropped his pants, giving me a shameless smile over his shoulder, and slowly tugged out a pair of sweats from his bag. His shirt came off next, but he didn’t put a new one on. And even in the dimly lit room, I was mesmerized by his thick arms and smooth, muscled back, and when he turned to face me, those damn lickable abs.
“Not going to wear a shirt?” I asked a little too huskily as he climbed into bed. My thighs clenched together. I really needed him to wear a freaking shirt.
“Nope,” he said, mischief evident in his grin and tone.
“Fine,” I huffed, rolling over to face the wall so I wouldn’t throw myself at him or start salivating.
He pulled me back to him, turning me. “I’ll be good. But look at me. I need to see you.”
I made a face. “Better?”
“Much.” He laughed, then reached out to take my glasses off, placing them behind him on the nightstand. “I need to ask you something.”
“Okay.” He hesitated, his bottom lip rolling between his teeth. I grabbed it, plucking it free. “Ask,” I whispered.
“Was I the only one you’d kissed before Callum?”
“Yes,” I answered quickly.
His eyes closed. He seemed to be struggling with that, which was made even clearer when he said, “I’m such an idiot.”
“Quinn.”
“No, Dais.” He touched my lips, tracing them. “These. They’ve always belonged to me. Your every first was mine to keep, and I threw it away when it all collapsed around us.” He inhaled a shaky breath, his shoulders rising, then let it out. “Now someone else has touched them, and that kills me.”
Blinking away tears, I whispered, “But you went further than that. Much further.”
He sucked his bottom lip into his mouth again, his eyes glazing over. “I know,” he rasped. “I’m sorry.”
I knew he was, but it’d still happened. “Were you her first? And was … was it only her?” My stomach curled into a thousand angry knots as his eyes shut. I looked away toward the window.
“No, I wasn’t her first.” Fingers on my chin turned my gaze back to his wet hazel eyes. “And there were a few before Alexis. I won’t lie to you.” I nodded, my throat swelling and my heart contracting. “But you’re the only one who’s ever made it feel like more. Like I couldn’t ever get enough if I tried. We’ve got the rest of our lives for me to show you that.” Vulnerability swam over every perfect inch of his face, his lashes fluttering as his eyes roamed over my own. “If you’ll have me?”
With the way he said those words and the whispered plea buried beneath them, it was all I could do not to bawl like a baby. Maybe it’d always hurt when I remembered what he’d done, and the regret I still held. But I knew, deep down, the hurt would be so much worse, quite possibly endless, if I couldn’t forgive him. “I’ll have you,” I whispered thickly.
He let out a gust of breath that blew warm over my face, his head dropping to my neck where he inhaled deeply and nuzzled his nose into my skin. His body shifted, lying flush over mine, and I welcomed the weight, the strength of it, by wrapping my arms around him. One over his waist and the other around his shoulders, my fingers running through his hair, holding his head against the crook of my neck.