Kassie
Kassie sat in her living room with Quinn, eating Italian subs and potato chips. The hometown team football game was on the television. Quinn was decked out in her favorite team’s colors, but Kassie was just going through the motions, never a big football fan.
“You ever hear from your man-child friends from Mario’s again?” Kassie asked during a commercial break. She knew Quinn, and she was a love ’em and leave ’em kind of girl. More than likely those boys would never lay eyes on her again.
“JJ and Travis? Sure.” Quinn stopped eating and looked at her with questioning eyes. Her head tilted to the side. “Why?”
“Oh. No reason. Which one?” Kassie knew her friend, and she hadn’t expected her to hook up with either of them more than once, so the fact that she had seen one of them again was kind of surprising.
Quinn started to eat again. She shrugged her shoulders. “What do you mean, which one? Both.”
“Wait, what? You’re seeing both of them again?” Why did she even ask? This was Quinn, and this was not a wormhole she was interested in going down.
“Well, yeah. I’ve actually seen them many times over the last week. They’re fun.”
Kassie wasn’t sure asking any more questions was the right way to go. She might get more information than she bargained for. No, she would definitely get more than she bargained for.
Quinn took a bite of her sandwich and folded her legs under her on the floor. She smirked. “You’re curious.”
Kassie shook her head frantically. She sat down beside Quinn on the floor and directed her attention to the television. “Nope. Not one bit. So, who is this guy here, the quarterback?” She pointed at the football game.
“You’re dying to know,” Quinn teased.
“Is that the quarterback? Or the wide receiver?” Kassie ignored Quinn’s remarks.
“Those boys are eager to please, that’s for damn sure. Yep, over and over.”
Kassie groaned. “Way too much information.”
“Oh please, you know you’re curious.”
“Not even a little.” Well, maybe a little.
Quinn took a big bite of her sandwich. A grin filled her face as she chewed. Once she was able to talk again, she giggled before speaking. “Kass, you know I like them young, and those two fit the bill. Holy crap, do they.”
“Spare me the details, seriously. But, you’re seeing both of them?”
“Oh, yes. A lot of both of them. You should really try it. Get your hunky man-friend and one of his buddies. I think you’d like it. I know I do. It keeps us young.”
“Quinn, we are young.” Kassie jumped up from the floor to the couch. Her soul was rattled at Quinn’s words. “Look, I have a real problem I need to talk to you about. So, can we get this peep show rundown of you and the boys out of the way? Or maybe just drop it all together?”
Quinn laughed. “Kass, those two. Yum. And they’re up here just waiting to be called to play with the big boys. It’s good to keep their cardio up. Among other things.”
“Okay, that’s enough.” Kassie put her hand up in front of her. Quinn might like that kind of thing, but those were the playboys she had been avoiding all these years.
“All right, I’ll stop. But if you want all the details, just ask. So, what’s going on with you and your hunky man friend?”
“Ironically, that’s what I need to talk about.”
Quinn made a catcall noise and gave a goofy grin before eating more hoagie. “You been seeing him without telling me? You go, girl!”
“No! Well, sort of, but not like you and the wonder boys.” Kassie rolled her eyes. “I ran into him at my brother’s place after that night at Mario’s. It was weird. He kept cornering me—”
“And you liked it.” Quinn smirked.
“Shut up.” I did. She refused to admit that to anyone, even Quinn. The way he had cornered her, towering over her and looking at her with that full-of-himself, devilish smirk. It made her knees weak and her insides turn to jelly. “I had baby food in my hair and looked a mess. It was terrible. Kaden did catch him trying to flirt with me a few times and asked if Luc was bothering me. My brother didn’t like what he saw at all. And that’s exactly why I can’t start anything with Luc.”
“But?”
“Well… he texted me one night after their game in New York.”
“Wait! You gave him your number?” Quinn’s mouth gaped open. “You didn’t tell me that.”
“Yeah.” Kassie sighed. “I didn’t think much of it. I mean, he’s an athlete, and I don’t date athletes. So, what harm could it do?”
“Alright girl, what in the world is your hang-up with athletes? I mean, hello, they are muscular, they have stamina, and did I mention the muscles?” Quinn drifted off into thought.
“My brother always warned me that I wasn’t allowed to date any of his teammates, and when I was younger I had no desire to. They were stinky and gross, and just like all other boys that age, they were crude. As I got older, the attention they showed me was kind of nice. Kaden noticed and warned me again. He cited the ‘guy code’. That guys don’t mess with their friend’s sisters.”
“Is that all? Just ’cause Kaden said you couldn’t, you didn’t?”
“Hell no. You know me better than that. I don’t really like to be told what to do. Anyway, in high school, there was this lacrosse player. He wasn’t on Kaden’s hockey team, and he wasn’t one of Kaden’s friends. And I figured what Kaden didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. The kid was a cutie. Blonde hair, blue eyes, kind of hot.” She stopped for a moment to remember her first real crush. Simon? No. Was it Sean? Seth? Stan?
“I remember those kinds of boys. Pretty boys. Once you got them out of their khakis they were naughtier than pretty.” Quinn had a knack for turning any conversation into something dirty.
Kassie sighed and shook her head before she continued. “Anyway, I’d go to his games, and cheer for him from the stands. Then we’d go out after. But it was always with his teammates, and all they did was talk about the game. Then on the rare occasion that we’d get some time alone, he’d have an earbud in his ear, following some lacrosse game. It wasn’t glamorous, and it wasn’t fun. He was a star in his own mind, and had plenty of girls waiting for him to leave me.”
Kassie shook her head, remembering her breaking point. “I had enough the one day we were driving to school. My lipstick rolled under the front seat, and as I searched for it, I also pulled out a bra that wasn’t mine. Turns out his life revolved around not only lacrosse, like I thought. He also liked the groupies. He couldn’t even remember which girl that bra belonged to.”
“Oh…Ouch.”
“Yep. That’s what athletes do. It’s all about the game and the fangirls.”
Quinn waved a potato chip in the air, trying to accent the importance of what she was about to say. “But, what about people like your brother? He found his happily ever after.”
Kassie had no answer. It was a good point. It wasn’t only her brother who was happily married to his soul mate. Dom had found his, and so many others on the Renegades had as well. Her insides twisted at the fact that Quinn had just pointed out the one loophole in her otherwise airtight reasoning.
“But he texted you? Maybe he’s interested?”
Kassie shook her head. “No.” Forgetting everything she’d just admitted to Quinn, she went back to her steadfast motto. She didn’t date athletes. “He just wanted to talk. Then he asked me to lunch. I have no idea why I agreed, but I did.”
“And you’ve been holding out on me! I expected at least a phone call about any of this! A whole week went by, and you’re just telling me now? Jeez, I thought we were friends.” She gave Kassie a look.
Whatever Quinn intended with that look, Kassie took it, because she could tell Quinn all day long that she didn’t date athletes, but she knew the truth was written all over her face. She liked Luc.
“Oh please, Quinn. You were busy with the boys.”
Quinn took a second to think about that, then nodded. “Oh yeah, I totally was. Okay. Go on.”
“Against my better judgement, I went to lunch. Then we went bowling—”
“Bowling? First, you’re spending a lot of time with an athlete, when you don’t do athletes, and second, who goes bowling anymore?”
“Does that really matter? Quinn, I spent almost the whole day with him! And it was fun! And you’re focused on bowling?”
“So? What? You like this guy.”
“Yes.” As soon as she said the word, she wanted to take it back. She shook her head frantically. “No. Does it matter? I can’t like him. No. I told you that big bro was already getting protective when Luc was just flirting with me. If Kaden knew Luc was calling me and we were spending the day hanging out, he would lose his damn mind.”
“Does he have to know?” Quinn asked calmly, as she finished her sandwich.
“You mean, lie to Kaden?” It was not like that hadn’t crossed her mind, and when she’d dated that lacrosse player in high school, she kept it on the down low.
“Not lie. He just doesn’t need to know. Especially if you two are just enjoying each other’s company. Do you tell him about all of your friends? Now, if things get a little more comfortable, then you might want to tell him before he finds out from someone else. Or not. Depending on how you want to play it.”
“There’s nothing to play.” Yet.
“Then I guess you really don’t have a problem.” Quinn smiled. “Yet.”
Kassie lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Her body was tired, but her brain wouldn’t shut off. All she could think about was Luc. Every time she closed her eyes, there he was. His devilish smirk, muscular arms, sexy eyes, and his flirty ways. They were burned into her brain. She couldn’t understand it. She didn’t fall for athletes. But that didn’t stop her heart from racing every time she was around him, or even every time she thought about seeing him.
When she finally fell asleep, she tossed and turned, waking up a few times every hour. And each time she woke up, she had Luc on her mind.
This shouldn’t be happening.
Kaden would kill him if she let her guard down and fell for Luc.
Rolling onto her back, she again stared at the ceiling. It was too late to worry about Kaden, his rules, or her rules. She liked how Luc had taken charge at the club, and she enjoyed the way he flirted with her at Kaden’s house, even though Kaden was right there. Yeah, that was hot. And lunch, spending the day bowling, and then pizza and beer with him was enjoyable. He was just fun to spend time with.
Kassie was afraid she had already fallen for him. Admitting that to him was a different story. She liked him and maybe spending time with him wasn’t that bad of an idea. It didn’t have to mean a relationship, just a friendship. A friendship that she wished was more. But for now, she’d settle for being able to spend time with him.