The voiceover boomed back on. “There’s the drop! Go!”
The four of us locked eyes, and then we all took off toward the caged area at the end, but Quinn easily left us in the dust. She passed over the finish line and slapped the button on the piles of metal cases waiting inside.
One side of the cage creaked to life, swinging out to the side, and the same agent who’d gotten Quinn and me geared up came driving through in a golf cart covered in mud and mesh. He pulled it to a stop in front of us and climbed out. He put a hand on Quinn’s shoulder. “Looks like you were the right agent for the job.” He pointed at the rest of us. “You other maggots are going to need a lot more training. If this weren’t a simulation, you’d all be dead! Now get in the cart!”
I climbed into the passenger’s side of the cart next to the driver, and Quinn and the woman from the other team climbed into the row behind us. The guy from the other team situated himself against the rear seat, and once we were all settled, the agent started off back toward the top of the course.
The woman next to Quinn took off her helmet, and we all followed suit. She smiled broadly at Quinn. “You guys are amazing.”
Quinn laughed. “You weren’t bad, yourselves.”
“I’m Amelia, and this is my husband, Ben. We’ve got this course memorized, and you still made us look like chumps.”
“I’m Zeke,” I announced before putting one of my gloved hands on Quinn’s head, “and this monster is Quinn.”
Quinn smiled proudly. “Nice to meet you.”
“What are you guys doing after this? We have to get lunch or something. I need to get to know the guy who throws himself into the line of fire to protect his girl.” She leered over at Ben. “You’ve never done that for me.”
“And I won’t, but don’t think I don’t love you,” Ben replied, and we all laughed.
Quinn looked over at me, and I could see the excitement in her face. I nodded, and she looked back at Amelia. “Yeah! We’d love to get lunch.”
“Excellent! There’s a really good place not far from here.”
The golf cart dropped us at the top of the course, where our cage and warehouse doors were already open and waiting. We went in, got changed out of our armor, and collected our things. I unlocked my phone to call and cancel the lunch reservation I’d made for Quinn and me and noticed I had a text from an unknown number. I opened it, and it was Wright.
Got an opportunity to go
pro for you. They’re at the
bottom, but it could be a good
start.
I looked over at Quinn, who was chatting away with Amelia. For such a long time, I’d dreamed of getting out of Montpelier, even totally out of Idaho, but suddenly, she was like a heavy anchor. I wasn’t sure I wanted to leave anymore.
I’m not interested.
But I know you can do
better than such a low
team.
I started to put my phone away when it buzzed again.
What about Colorado?
Colorado was a good team. They were relatively new to the NFL, but they had still made quite a splash in the time that they’d been established. Being such a blank slate but also already having so much notoriety made it a good team to start with. Quinn smiled at me, and for a moment, I imagined asking her to come with me. It was silly to think that we were already there, but there was something strong between us, even if it was fresh and new. I knew it was the real deal. That’s why things had been emotional and tense for us from the beginning. Whatever decision I decided to make, it wouldn’t be the worst thing to at least hear Colorado out.
Set up a meeting with
Colorado and see what
they have to say.
Make sure no one knows
I’m involved.
Once the texts were sent, I deleted them. Quinn didn’t seem like the kind of girl to go through my phone, but I didn’t want her stumbling across them, regardless. I slipped my phone back into my pocket just as Quinn called me over, and the pair of us along with Amelia and Ben left the paintball arena and headed to an outdoor cafe about ten minutes away. We found a table, ordered lunch, and immediately settled into some delightful conversation with our new friends.
We learned that Amelia and Ben were sports-heads, too—though soccer, not football—and they related to our love for athletics. I wasn’t sure quite what it was, but Quinn and I were on fire, making jokes about each other, mentioning different things we’d known about one another, and even finishing each other’s sentences. For the fact that Amelia and Ben were married, we were about neck and neck with them in terms of looking like a seasoned couple.
“You guys are so freaking cute,” Amelia said finally. “How long have you been together, and when is the wedding? I know it’s weird for me to invite myself because we literally just met, but I’m inviting myself.”
I looked at Quinn, and she gave me a coquettish smile and nodded. I looked back at Amelia. “This is actually our first date.”
Ben was taking a sip of his water at the time and choked on it. “What?”
Quinn nodded. “True story. I mean, we’ve known each other for about three weeks, and we do have a drunken night under our belts, but yeah, first date.”
Amelia’s jaw was wide open. “I’m shocked. Seriously. I would have given you guys, like, three years, minimum.” She chuckled. “Well then, when’s the wedding, because this”—she flicked her finger between us—“is fate. You two are meant to be together. For real.”
I side-eyed Quinn for any sign of nerves at the statement, but she just smiled back at me, blushing lightly. It set my heart on fire. I let my mind briefly travel down the road of being together with her forever and was terrified that it didn’t terrify me. No one had ever lit my emotions up the way Quinn did. That kind of thing didn’t just happen to people.
We finished lunch and exchanged numbers with Amelia and Ben, made plans to double-date again soon, and went our separate ways. When Quinn and I were both seated in my car, I started the ignition but didn’t move the car. Paintball and lunch were all I planned for the day, but the thought of bringing her home made me the saddest I ever felt. I didn’t want to be away from her yet.
As if reading my mind, Quinn said, “I don’t want to go home.”
I looked over at her with a grin. “What if I went with you?”
She frowned, and I was temporarily frightened that I’d overstepped. “Alec’s home,” she responded, and relief shot through me. She looked back at me, and a sly smile found her face. “Your place?”
I didn’t respond. I simply started my home navigation, and Quinn sat back with a satisfied, if not slightly seductive, smile.
21
Quinn
I adored my brother, but I’d long forgotten what it was like to live in a place where he wasn’t always there. I was barely inside Zeke’s door, and he had me dragged off to the side and pressed up against the wall. His hands slunk into my hair to pull my face to his, and he knocked his knee forward to press teasingly against me below. I moaned into him, allowing the wild winds he whipped up inside of me take over. I grabbed the base of his t-shirt, peeled it up over his torso, and tossed it aside, and then my hands fled back to the hem of his jeans to fiddle with the button. He reached down and took my wrists into one of his wide hands, pinning them above my head.