Page 103 of Forever Offsides

“I guess, though that stage sounds boring.”

He smiles, complete with dimples, but I can see how uneasy he is.

“There is also something fun about keeping you my dirty little secret.”

He arches an eyebrow. “Is that what I am?”

“I think it’s what I am to you too.”

He frowns. “That’s not how I want us to be.”

“I know. But it’s how it has to be for now. I want you all to have a great season, and I don’t want to be the thing that disrupts it.”

“All right,” he says with some reluctance. “We’ll keep it a secret until the end of the season.”

After that, it’s easy and relaxed. Some of the tension slips from his shoulders now that we have a plan. We laugh and cuddle and talk and sleep. Sweet merciful Jesus, we sleep. It’s everything I don’t think I’ve ever had. Not even with Russel.

He and I would have nights in and eat in front of the TV, but it wasn’t ever this easy. This effortless. This content.

It was always me ordering the food because I knew what he liked to eat, but he never paid attention enough to know what I’d want. We’d watch some sports network or show he liked, and he never asked if I wanted to watch anything different. It was goodnight, not kisses that spoke the words for him.

Keeping this a secret won’t be easy. But something tells me Rhett will be worth it. If we can stop people from finding out.

32

RHETT

Aflash outside the window jars me from sleep. It’s quickly followed by a loud clap of thunder that starts my heart even though I expected it. I’ve never lived in New England, but thunderstorms in the fall seem strange to me. Quinn is sound asleep beside me but stirs ever so slightly when hard rain begins pelting the windows. I guess we’re not running this morning as discussed last night.

I’ve spent all week with her like this. Either at her place or mine. Today I get to see her at work, and it’s both a blessing and a curse.

I stare down at her, watching her closed eyes flutter as if she’s dreaming, and I have the softest feeling in my chest. Like this is where I was always meant to be. Holding her in the middle of a storm. That’s what it feels like we’re in. So many things are coming at us, and yet all I want is her.

It’s so simple and so complex.

We all do things we shouldn’t. It’s not even a matter of getting caught or right versus wrong. It’s the calculated risks we take in life. Or maybe I’m rationalizing something that shouldn’t be rationalized.

I kiss her temple and tuck her in tighter against me. The sound on her windows changes from a tap to a peck. Ice. Fuck. We’ll be practicing inside today.

Lightning flashes again, but this time the thunder lingers by an additional second. I used to love storms, and Florida had some wild ones. I remember being a kid and counting the seconds between the lightning and the thunder by Mississippis. I bet if I questioned her about that, she’d have no clue what I was talking about. But yet, I don’t feel old when I’m with her. I feel young.

Alive.

Like I’m ready to start all the chapters I skipped over.

Suddenly, I’m Peter Pan. A Lost Boy so in love with the girl he’d do anything to stop time.

“Quinn?” I whisper in her ear.

She groans and rolls over onto my chest, her breasts squashed against me. I run my finger along the side of one, and it’s easily the sexiest thing ever. Like her. God, she’s so sexy.

“Go on a date with me tonight.”

“What time is it?”

“Frozen and early. Back to my date…”

“Date? How?”