Page 107 of Forever Offsides

“That’s amazing. I’d say it’s probably less stressful than working in the ER, but children can be a handful.”

He chuckles. “That’s for sure.” He notices our plates, and something crosses his features. It’s an intimate thing to share a meal with someone the way we are. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your dinner.”

Quinn is blushing. I wish she weren’t blushing. “No, it’s all good.” She waves him away. “Are you eating here? Are Layla or Katy joining you?”

He lifts two large plastic to-go bags in his right hand. “I’m picking up dinner for us and bringing it home.”

“Cool. Tell them I say hi.”

“Will do.” His tone has changed, and he’s giving me the male once-over, not even bothering to hide his suspicion. “It was nice meeting you, Coach.”

“You too, Doctor.”

Without another word, he leaves, and that’s it. We retake our seats, both of us quiet for a moment, our food going untouched.

“Well that wasn’t good.”

“We’re having dinner, Quinn. It’s not like he caught me fucking you in the bathroom.”

“I know. I know,” she repeats. “I’m still thinking coming here was a bad idea.”

Maybe. I thought I had it all mapped out.

“I didn’t think through all the people who live in this neighborhood or who frequent this place,” she continues. “I mean, I saw you here when I was with my girlfriends a few months ago.”

“Quinn, it’s fine. Nothing we can do about it. What’s he going to say? That he ran into you, and we were eating dinner together?”

“I don’t go out for dinner alone.”

My brow scrunches. “What?”

She twists to me. “I don’t go out for dinner alone. I never have. Not ever. I’d bring it home.”

“Okay,” I say slowly.

“He knows that. He knows me. And if he tells my dad, he’ll know that for sure. I’m also dressed up. I don’t get dressed up for no reason. I’m not that girl.”

“Quinn, what do you want me to do?”

She stares down at her plate, moving a fry through ketchup. “I don’t know. All of this is a mess.”

“I think you’re making a bigger deal out of this than necessary. We’re having dinner. That’s all.”

She pops the ketchup-soaked fry into her mouth and chews for a long moment, leaving me here in suspense. After what feels like forever, she relaxes a little. “You’re right. I’m being silly. It’s just dinner. But I’m thinking maybe we keep our dates a bit more down-low from now on.”

She picks up the burger half and takes a bite, but the night is tainted now. She’s going to be worried about Callan and whether or not he’ll say something and what he’ll say when he does.

We haven’t even been officially doing this for a week, and we’re already running into snags that challenge it.

The rest of dinner is edgy and tense and not what I wanted for tonight at all. It’s not what Quinn wanted either, but there isn’t much either of us can do about it.

It has me taking her hand as we leave the restaurant. She glances down at it, and I can feel her tension. Her unease.

“You know you’re worth it to me, right?”

Her chin lifts.

“If you told me right now that you wanted me to go to your dad and your brothers and Russel and tell them that I’m crazy about you, I would. It’s what a man would do and it’s bothering me that I’m keeping you a secret. Do I want to lose Russel? Absolutely not. I can’t think of much worse than that. But I don’t like lying to him either. I get that we need time. I’m not disputing that, and it was my idea from the start. I agree it’s likely too soon to come out with all of this. But if that’s what happens, then we’ll face it.”