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“But you’re not ready. Hey—” I take her cheek in my palm and tip her head so I can meet her eyes, and my gut knots at the shadows of hurt and fear in them. “We’ve got all the time in the world. This is just the beginning—you know that, right?”
She’s still for a beat and then she nods, giving me a hint of the smile I’m wondering how I ever lived without. “Yeah, I believe you.”
Chapter 20
George
“Yo, George, you meeting that banker tonight?”
I look from the bike I’m finishing up to Gary, who’s throwing the lock on the front door. “No, I’m supposed to babysit. Why?” I ask, always on my guard when one of the boys mentions “that banker.”
I suppose it’s better than if I had sisters—from what I’ve seen with my friends they’d be demanding access to his Insta feed and details about every aspect of his life. No way would I have made it more than a month with my “banker” ruse. But these guys? They’ve mentioned him a sum total of three times. And his name?
He’ll always be “that banker” to them.
Or at least he will until I come clean. Which I will. Eventually.
“Okay, but like, you’re busy, right? So if Diego was only able to score three VIP tickets tonight, I can have the one for you?”
My brother-in-law Diego always gets killer tickets, and we’re constantly teasing Pete about it being the reason he married him. But whatever he’s managed to get his hands on tonight doesn’t matter since I promised my cousin I’d babysit last week.
Still, it’s tempting to work Gary a little, tell himhe’sgoing to have to babysit and I’m going out—but I can’t do it.
I blame Quinn. With the way he’s been keeping me in swoons and sappy smiles, I’ve been seriously slacking on giving my brothers the hard time they deserve.
“Knock yourself out.”
He dabs like the total dweeb he is and barrels around the back, already barking into his phone. “I’m in… yeah, I asked her… fuck you, douchsicle, I did… yeah, swing around back. I’m ready.”
Laughing, I pull the Cutthroat Force 1 off the rack. I give it a roll and a bounce, and update the ticket. A minute later, I hear the back door again. Because of course, my brothers are physically incapable of just leaving like normal people. It usually takes a solid three tries before they go for real.
“What, won’t they take you without a signed note relinquishing rights or something?” I ask, looking up expecting to meet a pair of pissy, belligerent eyes only to find—
“Oh shit!” I yelp, tripping into the counter as all the air leaves my lungs and my stomach drops into the vicinity of the basement.
Quinn lunges forward, apology etched in the lines of his too-handsome face. “Sorry! It’s just me.” He’s quick on his feet, crossing the work area in a blink and catching me around the side with a big hand. “Babe, you okay?”
Maybe I nod, but I can’t be sure. All I know is I can barely breathe and I’m pretty sure I’m going to be sick. “You’re not supposed to be here,” I wheeze, searching the space behind him.
Did they pass each other in the alley?
He looks around and then smiles down at me. “Don’t worry, there wasn’t anyone out back. And I made sure you were closed before I came. Jesus, I scared you bad, though.”
He has no idea.
“You sure there wasn’t anyone out there?”
He nods and brushes my cheek with his thumb. “Positive.”
My lungs start working again and I lean into him, pressing my head against his chest for a minute while I get it together.
“I know you’ve got that thing with your cousin tonight, but we wrapped up at the hospital early and with the away game tomorrow I thought I’d be able to sneak in a few minutes with you. Feel like shit for scaring you though.”
We’ve both got busy schedules, and the fact that he found a way to get some more time with me anyway… it’s silly, but means a lot.
All I want to do is bury myself in his arms and let him kiss me senseless… as soon as we get the heck out of here.
“How about you grab your car and I’ll clean up and grab my stuff upstairs,” I suggest, checking the counters as I roll the bike to the rack against the back wall. “Then we can head over to your place. I’ve got about ninety minutes before I need to catch the L.”
