Page 18 of Hard Hitter
There were three towels laid out in the sand, a large cooler filled with a variety of beer and a slightly smaller cooler of snacks. The guys had all arrived around 4:30 and Rae was supposed to be getting out of work and heading straight to their meeting place.
“Come on, just one throw,” Quinn pleaded. “Toss me the ball, I’ll catch left handed.”
“No way,” Chris shook his head. “The doc told us your restrictions. Besides, we don’t have the precise aim you do. What if we just throw it into your bad arm?”
“I don’t want that bill,” Jett said, then signaled for Chris to go long for his next pass.
The sound of tires on gravel caught Quinn’s attention and he whipped his head around toward the small parking lot beyond the sand. A silver Jeep Wrangler came to a stop and Quinn saw Rae’s bright blonde hair catch the sunlight through the window. The trip of his pulse sent his whole body into acute awareness.Shit, she’s not even out of the car yet and I’m a fucking mess.
This was familiar and completely unfamiliar all at once. Quinn knew how to act around women. He knew how to flirt and charm and get them to come home with him. And once they were there he could pretty much get anything he wanted. But this wasn’t some woman. This was Rae. Everything he knew about charming or seducing women somehow flew out the window and got run over by a semi when she was near. Because he actually cared. Because she was...it.
He hesitated as he watched her get out of her Jeep and sling a large blue and white striped canvas bag over her shoulder. She held the dooropen and a mass of fluff- brown, white, and some black- hopped out of the vehicle.
Quinn smiled as the huge animal wagged patiently at her side.So, she finally got a dog.
He wasn’t sure if he should get up and greet her. Would that be weird? Was it rude to just sit here and wait? Chris and Jett weren’t going anywhere. But Chris and Jett weren’t trying to make her fall in love with them. If this was just some girl he was trying to hook up with, he’d stay put. She could come to him. He wouldn’t put in any special effort. But again, this was Rae.
Yes, I should definitely get up and meet her. Walk down here with her.
But wait...should I? Would that be too obvious?
Shit.
Fuck.
God dammit, Case! Figure your shit out!
Making the last second decision to get up and greet her, he didn’t realize she had already crossed over half the distance between them. He was standing when she approached with an amused grin.
“You know, Case, I’m notactuallya princess. You don’t have to stand up in my presence,” Rae teased coolly.
Quinn let out a short puff of laughter. The sound of her voice when she said the nickname all his high school teammates and coaches had used made his heart squeeze. He’d heard it hundreds of times at practices and games, though not recently. In LA he was just Quinn. But hearing Rae say it so fluently made it feel like the years they’d spent apart had suddenly evaporated. He was here. In his hometown. On the beach where they’d first met. And she looked fucking beautiful.
She had on a long skirt cover-up that tied at the side and split so her long, toned and tan legs were still available for eager eyes, such as his own. Her white tank top was simple, and he could see the yellow straps of her string bikini top underneath. The contrast of white shirt against her golden sun-kissed skin was evidence of just how much time shespent out here. Quinn couldn’t help the thought that she looked like she belonged in California. In LA. With him.
The big, furry dog finally found Quinn and greeted him enthusiastically. He bent down to pet him and looked up at Rae, “I see you finally achieved one of your life’s dreams.”
“Yes, I did!” she exclaimed. “We dream big here. This is Harry.”
“I see that,” said Quinn, now playing with the dog’s ears.
“Hisnameis Harry, you smart ass,” Rae said, the eye roll audible in her tone.
“As in Harry James Potter?”
“The very same,” she nodded. “Once a Pott-head, always a Pott-head.”
Quinn flattened his expression for his bestProfessor Snapeimpression,“Always.”
Rae giggled and Quinn’s heart jolted at the sound. She pulled her own beach towel out of her striped bag and laid it out on the other side of Quinn’s.
“You’re not joining, Rae?” Jett asked, making another dive for the football.
“Nah,” she said, taking a seat on the towel. “Not unless we’re actually playing and I can tackle you and shove your face in the dirt again.”
Jett paused before releasing the ball, flashing Rae a brief scowl. “That was a long time ago. We hadn’t really hit puberty yet so we were all basically the same size.”
“You were definitely bigger than me,” Rae said, “and you still went down like a little bitch.”
