Page 47 of Hard Hitter
He'd had to call Rae and tell her he wouldn't make it to the dance, but that she should go and have fun. It had felt like a sign. He'd finally gotten the balls to ask her to one of the dances, she'd said yes, and he'd come across the accident on the way to pick her up.
Of course Rae came to the hospital instead and spent the night in the waiting room with him. They hadn't even spoken to each other. She'd just shown up in her prom dress looking like a dream come to life, given him a hug, and sat with him all night.
"Is that why you were so drunk when you crashed the car?" Quinn asked, "Because you were upset that you'd failed me?"
Molly nodded, chewing her lip.
"Did you know that was my prom night?" Quinn wasn't looking at anyone now, just staring out the window wondering how differently that night could have gone if she'd just said something.
"I didn't," Molly said. "At least, not until you came into my room in a tux."
Anger was bubbling at the surface again. He hadn't cared much that he'd missed his own prom. What made him mad was that it had ruined Rae's, too. She had been looking forward to it and had seemed genuinely excited when Quinn had finally asked her to go with him. Rae must have sensed his change of tone or registered his expression, because she reached for his hand and laced their fingers together, leaning into him. Her weight pressing into his calmed him instantly.
"I suppose surviving that accident gave me a new perspective," said Molly. "I figured if it wasn't too late to keep disappointing you, byruining your prom night or a number of other things, then it wasn't too late to try to do better."
They spent at least another hour looking through the photo album, bringing it out to the living room. They talked about the first time Molly really tried to give up her vices. She started with the drugs, and instantly knew she would need help. She went to a support group and looked into all of her options, found out all about the detox phase, relapses, and what to expect. She admitted that the first several meetings scared the crap out of her, and she nearly gave up right then. But then she'd turn the TV on to a baseball game when she got home and had to constantly remind herself why she was going through it.
After four years, she had made some progress, though not as much as she would have liked in that time. But when Sandra had visited the first time, explaining that Quinn had hired her, it renewed her ambition to try harder, knowing that he was still trying to take care of her. She said it felt like he was rooting for her from a distance. It wasn't easy and it didn't happen all at once, but now she had three years and five months of complete sobriety to be proud of.
When Quinn and Rae got ready to leave, he felt the knot in his chest that he'd kept with him at all times loosen just a little bit more. The first time he'd been here he needed to get all his emotions out there, all that pain off his chest. With Rae, he felt stronger and braver, like he could ask his mom the hard questions and hear the answers without losing his head.
There was an awkward moment before he and Rae left when he felt like his mom was going in for a hug. They'd covered a lot of ground, but he couldn't quite get there yet. He put a hand on her shoulder instead and told her he'd be back soon, then walked out the door with Rae's hand in his.
Chapter 16
“How does that feel?” Raelyn was stabilizing Quinn’s elbow gently after putting him in a soft sleeve brace that still kept a bend to the sensitive joint. The hard splint was gone, and he no longer had to carry his arm at a sharp ninety-degree angle at all times. They were both relieved about this- the hard-cased splint was a pain in the ass to maneuver around in bed.
“So much better,” Quinn sighed. “You thought we’d been having good sex- I’ve got use of both arms now, baby. Better get ready for what’s comin’!”
Raelyn laughed. “You still can’t fully extend your elbow for another three weeks. Please don’t go injuring yourself further to prove anything to me.”
“I’ll always be trying to prove something when it comes to you, Rae.” He smiled shyly and his eyes went soft and adoring, and Raelyn’s heart could have melted right there.
They were so disgustingly crazy for each other. A month ago, if Raelyn had seen a couple act the way she and Quinn acted around each other now, she would have scoffed, rolled her eyes, and made some snide comment about wondering how long that would last. But here she was being obnoxiously cute and doe-eyed over this man. Her best friend.
She frequently found herself wondering how she’d kept herself from attacking him when they were teenagers. He was all male and muscle and boyish charm with that goddamn sexy dimple. His hair was always that perfect level of untamed, making him look like he’d just rolledout of bed after having heart-pounding, toe-curling, earth-shattering, multi-orgasmic sex. Which, at least lately, had been the case most of the time.
Having to scold him upon coming at her with grabby hands at work was one of the most difficult tasks she’d had to perform in quite some time. She’d had to explain that she was not allowed to make out with her patients in the therapy rooms and that while they were at her office they had to maintain a strictly professional relationship. He had argued this, of course, and tried staring her down, tried pulling her close and whispering his filthy thoughts in her ear. Had it made her panties go damp? Of course it had. Had she given in? Reluctantly, no. No, she hadn’t.
Raelyn showed Quinn a few different finger, wrist, bicep, and shoulder exercises he could do without having to extend his elbow and he got to work repeating one of the wrist movements.
"Tomorrow's your birthday," Quinn stated suddenly. "Any plans? Carnival at the beach? Trip to Paris? Fancy yacht party with two hundred of your closest friends?"
Quinn had always been astounded at the ways her family had celebrated her and Camille's birthdays. Admittedly, her parents were absolutely nuts for doing those things. Raelyn would have been satisfied with a pool party in their backyard or a slumber party with her closest friends.
Raelyn shook her head. "No, I usually just have dinner at my parents' place anymore. Although, I would totally be down for another trip to Paris."
"That was one hell of a Sweet Sixteen," said Quinn.
"Would've been better if you hadn'trefusedto go." Raelyn gave him a pointed look.
"Your parents did enough for me. I wasn't about to let them buy me a two-thousand dollar trip toParis." Quinn looked stubbornly at Raelyn, and when she returned his stare with a raised eyebrow- he knew damn well two-thousand dollars was nothing to her parents- he added, "The funny thing about having money is you never have to think about it. When you have none, it's all you think about."
Raelyn nodded, conceding. This wasn't a topic that usually went over well between the two of them. She had no idea what it was like growing up the way Quinn had. Sure, she'd watched it from the sidelines, but she had no way of really knowing what it was like. She did know enough to recognize that this was one of the reasons she'd been so interested in him as a friend. Not because he was poor and she was rich, but because his perspective was so different from her own and she felt like it helped her grow as a person. She liked knowing there was more to life than designer brands, country clubs, and the other many luxuries her family was so familiar with.
"I could take you to Paris now if you wanted," Quinn said.
Raelyn had been admiring the thick, corded muscles of his forearm work as he flexed his wrist but shot her gaze up to his face. A thought hit her that she'd never even considered before now. Surely he didn't think the only reason things were going well between them now was because he had money? He knew she wasn't that shallow, right? Her brow furrowed, disliking this thought, then blinked it away. "Or you could just come to dinner with me tomorrow," she offered. "I'm sure Dad would be thrilled to see you."
