Page 84 of Just Let Go

This pro athlete business was beyond the realm of anything she could imagine. Understanding that made a lot of what he did make a little more sense, yet so many things about him remained a mystery.

Why he didn’t get along with his coaches, for instance. Why they all said he had more natural talent than anyone they’d ever seen, but when it came to working through the stuff that didn’t come easily to him, he faltered. Why he hadn’t been back home in over fifteen years.

The Internet gave her only so much information. If she wanted the details to fill in those blanks, she knew she’d have to go straight to the source.

And that wasn’t going to happen.

Terrance was flat-out gushing by this point, so much so that even Grady had started to look uncomfortable.

“Terrance, is it okay if we sit at our usual table?” She interrupted him, but her tone was kind.

Terrance’s bushy eyebrows lifted, and his eyes widened with excitement. “Of course. Head back there, and I’ll send someoneover.”

He walked away, muttering, “Grady Benson, as I live and breathe...”

Grady glanced at her. “Thanks for that.”

“I didn’t do it for you,” she said. “I’m starving.” It slipped out before she could catch herself.

His face lit up. “Huh. I guess it’s a good thing we stopped, then.”

She ignored him and led the way to a table near a window that faced the beach. She’d always loved this spot at Dockside, even when she was a kid and even in the winter. It was as if sitting there, in this little hole-in-the-wall pizza joint, the rest of the world faded away and all she could see for miles was the beach, the lake, and endless possibilities.

A familiar leggy blonde showed up at their table with a pitcher of water.

“Well, look who it is.” Ashley Perkins was eyeing Grady unashamedly. When he met her eyes, surprise registered on his face.

“Hey.” He shifted in his seat as if it were suddenly covered with bristles.

Ashley filled their glasses with water, moving around the table but focusing solely on Grady as though the rest of them weren’t there. She stopped when she reached his glass. “You never called me.”

Quinn had the distinct impression he did not remember Ashley’s name—and she wasn’t about to help him.

If Ashley lingered too long, Quinn’s memory would betray her, flashing images of the two of them exiting the Lucky Lady that night.

More than once she’d wondered how that night had ended, though she’d tried and tried not to fill in the blanks.

There it was again—that sense of inferiority, which, if she was honest, felt a lot like jealousy.

“Sorry,” Grady mumbled.

Ashley let her hand rest on his shoulder. “You’re forgiven.” She laughed. “You look good, Grady.”

She sauntered off.

“Man,” Jaden said. “Is that what it’s always like for you?”

Quinn could see admiration in Jaden’s face, and it twisted her stomach in a knot. The Internet had also been quite forthcoming with information about Grady’s many,manyromantic entanglements. At one point, he’d even had to get a restraining order against someone who kept breaking into his condo because she was convinced they were married.

What kind of world did he live in that something like that was normal?

“Jaden,” Carly scolded him.

“What? It’s awesome.” Jaden laughed and Quinn drew in a deep breath to keep herself from exploding.

“This is just what I said would happen,” Quinn said.

Carly glared at her.

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