Page 108 of Hard Hitter

He let himself half turn toward the crowd and held up a hand in a brief wave before ducking into the car behind Rae. When the door closed behind him, he pulled Rae to him again and gave her a deeper, more passion-fueled kiss, sliding his tongue between her lips and letting his hands slip beneath her shirt where he knew she wasn’t wearing a bra. His mouth trailed down to her neck and he breathed her in. “It’s about time we get to finish what I started this morning.”

Arching her back at the feel of his hand palming her breast and brushing his thumb back and forth over her perky nipple, Rae moaned, “Not yet, we can’t.”

Quinn pulled back. “Why not?”

“Because that divider isnotsoundproof and I actually know this driver,” Rae said. “I’m not doing this within earshot of him.”

With a loud and exasperated groan, Quinn dramatically fell onto Rae, burying his head in her chest. “Nooo! Why me?” He cried out, “Why must I be tortured like this?”

He felt Rae giggle as her chest and stomach moved up and down. “Your life is so hard, I know. Between the money and the paparazzi and everyone being obsessed with you. I don’t know how you do it.”

“It’s not mylifethat’s hard right now,” he mumbled into her chest. Grabbing her wrist, he lowered her hand and wrapped it around the hard bulge pressing against his zipper. “I’m suffering, Rae. Only you can fix it.”

“Patience,mon amour,” Rae sighed, brushing her fingers through Quinn’s hair as he rested his head on her chest.

He let out a long, heavy sigh and settled into the shape of her, the feel of her body against his. This vacation he felt like he’d been on was about to be over, he could tell. They were about to be in the spotlight every time they walked out of their homes or went grocery shopping. They’d have photographers popping up when they were out on dates or taking her dog for walks on the beach. Patience didn’t seem likely. He wanted her to himselfnowbefore he had to start sharing her- sharingthem- with everyone else.

Chapter 29

Charlie met them at the door to his home, welcoming and ushering them inside enthusiastically.

“Good morning, good morning!” Charlie beamed, “Well, I suppose it’s afternoon now.”

“You seem rather chipper, Dad,” Rae observed, making her way past him and into the kitchen.

“And you look like you were at a toga party last night,” Charlie commented. “Jeez, Rae, did you swing by Starbucks on the way here? Where’s your Frappuccino?”

She shot a glance at Quinn that saidI told you so!He couldn’t help laughing. Charlie and Rae always thought and acted so much alike; it directly paralleled the way Margaux and Camille were so similar.

“Well, I’m sorry I don’t look more presentable. That’s apparently what happens when you get woken up by the concierge informing you that there’s a mob of people waiting to take your picture in the lobby,” said Rae, rifling through cupboards and finding the supplies to make her own iced coffee.

“Oh, well forgive me, Princess Rae. Us common folk don’t know what that’s like,” Charlie mocked. He faced Quinn. “Great, she has one paparazzi experience and is already a diva. It’s like she’s a teenager all over again. The drama never stopped with this one.”

“Oh, believe me, I remember,” Quinn replied, smirking when Rae made a face at him.

“I still can’t believe it took you two this long to get together,” Charlie said, “but I suppose, better late than never.”

“You’re tellin’ me,” Quinn muttered under his breath, but it didn’t go unnoticed.

Charlie smiled in his direction before saying to the both of them, “Well kids, I have some work I need to get done, so I’ll be in my office if you need me.” And with that, he ducked out of the kitchen toward his study.

When Rae’s coffee finished, she poured it into two cups, giving one to Quinn before gesturing out of the kitchen and toward the stairs. He followed and eventually found himself feeling as though he’d gone through a time warp as he stood in the doorway to Rae’s bedroom. The walls were still the same silvery gray, with the lavender accents throughout the room. The vanity dresser, the desk, and the bedframe were all the same. New curtains had been put up, and on the collage wall over her desk, there were now pictures from her college years mixed in with high school, middle school, and earlier.

Quinn gravitated toward the collection of photographs, wanting to see the familiar ones he hoped would still be up there. And there they were: Quinn and Rae at the pool when they were eight years old, the two of them playing volleyball in her backyard when they were ten, and another sitting in one of their many blanket forts, watching a movie with a giant bowl of popcorn between them. In middle school when Chris and Jett had joined their duo, there were pictures of the four of them at the baseball field or at the park. Quinn laughed at one in which they must’ve been playing soccer beforehand. They looked to be about thirteen, and Jett was on his knees, ripping his shirt open, looking like he was screaming, Chris was posing like a bodybuilder with his arms flexed in front of his body, and Quinn was standing between them, the soccer ball under his arm at his hip and Rae on his back, arms wrapped around his shoulders.

In so many of these group pictures, Quinn and Rae were a pair. They were coupled, but not a couple. They had arms wrapped around each other, leaning back-to-back, Quinn giving her a piggy-back ride or picking her up in his arms. There was one from their senior year that he was shocked to see displayed. He wasn’t sure who had gottenthe shot, but was glad the single best moment of his high school career had been documented.

It had been his last baseball game of high school- the state championship game. The game was close the whole way through, but they didn’t have to run any extra innings because of his final home run hit. As amazing as that hit had felt, nothing could have prepared him for what met him at the end of that run on home base.

“You were so mad all this time, but you kept all these pictures up,” he said, his gaze swiping over all the memories. Pointing to that championship photo, he grinned. “That was quite possibly...the best moment of my life.”

“It’s funny looking at these again with how different everything is now,” Rae said, searching the photos. “I guess I kind of get why everyone just assumed we’d date back then. We were all over each other without even trying to be.”

“It’s like on some level,” said Quinn, still zeroing in on his favorite picture, “we knew when we met. Maybe we fell in love when we were seven and just didn’t know what to call it.”

“I had that thought yesterday,” said Rae, smiling. Quinn glanced at her now and saw that her eyes had fallen on the same photo he’d picked out. Her smile turned a little mischievous and she peered at him from the side. “Tell me something, some thought or fantasy you had when you were seventeen or eighteen.”

One eyebrow raised as a grin tugged the corner of his mouth up.

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