Page 129 of Hard Hitter

He exhaled, and it felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. He shook his head and finally broke eye contact, turning around without another word.

“Quinn, wait,” Rae called after him. “Quinn!” Rae’s hand caught him around the elbow and she forced him to face her, but he wouldn’t look at her. Instead he kept his gaze over her shoulder, on the porch where Emerson was now standing on the top step.

“Quinn, please, talk to me. You don’t actually believe something happened between us, do you?” Rae said, her voice panic-stricken and already near tears.

“I don’t know, Rae. I really don’t. What I’m finding hard to comprehend right now is that youconfidedin him rather than confronting me.” He was trying to hold onto his anger, working around the lump in his throat.

“I know, I know.” Rae still held onto his arm with one hand as she pushed the other into her hair, “I panicked. I’m sorry. I know it’s not how I should’ve reacted, but-”

Quinn scoffed. “In hindsight, you don’t think it was a good idea to spend the night with your cheating ex-fiancé?”

“I didn’t- no, Quinn, I didn’tspend the night with him,” said Rae defensively. “These are both misunderstandings. Neither one of us cheated, so can we just move past this?”

“Maybe you didn’t cheat, but you talked to him before coming to me,” Quinn stated. “Youlumpedme in with him, after everything we’ve been through, after all I’ve done to show you how much you mean to me- how much you havealwaysmeant to me, Rae. And you assume I’m just like him. And then you talk to him about shit that’s none of his business.” Taking a step back, he pulled his arm out of her grasp and shook his head in disbelief again. “I was going to take you back to L.A. with me Monday, just so you could see my-ourhome- but…I think I’ll just leave by myself.”

“Quinn, no, don’t go,” Rae pleaded. “Come on, let’s talk this out. Please, I know-”

“No, Rae, I don’t think you do,” Quinn cut her off. “I don’t think you have any idea how much this hurts.” He dropped his gaze as her face fell, tears streaming down her cheeks. Quinn turned around and got into the back seat of the truck.

Quinn avoided Jett and Zoey’s looks of concern as he slumped in his seat and scrubbed his hands down his face. He thought about how he’d spent the entire previous day working to fit Rae into his life in L.A., and their plans to spend their futures together. He took a shaky breath in before grumbling to Zoey, “Find the next flight home. We’re leaving today.”

Chapter 33

By Monday evening, Raelyn was feeling good about her plans that she’d worked out over the weekend. She was back in her own house with Harry, and though it felt completely empty without Quinn, she was grateful for the solitude while she figured out how she was going to make this right. She hadn’t wallowed or hid away from what happened Friday morning. She was simply determined to get to work on each and every detail to make sure she was successful when she went to Los Angeles to get Quinn back.

It had been a long weekend, having to explain everything to her dad, and even explain in further detail to both Jett and Chris exactly what had led to her being alone with her ex-fiancé that morning. Jett had stormed into her house, shouting in his stern disappointed-dad voice that he’d completely mastered, and she wasn’t too ashamed to admit that she cried her whole way through the story. Jett didn’t typically get uncomfortable with tears- he was the guy who comforted his younger sisters through all their breakups- but seeing Raelyn cry was a whole different story. He’d toned down his intensity almost immediately.

While they understood why she had jumped to that conclusion upon seeing Quinn and Zoey in the hallway, especially given her previous experience with similar situations, they agreed she should have been able to knock on his door and confront him. And that’s exactly why she was no longer running from her problems. She was prepared to face this head-on.

Every morning and every night at the same time, Raelyn tried calling Quinn. She wanted to explain, she wanted him to know that sheknew she was in the wrong. She wanted him to know that she had also been making plans for their future together, anddammit, she just wanted to hear his voice again. But each call would ring until it went to voicemail. Eachgoodmorningtext went unanswered, and eachgoodnight, I love youwas also met with stony silence. This didn’t deter her, though. If anything, it made her more determined to fix the giant mess she’d made.

All of Raelyn’s appointments for the next few days had been rescheduled, her bags were packed, and her plane ticket was ready. On Tuesday morning, Charlie, Raelyn, and Harry were in her Jeep, heading to Detroit Metro where she would board her nearly five-hour flight to LAX. It wasn’t Harry’s first time on a plane, and being a certified therapy dog, he got to sit in first class with Raelyn, but he did still require doggie Xanax to get through the flight.

“Got everything you need?” Charlie asked, as Raelyn grabbed her bags and Harry’s leash in the drop-off lane.

“Yep.” Raelyn nodded.

“Plane ticket? License? Wallet? Phone? Resume?” Charlie listed.

“All of the above.”

“Okay, good,” he said as Raelyn leaned over the passenger seat to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. He then turned to her, his expression sincere. “Now, no matter what happens, Rae, I love you. But don’t come back until you’ve got my future son-in-law in tow. I don’t care if you have to put Harry’s leash on him and drag him back as a carry-on.”

Raelyn’s eyebrow twitched upward. “That could be fun.”

Charlie scowled. “Raelyn Elise, that’s…just gross. But whatever works.”

“Love you, Dad,” she said, smiling as she closed the door.

It was just after noon, Pacific Time, when Raelyn landed at LAX. The three-hour time difference had allowed her to take a slightly later flight and still get to her interview with time to check in to her hotel, get dressed, and get something to eat. Her hotel had a gorgeous view of the ocean, and as much as she would have loved to sit on the balconywith Harry and stare out at the water, she had places to be, so the view would have to wait. She was hopeful she’d only be staying one or two nights in the room, but there was a lot riding on both her interview and Quinn’s reaction to her showing up unannounced.

At 4:30, she met with the Director of Player Health as well as the head and assistant athletic trainers. The meeting was set up to be intimidating, with Raelyn at one end of a long table, while the director and trainers sat at the other end grilling her about her professional experience, offering different hypothetical situations, and asking about her intentions to stay with the team. Their team’s physical therapist had taken up a position in Florida because of the proximity to his family, and with Raelyn being from Michigan, it was a concern that they felt necessary to address.

Then, of course, there was the matter of Quinn Casey, their star hard-hitter. They had all been impressed with his recovery thus far and were confident he’d be able to re-join during the next year, even if it was in the middle of the season. They had asked several questions regarding his specific condition, and what she recommended for his next steps. The Director of Player Health was strongly adamant that he continue therapy with her, as she clearly knew what his condition was from the beginning.

Near the end of the interview, the head coach of the team entered the room, beaming as he set his eyes on Raelyn sitting at the far end of the table.

“Dr. DeRose, isn’t it?” He grinned as he walked over to shake her hand. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you in person.” He turned to address the men sitting at the other end of the table, “This is the woman who’s going to keep our star player up and runningandout of trouble, if I heard correctly.”

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