Page 130 of Hard Hitter

“Well, I’ve known him since we were seven and he still managed to get himself in trouble a handful of times back in the day,” Raelyn replied with a grin. “Though I have noticed tremendous progress on that punching reflex of his.”

The coach chuckled, “Yeah, he’s a bit of a hot head, our guy. I bet he’s excited you’re here.”

“Actually, he doesn’t know,” said Raelyn quickly.

The coach and former outfielder nodded, “Well, I’ll hold off on making him sign certain forms given the unique circumstances here then.”

Raelyn tried not to smile too wide at the implication that they’d already made up their minds.Well, Quinn had better forgive me then. Otherwise this is going to get weird.

After a few more questions and friendly conversational exchanges, she shook hands with everyone again, telling them she looked forward to hearing from them soon. Leaving the stadium and clubhouse, she felt both more confident and more anxious than when she’d arrived.

Back in the hotel, she changed into a set of exercise clothes and running shoes, hooked Harry to his leash and took off for a run on the beach. There wasn’t a whole lot more she could do until she received a call from the director. And who knew how long it would take for them to deliberate? Running would clear her head, and it would also keep her from making the rash decision to go straight to Quinn’s place. She was sure the urge to do so would only intensify once she got back to her hotel room, alone, and began running through various scenes of her showing up on his doorstep, and Quinn pulling her inside for hours of wild make-up sex.

He was genuinely upset and had every right to be. This wasn’t something she could fix with sex.

Raelyn ordered room service and ate dinner on her balcony, also ordering an extra grilled chicken breast for Harry to devour. At seven o'clock, she was hesitant about whether or not she should try calling Quinn like she had every other evening since Friday but opted against it. Knowing she was in the same city, she’d be too tempted to head straight over when he didn’t answer. And what if hedidanswer? What would she say to him? She sucked at keeping secrets and would be sureto tell him she was in L.A., which she just wasn’t ready for him to know yet.

At 10:30 when she slipped under the covers and Harry hopped onto the foot of the bed, she sent him the usual text:Goodnight, I love you.Plugging her phone into the charger, she set it down on the nightstand and clicked the lamp off. Not ten seconds passed before her phone lit up and dinged. She propped herself up on one elbow and checked her new message.

Quinn:Late night? You didn’t call.

Raelyn thought for a moment before she remembered the three-hour time difference. She always texted him at 10:30 from Michigan, which was 7:30 in California.Shit. Well, it was a hell of a lot easier to keep her poker face through text. Re-reading his text, she couldn’t help the swell in her chest that he not only received her texts and calls, but he maybe even looked forward to them. Even if he didn’t respond, he waited for them. Raelyn smiled and sent back:

Long day. Were you planning on answering this time?

Nearly a full minute passed before his response came through:

Probably not.

Shaking her head, she sent back:

So stubborn. Now quit screwing with my routine. Goodnight, Quinn. I love you.

It wasn’t until morning that she read Quinn’s responding text that he’d sent several minutes after her last:

I loved you first.

“You’re meeting with the trainer at the stadium at ten, and then there’s a meeting inside the clubhouse with the whole team,” Zoey rattled off as she scrolled through her phone.

“A trainer, but no physical therapist?” Quinn questioned. He was back at his house- his very large, very empty house- in his living room, working on some of the exercises Rae had gone over with him at their last PT session. He was officially out of the six-week phase, which meant he no longer needed a brace and could start strengthening his rotator cuff and scapula muscles.

Without looking up from her phone she replied, “You left your PT in Michigan, remember?”

“There are therapists here,” said Quinn, stubbornly.

He was partially regretting his moment of weakness the previous night when he’d responded to Rae’s text. It was late, he was in bed by himself, thinking about how much he missed pressing up against her shape at night, and curling his body around hers. He’d been annoyed when his phone hadn’t rung at 4:00, and again when he hadn’t received the usual goodnight text at 7:30. He was worried she was done trying to contact him after his silent treatment. When she’d refused to talk to him all summer after their senior year, he still called, texted, and showed up at her house regularly. He hadn’t given up on her, and he panicked a little, both hurt and a bit angry, when he thought she’d already given up on him after a few days. The thought that maybe she had decided to go back to Emerson after all had him grinding his teeth, brooding, and being unnecessarily short with Zoey before she’d left for the night.

“But only one who knows where you’re at with your progress,” Zoey said, still looking at her phone.

“Yeah well, some things just don’t work out how we want them to,” Quinn sighed.

“You’re being stupid,” Zoey said bluntly.

“Oh, am I?”

“Yes. You finally get the woman you’ve wanted your entire life and you come back herewithouther?” Zoey replied. “You ignore her calls and walk around brooding all day. Just answer your damn phone and make it right.”

Quinn let out a groan of frustration. “You were there, Zoey. So was she-andher half-naked ex-fiancé.”

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