Page 37 of Hard Hitter

"And I want you to know that you're an idiot. Actually, I think you both might be idiots. Why the hell did you not just tell her how you felt in high school? She obviously was into you, too," Zoey added.

A large sigh escaped him again. "It seemed like it sometimes, but then she'd just...I don't know- like homecoming. She just kissed Liam after I was so sure we were getting on the same page."

"You got a blowie that night in the back of a limousine," Zoey said pointedly. "I don't think you can get too upset about a kiss."

"That's different. That girl attacked me. I was innocent- yes, once upon a time, I was the innocent one being taken advantage of. That was all her," Quinn said defensively.

"She was probably a foot shorter than you. Did you try to stop her? Did it ever occur to you to shove her hand away under the table?" Zoeyasked, and Quinn could just imagine her with her hand on her hip and a sassy eyebrow raised in challenge.

"Right, well...I didn't want to be rude," Quinn mumbled.

Zoey's laugh was hollow, "What a gentleman you are. But you're lucky I’m a complete sucker for things like this. Let's hear your idea."

The date would require a few phone calls, and help from Chris and Jett, and he might have to get Amira involved, too. Throughout his conversation with Zoey, she noticed his longing for a chance at a do-over, a chance to do some things differently, or to simply go back and relive some of those favorite moments, and that's exactly what this date would be about.

Once everything was set, Quinn showered, shaved, and got dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans, a gray slim-fit button-down shirt, and a navy blazer. The black Chuck Taylors were intended to give the look a nostalgic touch. He'd lost count of how many pairs he'd run through before finding his first pair of Nikes, but whenever he thought of those days playing ball with Rae, he'd thought of these shoes.

At seven o'clock on the dot, Quinn pulled into Rae's driveway and the nerves returned in full force. When was the last time he’d shaken this much? After taking three steadying breaths, he hopped out of the Bronco and walked up to the front porch where he'd kissed Rae just that morning. He knocked on the door and heard Harry's boom of a bark on the other side.

The door swung open. Rae was standing there in an ice blue dress that landed above the knee. It had a halter neckline and when she turned to the side, Quinn noticed the back was almost completely open, stopping just past her waistline. She wore strappy sandals, and her long hair was cascading down to the middle of her back in waves. He was staring again, taking in her appearance, sweeping his eyes over her from head to toe.

The nervous shaking had disappeared with the familiar sight of his best friend, although his heart must have skipped a beat. He had to remind himself to breathe and looked up to meet her gaze. Feeling himself smile, probably like an idiot, Rae let out a shy laugh. He couldn'tbelieve this was the first time they were doing this. Fuck, what would his fourteen-year-old self say if he saw Rae standing here looking like this? Guarantee, he wouldn't still wait fifteen years to ask her out.

"You look perfect," Quinn finally said, after searching his brain for words that he remembered.

"You're not so bad yourself," Rae replied with a smirk. Her gaze dropped to his shoes. "I know you switched to Nikes at some point, but I always imagine you in those anyway."

Quinn gave a satisfied grin and inwardly high-fived himself for at least doing this much right.

Looking down at her own dress she said, "I hope this is okay. Amira was over here earlier and said I needed a nice dress."

"It's perfect," Quinn said, drinking in her full appearance once more before offering his arm. "Are you ready?"

With a nod, Rae looped her arm through his, gave Harry a few pats and pulled the door shut. Quinn walked her to the Bronco, opened the door and helped her up into the vehicle before walking around and getting in the driver's seat. This formal behavior with Rae seemed so strange. Tonight needed to be different, but he couldn't help feeling like being too formal was really not the way to go. They always felt most comfortable when they were teasing and joking, just having fun with each other.

"Ready for me to romance your pants off?" Quinn said brightly, deciding he needed to stop overthinking everything that he did or said.

"I'm not wearing pants," Rae said, looking down at her bare legs.

"Okay, ready for me to romance your panties off? At least that's something I know I'm good at.”

"Who says I'm wearing panties?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked at him, eyes twinkling.

He blinked and dropped his stare to the skirt of her dress, then back up. "That's cruel. Now I'm just going to be wondering all night."

"Oh, I'm sure you won't have to wonderallnight," Rae said with a wink.

A low groan mixed with a laugh as it escaped him. "I put a lot of thought into this night. You're just going to have to hold onto your panties or...whatever. We're not cutting straight to the sex. We can do that next time."

"That's awfully presumptuous, Mr. Casey," said Rae. "You seem to be quite sure of how this night's going to go already."

Approaching a red light, Quinn took his eye off the road to look at Rae with his most seductive smolder. "Trust me, baby doll. If I wanted to cut right to the hot and sweaty stuff, I wouldn't have any trouble getting there." He reached a hand over and gently caressed her upper thigh. Rae's skin flushed under his touch and she took in a quick breath. He took his hand away and noticed her chest decompress as she let out her breath. "I just want you to know you're worth more to me than that. I want to make up for being such an idiot in the past, and I need you to see how much I mean that."

Quinn watched her breathe in the passenger seat for a few moments. The twin swells of her breasts gently moved up and down in a slow, steady rhythm. The sexy smirk returned to her face and Quinn was overcome with the urge to kiss it when the light turned green and the car behind them honked at them to get moving.

"You're going to make up for your past mistakes in just this date?" Rae asked curiously. "Which mistakes would those be?"

"You'll just have to wait and see." Quinn took her hand in his, grateful that she'd switched his arm into this splint so he actually could hold her hand.

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