Page 86 of Hard Hitter

“Oh, that’s right,” said Sandra. “Your mom told me about your irrational insecurities.” She shook her head and rolled her eyes.

“Irrational?” Quinn repeated, taken aback.

“Quinn, if you’re going to be with this girl for good you have to accept that she wants you for you. That you are good enough. If you keep doubting it, she’s going to feel like you’re doubting her,” said Sandra. Before Quinn could ask how she knew so much about the situation, she said, “Your mother has gone on and on about this. These are her words, but she needs to rest, so I’m saying them for her.”

Looking to his mom for confirmation, she nodded. “What she...said.”

“Once you get past all this insecure nonsense,” said Sandra, “your mother would like to go with you to pick out the ring.”

Quinn snapped his head from one woman to the other. “Ring?”

“That is your...endgame, isn’t...it?” Molly said. “I may not be here...for the wedding...so I’d like to...at least be...part of it...somehow.”

He laughed nervously and scratched the stubble that now covered his jaw. Well, okay,yes, he supposed that was his endgame. But they’d been together for five weeks! He couldn’t be thinking about asking her to marry him yet. Granted, he’d mentally been with her for fifteen years, but his delusions he had as a teenager didn’t count toward their actual relationship.

“Mom,” Quinn said, putting his hands up. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We’re not there yet. I mean, okay, maybeIam, because I’ve been in love with her since I was thirteen, but--”

“Have you told her?” his mother’s voice cut him off, suddenly sounding more urgent and less weak.

“I told her when I started falling for her, yeah.”

“Have you told her...youloveher?” Molly pressed.

“Well...no, I haven’t said that yet.” Lord knows he wanted to. He couldn't count the number of times they’d been together and those three words had nearly slipped out before he reminded himself he needed to slow down. Saying it too soon would probably freak Rae out, and he didn’t want to push her away. “I did ask her to come back to L.A. with me.”

“But you can’t tell her you love her?” Sandra raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“Well, that’s different,” said Quinn. “She had just told me that she wanted to go with me to Arizona when I left for school. That she’d applied and was about to have her dad send the tuition check, but then…” he paused. “I screwed up. I lied to her about something and it all just…” he made a motion with his hands like a plane crashing, “…blew up from there, I guess.”

“She wanted to go across the country with you when you were eighteen? And you’ve been in love with her since you were thirteen, but you can’t tell her how you feel?” Sandra’s voice raised as she looked from Quinn to his mother and back in disbelief. “Quinn! You tell that girl you love her!”

The light touch of his mother’s fingers brushed across his arm as she reached out to him, “If you can’t imagine...your life...without her now...tell her. You could have...everything. A perfect...life. Don’t...let it go because...you’re worried about...telling her how you feel now.”

Everything this past month had brought up- the memories, the missed opportunities, the times he’d messed up or had fallen short- all seemed to come down to him not saying the right thing. Or just not saying anything. He’d kept his feelings to himself all this time, andwhere had it gotten him? Chasing after women he knew he wasn’t interested in just to get the only one that mattered out of his head?

Things were great now, but he wanted her to know he meant everything he’d said. He wanted her to know that he was hers. His whole self, his body, his heart, his entire being was hers to do with as she pleased. And sure, he could tell her she was his and he was hers, and he could ask her to come to California, and he could make love to her every morning and night, but did she really understand what all that meant to him? Did she understand that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with any other woman for the rest of his life? He wanted to be with her. Period. He couldn’t fathom the thought of her being with someone else if, for some godforsaken reason, they couldn’t make it work.

Suddenly, the idea of going ring shopping didn’t seem all that crazy. It didn’t mean he needed to marry her today, or next month, or even next year. He just needed her to know he was in it for the long haul.

Raelyn Casey.

It wasn’t the first time he’d imagined his name attached to hers, but he still couldn’t stop the smile that lit up his face.

He’d made a lot of progress in the past month, and he intended to keep pushing forward. Keeping his feelings to himself wasn’t an option anymore. Next time those three words wanted to slip out, he’d let them. He would say the words, and never stop showing her how much he meant them.

After spending the rest of the afternoon at his mom’s, he had one thought on his mind as he hopped up Rae’s front porch steps. He let himself in, announcing his arrival on the way into the kitchen where he smelled food.

He stopped. All previous thoughts flew out of his mind at the sight in front of him.

"Um...excuse me, miss. What are you wearing?" Quinn gaped at Rae as she stood in front of her air fryer, with her back to him. Her legs were smooth and long, and her feet were bare. Draped over her andfalling just below that perfectly round ass of hers was a white and blue jersey, with the number twelve on the back and his last name across her shoulders.

Rae peeked over her shoulder at him and grinned. "About time you showed up."

His heart burst in his chest. He crossed the kitchen in three long strides and wrapped his arms around her front, backing her into him. He was already hard as he pressed himself up against her ass, wanting her to know exactly what she was doing to him. He'd always loved seeing her wear his last name when she'd borrow his high school hoodies or shirts, butthis. This was something else.

He buried his mouth into the nape of her neck and kissed and tasted her skin as his hands roamed up and down, under the white fabric. The front of the jersey-his jersey- was unbuttoned and she was naked underneath.

Rae's head fell back onto his chest as he cupped both of her breasts in his hands, using his thumbs to make her pink nipples go hard.

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