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“So why not get married?”
Quinn scoffs. “I’ve tried. She wants to get married at her parents’ property, which I get and I’m all for. However, the only time her parents have available are dates when I’m on tour. When I’m not on tour, her parents have their yard booked for other weddings.”
“Oh.” I am totally not good at this talking shit.
“See why I think they don’t approve of me?”
“Yeah, it’s becoming clearer. I stand by my earlier sentiment.”
Quinn picks at the label on his bottle until he’s pulled a corner clean and then takes the rest of it off. I reach for it and throw it away.
“You know, you’re like a brother to me,” he says, and I find myself wanting to give the guy a hug.
“Same,” I tell him. Even though I’m close to a couple of my teammates, Quinn will always be my best friend. He’s the brother I never had and always wanted. “Do you remember when we first met?”
He nods.
“I hated you,” I tell him. “I was so jealous of your relationship with my dad, the only thing I could do was hate you.”
“I know,” he said. “And I was jealous because you had a mom. Well, two if you count Katelyn. Her and Josie were so good to me, accepting me right away, I couldn’t understand why you didn’t want to be my friend. I also didn’t have any friends because I toured all the time and had a tutor on the bus. I thought we’d be band buddies or whatever until my dad told me you had just met Liam. It took me a bit to understand what he meant because I’d always known him and this world we lived in.”
“Yep,” I say. “That pretty much sums it all up.”
“Look at us now.” Quinn quips and makes a heart with his hand. “Should we get matching tats or something?”
“I think Peyton would kill me.”
He laughs. “She probably would.”
He spins the top of his bottle on the counter and sighs. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Have you asked her what’s going on? Believe me, when I tell you communication is key, it’s key. I avoid so many misunderstandings with your sister by communicating. Granted, she bottles shit up and sometimes I have to poke the bear to get it out of her, but nothing festers. We don’t go to bed angry at each other. I don’t think I’d be able to sleep if we did.”
“We’ve talked but not in depth. I don’t want her to feel like she has to go on tour. I’ll miss her and will try to come home as much as possible, but we have shows every couple of days. There’s no way I can fly back and forth all the time. I’d miss rehearsals. And once Elle leaves the tour, the last thing she needs is for me to fuck shit up.”
“I’m sure Elle wouldn’t feel that way.”
Quinn looks at me and I feel like I should cower or something. “Okay you’re right. Damn, you have the same look she does. Is that something Katelyn taught you?”
He laughs. “No, but I think I got it from Elle.”
“Poor Ben,” I mutter. “Have you heard from your boss while they’re honeymooning?” After their ceremony they headed to Fiji for their honeymoon. The last I knew they hadn’t decided when they would come back. Ben and Elle need this time away. They’ve been on the go since his cancer diagnosis and subsequent recovery. At this last scan, his body still showed no signs of cancer, which is a relief. I never want any of my friends or family to go through what he did. It was scary and really put a lot of things into perspective. Life’s short—live it.
“I’m thinking of retiring,” I say to Quinn out of the blue.
“Really?”
I nod and tell him how I’ve been feeling, how the draft went, and how the team has been incognito in offering me a new contract.
“Seriously? So, they’re not going to renew you?”
“Doesn’t look that way.”
“So, you what, train this new guy and they’re like sorry but not sorry, you gotta go?”
“Pretty much. They’ll either part ways or someone will come in with a new contract and I’ll go elsewhere.”
“Okay, but if you don’t play, then what?”
