Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
QUINN
“Are you sure you’re comfortable?” I mess with the pillow under Jasper’s arm. “I can get you another one.”
“Stop it. I’m fine.”
He looks up at me with an appreciative look.
“I just don’t want anything to bother your shoulder to aggravate it even more.”
“If it hurts, I’ll tell you,” he says. “Ibuprofen is helping. I iced it this morning and I’ll throw the heating pad on it later.”
“Okay.”
“The only thing that will help is if you sit down and watch some movies.”
“Can I sit next to you?”
He nods. “Zucchini basically slept on my head all night. It’s like she knew I needed some comfort, so that’ll be much better.”
“I mean, I could do that too.” Quinn smiles.
“I don’t think that would help my shoulder because I’d be too worked up if you’re sitting on my face.”
She points a finger at me. “Don’t get any ideas, Jasper. There will be no sex until you’re fully healed.”
He groans. “You’re a terrible nurse.”
“And by terrible, you mean the best. I’m going to make sure that you’re well taken care of.”
I grab the remote and turn on the first movie. Mary Poppins.
“Wow. We’re starting old school.”
I pull a blanket over the two of us as Zucchini and Dolly settle next to us on the couch.
With a cold spell working its way through Nashville and threatening snow, low, gray clouds darken the inside of my house. Dimming the lights, with remnants of breakfast scattered on the coffee table, it’s the kind of morning I could get used to.
Snuggling on the couch with Jasper and our cats? Can’t get much better than this. He wraps his good arm around me and tugs me close.
“You know, as much as I hate that I’m injured, it’s kind of nice.”
I rest my chin on his chest, looking up at him. “How’s that?”
“Coach told me to rest up these next few weeks and that the trainers will let me know when to be back for follow-ups. It’s kind of a nice break.”
“You’ve been playing hard this season.”
“It seems like no matter what I do after each game to recover, my body is more and more sore.”
I rest my hand on his chest, rubbing it in circles. “I’m sure playing for so long has taken its toll.”
“I’m thankful I’ve gone without any serious injuries.”
“You don’t consider this serious?” I ask.
“Nah. A few weeks? Nothing major. But it does make me wonder.”
“What?”
“How much longer I want to keep putting my body through this.”
Pausing the movie, I sit up. “Wait, are you thinking about retiring?”
“Right now? This is the first time I’ve even entertained the thought.”
“Wow.”
He rubs my back. “I’m in my last year of my current contract with Nashville, and I don’t know if I have it in me to go play with another team.”
“Would they re-sign you?”
He shakes his head. “Unknown. Considering my age and how I’ve been playing this season, I don’t know.”
“I don’t think I can remember the Knights without you.”
“Nothing’s been decided. Maybe they re-sign me to a short contract and I keep playing.”
“Do you want to?” I ask. “I mean, you said it yourself, it’s taking a toll on your body.”
“Maybe I have a future in singing.” He laughs, changing the subject.
I take it for what it is and restart the movie. “Well, if I can move on from this whole mess with Eric, I’ll hire you as one of my backup singers.”
“Liar.”
“Well, maybe a groupie. You’d make a pretty cute groupie.”
“I’ll bring Zucchini and Dolly with me. Get them little earphones to protect their hearing.”
“That would be so fucking cute, Jasper.”
“Once my arm gets better, I’ll have a cat on each arm to cheer you on.”
“Well,”—I laugh—“until then, I’ll just give you sugar to help your medicine go down.”
He tries to tickle my side as the song comes on. “Aren’t you funny?”
“I mean, I don’t know what kind of patient you are. You are one stubborn man, so really, I can only assume.”
“I’ve been a good patient so far,” he says.
“I have a feeling you’re only being good today because I’m here. At home, you’ll probably overdo it.”
“I promise I won’t.”
I cock an eyebrow at him. “I might have to install a spy camera on Zucchini’s collar to make sure.”
That earns me a boisterous laugh. “Only you, Quinn. Only you would threaten me to take it easy by installing a camera on Zucchini’s collar.”
“It’s either that or hire Mary Poppins to follow you around and make sure you take it easy.”
“There is only one person I want following me around.”
“Let me guess…Noah?”
“Har, har. Aren’t you funny?”
I shrug a shoulder. “I try. He would make a good nurse for you. Yell at you to make sure you don’t hurt yourself even more.”
“He would be the worst. I wouldn’t move from the couch just to make sure he doesn’t bother me. Make him so bored, he’d leave.”
“I take it back. Not hiring Noah then.”
“Zucchini it is then.” He pulls me back into his side and presses a kiss into my hair.
The cat in question comes over and sits in his lap. I scratch her soft fur as the characters on screen start singing about flying kites.
“You know, if we could karaoke again, I’d probably sing this one,” I say.
“I’d love to hear it,” Jasper says. “Maybe you could sing it when you go out on tour.”
“I don’t know if my fans want to hear me sing about kites…” I trail off.
“Babe, they love you. You could sing your grocery list and they’d be happy.”
I burst out laughing. “Can’t say I’m going to take that advice.”
“Hey, I’m your number one fan. Would I steer you wrong?” He looks affronted.
“In this case? Yes. I think I’ll stick to my songs.”
“Speaking of your songs.” He tucks a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “Will I ever get to hear you sing them in person?”
“You have. Multiple times.”
He rolls his eyes at me. “That was before I knew you as Quinn. You were Genevieve then. Not the woman I was in love with.”
“Ouch.”
“You know what I mean. I was pretty much in love with you then, but I didn’t know Genevieve was Quinn.”
“Fair,” I surmise.
“Karaoke doesn’t count because they weren’t your songs. I want to hear you sing for me.”
“Well, maybe not today, but I can make that happen.”
Butterflies swarm in my belly. The thought of performing for him makes me nervous. It’s telling that I was never once nervous to perform in front of Eric. I was more infatuated with him than anything.
Jasper? I know what I have with Jasper is true love. Because there is no one else that I would rather sit on the couch and have a lazy morning with than him. Talking about retiring after twenty years can’t be easy. I love that he trusts me to tell me about his future plans.
“Maybe once you’re back in the studio, I can have a private show.”
“If that happens anytime soon.”
“It will. I have faith that everything will get resolved and you’ll be singing in no time.”
“I’m getting more nervous now that it’s coming up,” I confess.
“I’d be more surprised if you weren’t nervous. But I plan on being there.”
“You do?”
He nods. “Consider it our hard launch. I—”
“Wait.” I cover his mouth with my hand. “How do you know what a hard launch is?”
“I’m not that old. I know some things.”
I smile at him before giving him a gentle kiss, not wanting to bother his shoulder. “I’ll take it. I don’t know if could get through the trial without you being there.”
“We’ll do it together. And once you win, you’ll get back in that studio and record that song you were writing and it’s going to launch you back into the stratosphere.”
“I like the way you think.”
“Yup.” He pecks my lips before I curl into his side. “Then it’ll be a world tour and I’ll be right there with you.”
“This is all sounding really good to me, but should we knock on wood?”
“You’re starting to sound like a hockey player.”
“I think it’s only safe considering I still have to make it through the trial.”
“We’ll do it together.”
“Thank you.”
I don’t know if I would be able to get through this alone. Sure, I’ve been doing it mostly on my own since it all started, but having someone you love by your side? It makes the hard things easier.
I’ll be with Jasper every step of the way as he heals from his injury. Just like he’ll be by my side during the trial.
I wouldn’t want it any other way.