Chapter 7 #2
“I work for SACC1. I’m one of those computer nerds, and I just moved here two months ago to head up the betting lounge expansions.”
“Oh, I can’t wait for you to meet Delaney.
She’s going to love you. She and Roxie complain all the time about being the women in the computer world,” Kate said with a tone that indicated she too knew the feeling.
“Unfortunately, Delaney is in Rahmi for the next week, I think. And, we both know you went to school with Knox and tutored him. Did you stay in touch after you graduated?”
“No. He was drafted and I was paying my dues at SA Tech.”
“No way!” Kate said, her voice rising. “You know Sebastian, too? He’s my cousin-in-law and lives in Keeneston half the time.”
“I don’t really know him. He was like five bosses up. However, if I can’t fix an issue I’m having with this program then I’m going to have to call him for help, which I don’t think will do wonders for my career.”
“Asking for help is always hard, but it has to be done sometimes,” Kate said sympathetically.
“Okay, ladies,” Knox said, rejoining them. “Here’s tea for you and an old fashioned for you.” Knox handed out the drinks and Quinn suddenly got nervous when Bette’s eyes sparkled with mischief.
“Knox,” Bette said innocently. “What was Quinn like in college?”
“Smart. She was a great teacher. I owe my degree to her. I managed to get a B in that advanced coding class all because of her. Of course, she was kind too. She spent way more time with me than she was required to make sure I understood the material. She was nice. So nice in fact that I learned the reason I had to give her my sweatshirt so often was because she’d given her own jacket to another student who didn’t have one. ”
“What else do you remember about Quinn?” Kate asked, now wearing a matching mischievous grin. Quinn was trying to insert herself into the conversation but Knox began to answer before she could stop him.
“Let’s see. When she was stressed, she liked to order lo mein.
Her favorite guilty pleasure was dark chocolate and a reality dating show.
She loves rom-coms because she said she was tired of spending all day with guys talking tech and wanted to remember that there’s romance in the world, too.
When she didn’t feel good, she wore these sweats that looked two sizes too big but she’d said they’d finally been properly worn in and she would never give them up. ”
“Period sweatpants are sacred,” Bette told him and Quinn blushed.
The men she worked with did not acknowledge hormones in any way.
They freaked if she complained of her cramps in any way.
She was with Karson for a year and he would short-circuit if she talked about it.
It was like they were so book smart they couldn’t compute things that happened in the real world that didn’t have to do with computers.
For as smart as they were, they were absolutely clueless about anything to do with the female body—probably why sex had been so uninspiring with Karson.
“Makes sense you’d just want comfort during that time.”
Quinn’s eyes shot over to Knox’s as she remembered something. “You always brought me a dark chocolate bar . . . did you know?”
“Wasn’t hard to figure out, Q. Any man would know if they paid attention. You always had headaches leading up to it. So, two days later I’d bring you chocolate and you’d show up in your sweats.”
“Oh, look,” Kate said before sputtering out as if she couldn’t think of what to say to finish the sentence.
“Is that a raccoon? We'd better go take a look,” Bette said quickly before she and Kate rushed off, leaving Quinn and Knox staring at each other.
“You saw me back then. Like, really saw me. Not as your tutor, but as a woman.” Quinn was shocked.
How did he, super jock with women constantly throwing themselves at him, care about getting her chocolate or ordering them lo mein, just because she was craving it when he knew she was stressed?
Knox smiled down at her and it was as if her whole world shifted under her at the realization that she’d been seen this whole time.
“And you saw me. Not as an athlete, but as a man. Why do you think I always found a reason to walk you home? To take you to dinner? To study a little longer? I loved it only being you and me.”
Quinn wanted to lean into Knox, hold on, and not wake up from this dream. Unfortunately, real life was a real part of her thoughts. She was under pressure with her job. If she didn’t figure out why the betting was being messed up, she could lose her job.
“I can see you’re worried about this,” Knox said, drawing her out of her thoughts.
“How about this? We enjoy dinner. You meet my friends and family then you let me take you home. I’ll walk you to your door, just like I did at college.
But this time I’m going to press my luck.
I’m going to kiss your cheek and ask you out for a dinner date, just the two of us, for tomorrow night. ”
Quinn began to open her mouth to say she wished she could, but needed to work, when Knox cut her off. “Don’t answer now. I’m giving you time to go through all the reasons you should say no, but then all the reasons you should say yes. Now, come meet my friends. They’re going to love you.”