Chapter 25 – QUINN
QUINN
Ididn’t want to leave, but I knew if I stayed, if we went another round or two, I wouldn’t. I’d fall asleep in his bed, in his arms, and I couldn’t do that. He knew it too. He didn’t try to stop me, but I could see he wasn’t happy about it either.
Thankfully, by the time I get to my room, everything is quiet.
I don’t hear anything coming from the room beneath mine, and I sink into bed and fall quickly to sleep, only to be woken by a loud noise.
I bolt upright, my hair landing across my face, and I scramble to brush it out of my eyes.
My blood pressure skyrockets, and I reach for my phone only to hear the sound again and realize it’s not coming from my phone.
It’s coming from my door.
What the hell?
I squint, noticing the sunlight creeping through the cracks in the curtains. My phone says it’s a little after eight, and I groan, shocked I slept this late when I haven’t slept past seven since college.
Another round of knocking and I climb out of bed, throw on a T-shirt and joggers, and peek through the hole.
“You better have coffee with you,” I warn before I open the door.
Crew is standing on the other side of the door, showered and dressed in his gameday gear.
“No, but it’s on its way. I ordered room service for us.”
I open the door wide, and he pushes past me. “No Mason?” I ask.
“Nah. He was on the phone with Sorel and Nolan and said he’d grab something before the bus takes us to the field.”
I shut the door and point to the table. “I’ll be back. Make yourself comfortable.”
“How were you still asleep? Late night with your medical crew?”
I hold in my smile as I go into the bathroom to pee and brush my teeth. I don’t answer him because I don’t like lying to my brother. More than that, Crew is my twin, my other half, and he knows me too well, including the rare occasions when I do lie.
I’m not sure how well Crew would take me sleeping with his coach.
The large age gap aside, a player’s coach is a big deal to them. These guys live, breathe, and bleed for their team, and in season, spend more time with them than they do their families. With that, they’re a brotherhood, and that includes the coaches.
A pang of guilt hits me.
The last thing I want is to cause an issue or disruption. And how will I explain this to Crew or Mason when I’ve already held so much of this back?
There’s a tap on the door, and Crew calls out that he’s got it. It’s likely our room service, but I hear him talking, his voice growing louder, and I crack the door open with my toothbrush hanging from my mouth and toothpaste suds all over my teeth and tongue so I can hear better.
“Dude, you shouldn’t be showing up at my sister’s room.”
“I wanted to see if she was up for some breakfast.” Russel. Wow, he has some serious balls coming here after he brought a woman to his room last night.
“She is. She’s having it with me.”
He sighs. “Fine. I’ll catch her later then.”
“Good stuff. Or not.” Crew shuts the door in Russel’s face, and I snicker, shaking my head.
“You heard that?”
I kick open the bathroom door and spit into the sink before I wash my mouth out. I nod at his reflection as he stands by the doorway, his arms folded and his brow arched in annoyance.
“I don’t like it, Quinn.”
I roll my eyes at him. “I don’t either, Crew. I wouldn’t have invited him in. I can promise you that nothing will happen between him and me. Chill out.”
He squints suspiciously. “Wait. What happened that has you saying that? You’re annoyed about something.”
“I’m not annoyed.”
“Quintin.”
“Crewsipher,” I retort snarkily.
“Answer me.”
“Last night after dinner, I got off on the wrong floor by accident. His room is one below mine, and I saw him with his face in a blonde’s chest.” I point to the door. “Now get out. I’m taking a quick shower before breakfast comes.”
He grunts but shuts the door behind him, and I strip out of my clothes and turn on the shower.
“Did you confront him for being a piece of shit ass twat? Wait. Do you think he cheated on you when you were together?” he yells through the door.
I step into the shower, needing to wash off a night of sex with Rhett. What a mess. That shouldn’t happen again, regardless of what he says. “No, and I have no clue.”
“You should have called him out. He’s making a full charge for you, at least outwardly and very publicly, and he’s full of shit. I should go kick his ass.”
“Don’t you dare!” I call out. “I can handle my own drama.”
“All I’m saying is you need to tell him it’s never going to happen. He thinks you’re going to be a thing. He was talking about it last night.”
I laugh. “You mean before his blonde. Oh, what if she were a hooker he hired?”
“Probably was. Safer than a random girl.”
I push my wet hair from my face. “Gross! You better not be speaking from experience.”
“I’m not. I swear. But, Quinn, he hasn’t gotten the message, but in fairness, you haven’t been totally clear. You need to tell him to fuck off once and for all.”
He may have a point. I’ve told him it wasn’t going to happen, but I also told him I’d think about us as friends.
Then again, I also stupidly believed his intentions with me were real.
I don’t know what he’s doing. It doesn’t make sense.
Or he simply wants to have his cake and eat it too and didn’t think he’d get caught.
He leaves it at that, and after I take my shower, wrap a towel around myself, grab my clothes, and change in the bathroom, our breakfast finally arrives.
I sip coffee and pick at a croissant and some scrambled eggs, while Crew devours two omelets, avocado, fruit, and some kind of green smoothie that he adds protein powder to.
“What’s up with you?” Crew asks as he sets his fork down.
I hold my mug in front of my lips. “What do you mean?” I take a sip and set it down on the small two-person table.
“You’re quiet. And you slept in. Are you feeling okay? Is it because of Russel?”
“No and I’m fine.”
“Quinnious…” he warns.
“My name isn’t Quinnious.”
“It is when you’re not telling me something.” He throws a piece of breakfast pastry at me. I pick it up off my shirt and toss it back at him, smiling victoriously when it hits his forehead.
I hate how perceptive he is. I don’t want to tell him though.
I’m not even sure what I would tell him.
Rhett and I didn’t exactly talk much last night.
He said it wasn’t only going to be one night, but that doesn’t mean it can be more than sex either.
It also might have been what guys say when their dick is hard, and the idea of sex on the regular is more than a little appealing.
There’s a reason we’ve skirted around this for two months, and regardless of last night, nothing has changed.
“I’m fine. Just tired.”
“You need a break. A real one. You work too much and too hard. You should take a vacation.”
“What’s that?” I quip, and his lips twitch.
“I’m serious.”
“I know you are, but I’m a surgeon.”
“And you have to be the best no matter the cost.” His lips twist with his sarcasm.
I shrug, hoping to blow this off. I know what he’s saying and where he’s going.
It bothers Crew that I push myself as hard as I do.
He works his ass off all year so he’s not one to talk.
We’re a high-achieving family. I trained for the Olympics harder than anyone, and I did that with my best friend.
We drove each other and set our bar high.
It was the best.
Then she betrayed me and had my name and achievements called into question, nearly sending me into a total emotional breakdown.
I put in everything I had into college, then medical school, before I met Russel.
I worked just as hard at training to be a doctor as I did at anything else, but I also worked my ass off to be with him.
Then he walked away from me and broke my heart.
Now I’m a surgical resident, and they call me Yang behind my back because I’m the fucking best and make no apologies for being as driven and determined as I am.
Maybe what happened to me has made me cold.
Detached. Wanting to be better and better as a fuck you to them.
What Kierra and Russel taught me is that I can’t control the actions of others.
I can’t stop the things they say about me.
I can only control what I do and who I am with that.
Rhett is the first person I made time for—other than my family and lifelong friends—since Russel. It makes me nervous.
“We have a bye week in four weeks,” he continues, pulling me from my thoughts. “We were talking about doing Hayes’s bachelor party then.”
I smirk. “Oh, and you want your sister tagging along for that?”
He smiles, showing off his pearly white teeth. “Hell no. But maybe you can talk to some of your people and—”
“Braelyn has been using up all her PTO to visit Roman in Germany while he’s there getting his restaurant up, and Skylar is due to have her baby next month.”
“What about Wren or Tinsley or people like that? I know Katy has a new baby, so she’s likely out.”
“I’m fine, Crew. Honestly. I don’t need you mothering me. Maybe I’ll take a few days off and chill out, or maybe I’ll enjoy the time in the OR and away from football. Either way, I’m good. Today is about you. Focus on your game.”
“I do focus on my game. But I also see the bigger picture with that. I can have a shitty day, and I can drop a bunch of passes, or I could get hurt tomorrow with a season-ending injury. There are things out there that are more important than your ambition. Finding them and accepting that as truth doesn’t make you weak or less.
You can have it all, Quinn. It doesn’t have to be either or. It simply has to be a healthy balance.”