Page 29 of Waiting for Friday Night

His jaw twitched as if he was going to say something before he shook his head. “If that’s what you want.”

“It is.”

“Fine,” he said easily.

“Fine,” she shot back. Once again, she felt as if there was more to be said. That even though he’d agreed with her, he still thought she was going to regret her words later.

Halle spun around and reached for the door. The bell rang just as she was swinging it open. Her gaze collided with Gregory’s, and she sucked in a breath.

Gregory’s eyes widened in surprise. He looked from Halle to Quinton standing behind her and back again. “Halle?”

She scrambled for words. “G... Gregory. What are you doing here?”

He held up a package. “Quinton’s mail was delivered to my place yesterday by mistake.”

“His package?”

Quinton stepped forward. His chest nearly brushed Halle’s back. She shivered as the heat of him seeped into her and scooted out of the way. He reached for the package. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

Halle frowned. “Why are you getting his packages?”

“I live at three fourteen and he’s three forty-one. Last week they mixed up our mailing addresses and we found out we were neighbors.” Gregory frowned. “What are you doing here? First thing in the morning?”

“She came about Shania,” Quinton spoke quickly.

Gregory’s frown deepened before a heartbeat later his face cleared up. “Something with football, right?”

Quinton opened his mouth, but Halle jumped in. “Yeah, something with football. Shania had a rough day yesterday and I wanted to talk to Coach Evans without everyone around. You know how I am about Shania.”

Gregory’s smile creased his face. “I do. If you’re done, I’d love to take you out for coffee.”

“She just had coffee,” Quinton said matter-of-factly.

Halle glared at him. “I didn’t finish it.” She turned back to Gregory. “I’d love to have coffee with you. And I was just leaving.”

“Good,” Gregory said. He reached out and took her hand. “Quinton, see you later.”

Quinton made some type of noise of agreement. He gave Halle one last look before turning and going into the house. Gregory squeezed her hand and led her off the porch. Halle didn’t look back as she fought of a weird feeling that she’d somehow wronged Quinton. Her life wasn’t going to change just because of this. Until she proved he really was Shania’s father, she wasn’t about to upend the good thing she had going for her.

Ten

A knock on his office door interrupted Quinton as he reviewed the drills he planned to run the kids through before their first scrimmage of the season. Zachariah stood at his door. “Umm, you got a second?”

Quinton pushed aside the three-ring binder that contained the outline of the drills he liked to run, some of them familiar ones, some plays he’d come up with over the years, and nodded. “Yeah, what’s going on?”

Zachariah looked over his shoulder before coming into the office and shutting the door. “I need to ask you something.”

Quinton frowned. Typically, Zachariah would come straight in, plop down in a chair and get straight to whatever was on his mind. He didn’t typically close Quinton’s door. Which meant his question couldn’t be good.

“What’s wrong?”

Zachariah shifted in his chair and wrung his hands. “Nothing, I hope. It’s just... I kind of overheard your conversation with Shania and Halle the other day.”

Quinton’s body stilled. “What part?”

“The part where you and her told Halle that she was your daughter.” Zachariah raised one bushy brow. “Is it true?”

Quinton swallowed and considered his words. Halle didn’t want this information out there already. Hell, he didn’t want the information out just yet. He didn’t doubt the online DNA results Shania showed him, but a part of him still didn’t feel like the situation was real. He was good with focusing on the ramifications of this after Halle got her second test.

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