Page 21 of No Place Like Home

Nothing could reach me if I didn’t think on it. I put all those feelings away, and back in the little boxes they went.

My arms were wrapped around Q’s waist; he was trim, but full of hard edges, where I was thin and bony.

“So—”

“Don’t, it’s cool.” I pulled away and quickly averted my eyes away from him.

I hadn’t had a breakdown in forever, and I’d decided to have one with Q. With Mr. I’m Famous.

Crap.

“Jessa.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Look at me.”

I didn’t want to, but I did.

“It’s cool. We’re cool. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. Women can’t help themselves. They always throw themselves at me.”

I punched his stomach.

“Fuck,”he hissed. “Shit, why would you do that?”

Q grabbed my hand while I moved my fingers to ensure I hadn’t hurt them.

“You’re so full of yourself.”

Q grinned. “We both know I could have any woman in this town.”

“Almost any woman,” I amended.

“Almost,” he agreed.

There was something wicked in his gaze, but I ignored it. My stomach felt queasy when I noticed we were back by our cars. Simba waited patiently by Q’s car.

“He’s ready to go home,” I said.

“Yeah, it’s been a long day. We got in last night.”

“How long are you in town for?” I asked as we stood between our cars, neither of us saying goodbye yet.

“Not sure. Not long, though. The season’s over, but there's more work I’ve gotta do. Some campaigns and charity events. I came back because Max said they had a few houses on the market.”

“Which one did you like?”

The new houses were amazing, something that I had only ever seen on Zillow, but Max gave us a private tour. They were way too big and had too much space for just one family, but they were beautiful.

“I’m going tomorrow morning. You’ve seen them?”

“Yeah, they’re dope. My favorite is the navy blue with the cobblestone pillars. The backyard has more tree coverage, making it seem like you have the lake all to yourself. Juliet and Max were ready to move out, but Jake convinced Juliet otherwise, and there’s no way Freya is moving out of that house Max built her.”

“They’re good people. You know Freya and Em send me a cookie basket before every game. My teammates love them.”

I smiled. It was something they’d been doing since he went away to college. Blake and I used to get them once a month or after finals.

He opened his mouth and closed it. I looked around, noticing everything was starting to shut down.

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