Page 39 of Levi

“Awesome” I tell them before grabbing the rest of my things.

Part of me wishes they didn’t want to, that they were too tired and just wanted to crash, so I could go home and have Quinn all to myself. But unfortunately, I have to share her with my friends. Her time, I mean—definitely nother.

She didn’t have to come in today because another trainer had the day’s appointments, so she was able to spend her time at home getting stuff done and relaxing, which I think was good for her. When our previous head coach and Coach Ronnie switched jobs, they both chose to bring their Head Trainers, and when Coach Ronnie’s previous one decided to retire, he negotiated to bring Quinn.

She earned the position, had all the credentials and background for the position, but it’s sometimes hard to convince people to hire younger candidates, especially when they are in a managerial role. Thankfully they did, because although being the Head Trainer means she’s in charge of all the other trainers on staff, and it may come with a slight learning curve, she’s been doing it so well.

I feel like we’ve fallen into a little rhythm ever since we went bowling last week, sort of like that day and night were the catalysts that pushed us into some unknown territory. It hasn’t been a huge shift…well, except for her giving me the best blowjob of my life. Yeah, that night was fantastic. But nothing else has happened since then, unless you count holding hands and a casual peck here and there at work. Still, everything just feels...different.

Before that day, I was so sure that we were fake dating for the public eye, just to help us both out. What I didn’t realize was that, the entire time, Quinn had known the real reasons I tried to stay in Nashville. Not only did she keep those reasons a secret, but she also went to bat for me, tried to help me out, even when I turned down her offer.

Knowing she was doing that for me with zero expectation for her to do so…it meant more than I realized and definitely helped give me the push I needed. That night, everything changed in my mind. It was when we went from fake dating in the public eye and sort of being friends, to fake dating in public with real fooling around in private.

It wasn’t only the fooling around aspect that changed for me either. It felt like I no longer had to pretend—at all—when it came to being around Quinn. Things were easy, relaxed, and I liked spending time with her.

It’s almost scary.

I keep getting this feeling that something is going to happen, that the other shoe is going to drop, and I’m going to be left on my ass with a broken heart. I know I should be putting my guard up, but I’m tired of it. It’s exhausting to feel like I have to constantly shield myself, and I’m at the point with Quinn where I think it’s taking more of a toll on me to hold myself back than it would to just give it a shot.

But getting myself to actually follow through with it?

That’s another story.

* * *

“Will someone come revive me?I just got fucking surrounded again,” Cooper groans from his bean bag chair.

“On it,” Nash says as he runs across the map to get Coop.

“Thanks, man, I keep fucking dying and it’s pissing me the fuck off,” Cooper says, and I laugh.

We’ve been playing video games for the last hour or so, something we try to fit in at least a couple of times a month if our schedules allow it. It’s always a shit show when it’s hockey season, but we try to figure it out.

Tonight, Jax wasn’t able to make it, which actually makes things easier since there are only four people allowed in a party for this game. Usually, it’s Cooper who has to bail, but that’s just because his schedule is more than any of us have to manage—he’s a dad to little Lucas who is his entire life, so sometimes it’s hard to get him to spend more time with us. Thankfully Hailey, Lucas’s aunt, is his nanny, so we can steal him away every once in a while.

But tonight it works with four because now we don’t have to take turns like we normally do. We always make it work, especially since one of us is always fucking off to the kitchen, on the phone, or just completely sidetracked and telling a story. So we just switch off when that happens.

Quinn got home about half an hour ago and laughed when she saw us all slumped around the TV room, headsets on, snacks and drinks spread around while shooting shit and cussing at the screens.

I’m sure we looked ridiculous, so I’m glad all we got was a laugh before she slipped off toward the kitchen. I wanted to follow her out of the room, wrap her in my arms, kiss her, and ask her how her day was, but I was afraid of freaking her out. I’m terrified of making this something she doesn’t want so I’m thankful that I was in the middle of a game, forced to keep my ass in this seat.

I’ve been thinking and overthinking the other night because, apparently, watching her suck me off in the back of my truck after swapping personal stories was all it took to shift my outlook enough to see that maybe she might actually be interested in more ofmethan just my dick.

“Let’s find the exfiltration point on the map after this round. I need to piss and grab a snack before my stomach eats itself,” Asher says as the round switches, and we can finally leave this place.

“I’m in,” I tell them, ready to go find Q.

But she must hear my thoughts because right as we leave the map, she walks into the TV room with the biggest tray of nachos I’ve ever seen in my life, complete with bowls of all the fixings you could think of, including homemade guacamole.

“What’s all that?” I say, setting my controller down as the game ends.

“Food. You guys looked like you could use some fuel, and I’ve been craving nachos since the other night, so I whipped some up,” she says.

“Nachos? I love nachos,” Cooper says as he jumps up to grab a chip, looking at Quinn with a cheesy smile. “Will you marry me?”

I wanna punch him, but thankfully, Nash smacks him upside the back of his head.

“Let’s not give Levi a reason to get in another fight. We all know how much it pisses Coach off when he gets rowdy,” Nash lectures, always the peacekeeper. But in this case, he’s not wrong.

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