Page 106 of Heart of Gold
“Because I’m an idiot. Take me to Gavin’s please.”
She pulls up outside and I see his truck, immediately feeling the ache in my heart begin to settle. He’s here. Thank God.
She lets me out and I bang on the door until my fist hurts, and finally start using my hand openly. “Gavin!”
The neighbor comes outside and I realize that I must look crazy because the man is looking at me over the rim of his glasses like he’s contemplating calling the cops.
I wave shyly at the man and continue to beat on the door. I hear Daisy begin to bark and finally he pulls the door open. I leap into his arms and squeeze him so tight that there wouldn’t be a chance he could leave. He needed to hear what I was about to say.
“It’s you, Gavin. It will always be you.”
He sits me down but his hands never leave my hips.
“This was the worst weekend of my life. I never wanted you to feel like I was choosing him over you, I just didn’t know what to do. I’ve been so conditioned to the same thing for so long that I made the mistake of falling right back into that same pattern.When you walked away from me that night I’d never felt that feeling before. It was the worst pain I’d ever felt.”
He stares down at me with a wetness brimming his lashes. “It’s okay, Quinn. I wanted to protect you from all the things that were circulating online so I thought a hard launch was the right thing to do. I hate when people talk shit about you, especially when I know the real you. I shouldn’t have pushed a relationship on you when you told me you weren’t ready.”
He looks so gorgeous, hair damp from the shower he must’ve just taken, and it’s the way he looks at me. It’s like there’s no one else in the world.
“I was ready.” I admit. “I was just afraid. I felt like it was my responsibility to dance around everyone’s feelings. I didn’t want to be responsible for single-handedly dismantling the Eagle football team.”
The corner of Gavin’s mouth tilts into a smirk, “Eagles are doing pretty good. Even dismantled. I just wanted you to do what was best for you, I always want that.”
“I do too.” I say. “Which is why I think you should focus more on things that you want. If you don’t want to play football, quit. I’ll help you figure out how you can pay for school. I want you for who you are, not because you can catch a pass one handed while diving into the endzone. Although, that is pretty impressive.”
He chuckles, “Football isn’t so bad when you are in the stands wearing my jersey.”
“Oh, yeah?” I tease.
“Yeah,” he laughs. “Before this last game, football almost started to feel fun again.”
“Well,” I start. “If you want me in the stands in your jersey, that’s exactly where I’ll be.”
“Promise?”
I tilt my eyes to his, “Promise.”
chapter forty-six
Gavin
Six weeks later
“Can you look over this NIL deal for me before I sign this?”
Quinn gives me the stare, “You need to give it to a lawyer.”
She reads it over and then hands it back to me, “You need to give it to a lawyer, Gav. What happens if you get injured? What happens if you transfer? There’s a lot of variables and I don’t want you to get screwed. It is a lot of money, definitely enough to pay for anything you could want, but I don’t want you to be stuck in some kind of expensive litigation in the future.”
I stare at her, “You are the smartest person I know.”
She rolls her eyes, “You are just trying to seduce me with compliments.”
“Is it working?” I laugh.
She grabs the leash and hooks Daisy up to go outside, “Come on, girl. Daddy is insatiable.”
I laugh and watch them walk out the door, an immense amount of pride filling my bones because I don’t know how I got so lucky.
