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Chapter 33: I like a girl with a plan
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Keeping Score Chapter 34: Paradise ... and trouble
QUINNI'd spent my first two years of high school dreaming about being Leo's girlfriend. I'd built some amazing fantasies about what that would look like. None of those dreams even began to touch how wonderful it was. Over that winter, after football ended, we fell into a routine. Leo picked me up for school each day. We ate lunch together, and if I didn't always feel entirely comfortable with his football friends, that was a very small price to pay.Nate wouldn't eat with us, though. The first time I'd asked him, he'd looked at me like I'd sprouted a second head. "You want me to eat with Mike Anders and Brent Collins? No, thanks." I'd felt that familiar tearing sensation, the one that hit me whenever Nate wanted me to do one thing and Leo asked me to do another. I hated having to choose between them. But before I could say anything else, Nate had added, "Don't worry about me. I'm going to start working in the computer lab over lunch anyway."I convinced myself that he wou
Keeping Score Chapter 35: Are you kidding me?
QUINNI kept my phone close to me the rest of the night, but I didn't hear from Leo. My mom hadn't gotten any news from Leo's father, either, and we were all worried. Finally, the next morning, I messaged him.Are you okay? What's going on with your mom?Nearly two hours went by before he responded. Not sure. Call you later.Later turned out to be about seven that night, and when I heard Leo's voice through the phone, I wasn't sure whether to be hurt or furious. "Heyyyyyy, Quinn. Come on over, babe. I'm at Matt's. It's a party."I had been sitting at the dinner table with my parents when the call came in, and I marched out of the kitchen and up to my bedroom."Leo, what the hell? Are you drunk?""Maybe a leeetle bit." He laughed, and in the background, I heard the sound of music and other people talking. "I thought you were with your mom. I've been worried about her. And you.""Ah, no, babe. She's gonna be okay. But I miss you. Come on over here, 'kay? Guess what, Matt's
Keeping Score Chapter 36: Humble pie
LEO"Dude, you are so fucked." I groaned, holding the pillow to my head. "Danny, get the hell out of my room. Leave me alone.""Oh, you'll thank me later. Get up. Get a shower. Quinn's on her way over, and she's not going to be happy if you're still sleeping off your drunk."I blinked in the sunlight streaming through my windows, as memories of the last few days filtered into my head. Shit. My mom. Driving to Matt's Friday night after I'd left the hospital and getting wasted. We'd both slept the next day away, and then he'd said, "Man, you have to stay for the party. We don't hang enough anymore, all the team together. We need you. Team building, buddy."Somehow that had made sense, and I'd been drunk again by the time most of our friends arrived. I hadn't called Quinn, because I knew she wouldn't be happy; she hadn't wanted to come to Matt's tonight anyway. I was okay with putting off that conversation for a while.But then I'd seen all the guys hooking up. Taking girls up to t
Keeping Score Chapter 37: If you can't beat them
QUINNOnce upon a time, I'd thought that if Leo and I ever got together, if he ever admitted to loving me like I loved him, life would be perfect. We would never fight, and everything would be sunshine and roses. We'd live happily ever after.The last two months had opened my eyes to the absolute absurdity of that way of thinking. Leo loved me, I didn't doubt that. I loved him, more now than I had ever thought possible. Most of the time, he was sweet to me, funny and protective. Before spring football season began, I'd had no doubt that I was Leo's top priority. But lately, I felt like I'd been slipping down that list, until I fell somewhere below football and his friends. And today? Well, today I was furious. I'd already been a little worried about the bullying series, for the very reason Leo had listed. But it was actually going well so far, and our local newspaper had even picked up one of my articles, highlighting a problem in the schools that most people preferred to ignore. I
Keeping Score Chapter 38: Hard truths
LEOI was still a little hung over the next morning when my alarm went off. I texted Quinn that I was going in late to school, so she wouldn't be waiting for me to pick her up, but she never responded. I worried about that for about ten seconds before I went back to sleep.By the time I woke up again, it was after lunch. It seemed pointless to drag my ass into school for two classes, so I stayed home, planning to play the sick mom card that had given me so much wiggle room this year. I'd learned that all I had to tell them in the office was that my mom was still in the hospital, and my absence or tardiness was excused. It was like a get-out-of-jail-free card. Not that I wouldn't trade that for my mother being healthy again, of course, but I figured I needed any break I could catch just now.I'd just gotten a shower and was actually getting ready to go see my mother when the doorbell rang. Quinn, I thought. She'd gotten my text and was worried about me. I grinned a little, thinking t
Keeping Score Chapter 39: Things I never wanted to say
LEOI didn't sleep well that night. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Quinn's face. I heard her voice. I felt her body under mine. And then I heard Nate's words, and my father's, too. I wanted to stop hearing them. I wanted to forget what they'd said. They were both wrong, I knew they were. They had to be. Quinn and I were right together. We belonged with each other. We'd both made that clear. But I thought about what my dad had said. College was going to be hard. College football was going to be a full-time job, if I wanted to get into the pros. How would I juggle that along with making Quinn happy, if I couldn't even manage to do that when we were only in high school?And Quinn wanted to be a writer, wanted to be a journalist. Was I justified in denying her that chance, just because I needed to go to a college that would help funnel me into the pros? She could still study journalism wherever we went to school, and I was sure that was what she'd tell me if I brought up the sc
Keeping Score Chapter 40: Life went on
QUINNThe crazy thing was, life went on. I wasn't sure it would, or that I could. I left the school that day, walked home-I'd walked to school that morning, since Leo hadn't texted about picking me up-and I locked myself in my room. I cried until my eyes were too swollen to see out of. When my mother knocked on my door to tell me dinner was ready, I told her I didn't feel well and didn't want to eat. That was understandable, given that I'd claimed food poisoning the day before. When she pushed the issue, worried, I claimed killer cramps, which I knew would buy me as much alone time as I needed. I slept badly that night, when I did sleep. Since the next day was Saturday, I didn't have to go to school. I had another two days to hide and figure out what my life was going to look like now. Once the shock wore off and the tears had stopped, I came to a few decisions. I wasn't going to tell my mom and dad what had really happened. I couldn't. I loved Lisa and Mark, and I didn't want m
Keeping Score Chapter 41: Coming clean
NATEMy last year of high school was my best one.First of all, my health was better than ever. Good old Dr. Randall came through with a new protocol, and while I was on that, my energy and strength were boosted. My immunity was increased, too, so I didn't pick up every bug that came around the school. That was a relief, to me and to my parents.And then there was the fact that we were now at the top of the high school food chain. There was no one older to pick on me, and the guys in my own class had matured enough that they didn't mess with me anymore. Brent Collins had even become almost friendly, out of guilt, I assumed.But best of all, Quinn wasn't with Leo.I'd worried for a while that they might get back together. I was aware, even if she wasn't, that Leo was suffering from their distance as much as Quinn was. When she didn't know it, he'd stare at her, his eyes hungry. He gave her lots of space, but I also heard that the Lion wasn't roaring so much anymore. He partied, yes
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Keeping Score Chapter 131: Days of You and Me
QUINNThe party was in full swing, with music blaring and the dance floor crowded. I was sitting on Leo's lap, with his arms circling my waist as we chatted with Zelda and Tucker. "Hey, did you see that?" Zelda nodded toward the crush of dancing couples. On the very edge, Gia was slow dancing with Tate Durham. She stared up into his face as he murmured to her, and I glanced back at Zelda with raised brows. "When did that happen?" I'd spent quite a bit of time lately with Zelda and Gia, who were both my bridesmaids, but Gia hadn't mentioned anything about Tate Durham. I didn't even realize she knew him, although thinking back, they must've met at Carolina, when we used to go see Leo and Matt."Got me. But they look mighty cozy.""She deserves a little happiness. And Tate's a good guy." Leo, who had been talking to Tucker about how brutal mini-camp had been this year, picked up on my last words. He followed my gaze to Gia and Tate and smirked. "Well, it's about time." "Hey.
Keeping Score Chapter 130: The best choice I ever made
QUINNThanks to the security team that we'd hired to keep the media and the curious public at bay, I could only barely see the people lining the perimeter of the roped-off section of the beach. I knew they were there, but it was okay; today of all days, I wanted to share all of my happiness with everyone and anyone. Behind me, the folding chairs that had been arranged on the portable wooden floor-and who knew they had such things!-were filled with our loved ones. We had quite a crowd, for what we'd both termed a small, intimate wedding, but then we were very blessed with both friends and family. My mother sat in the front row, flanked by Joe and Lisa on one side and Mark and Sheri on the other. Leo and I had dispensed with the silly idea of the bride's side and groom's side. We shared so many friends that making them choose which one of us to support would have been crazy. And our parents had decreed early on that they were all going to sit together, forming a united front. The
Keeping Score Chapter 129: We earned this happily ever after
QUINNWe'd been waiting in the empty, echoing corridor outside the locker room for twenty minutes. The guard had kindly but firmly told us that we couldn't go any further, but after Ellie had cajoled him, he'd promised to give us any update he heard and to talk to the trainer about letting us in as soon as it was possible. People swooshed through the hall, to and fro, but none of them showed us the least bit interest. A couple of reporters straggled down, but a non-life-threatening injury to a second year player who was only just beginning to show his strength wasn't exactly breaking news. I tried not to be bitter about that, thinking of all the times the press had hounded us about stupid stuff since Leo had been in college. One of the journalists was live streaming the game on his phone, with the volume pumped. Apparently the Rebels had made the extra point after Leo's touchdown, but New York had come back to score ten points after that-a fast touch down and then a field goal. Th
Keeping Score Chapter 128: Number 22 is down
QUINN"There's my boy!" Joe clapped his hands and whistled as the Rebels took the field for their first possession in the second half. We were up by two field goals, but with a team like New York, that wasn't quite a comfortable margin. "I told him we wanted to see him score today." Lisa nudged me. "Both times, it's happened when we weren't at the game. It's starting to give me a complex."I laughed. "I missed one of them, since it was on the road. So don't take it personally." Down on the field, the center snapped the ball into Gideon's hands. The quarterback stutter-stepped backwards, looking for an open receiver and then fired a pass downfield to a wide receiver, who caught the ball and took off. The crowd jumped to its collective feet, cheering him on. He made it to the twenty-eight-yard line before he was forced out of bounds by a New York player. We sat back down as the chains moved, and Joe patted my back. "This is going to be it, this next play. You watch. I've got a
Keeping Score Chapter 127: Family reunion
QUINN"I never knew it got so cold down south." Lisa Taylor wrapped her scarf a little more securely around her face. "I'm glad I remembered my gloves."On the other side of me, her husband leaned over. "Well, it is December, Lisa. You can't expect beach weather. Virginia isn't that far south."I bit my lip and tried not to laugh. Leo's parents had been down here for the last three days, visiting on what Joe called a 'pre-wedding mini-vacation' and what Lisa referred to as 'Joe's attempt to keep me from killing people'. Although they never really argued, they sniped at each other all the time, which made it less than fun to be around them. Apparently, being the parents of the groom was almost as stressful as being the bride's family. Simon had called us last week, griping about the tensions between Justine's parents and his own."You've got to take them off my hands for a little while, Leo. Please, I'm begging you." Neither of us had ever heard Simon sound so desperate. "All of the
Keeping Score Chapter 126: This is our time
LEOThe past and present jumbled for a moment in my mind. I had a sudden flash of memory, the feel of those legs wrapped around my back as I sank down into her, the weight of her breasts in my hands, the taste of her ...it was all so vivid and so immediate that I gave myself a little pinch to make sure she was really here now, and that I wasn't in the middle of some psychedelic mind trip. Then she smiled at me and spoke, her voice low and teasing, and I knew this was real. "Are you going to say something, or are you going to just lay there gaping at me? You're kind of freaking me out. I'm starting to worry that you're second-guessing the whole forever thing.""Babe. Never." I sat up and crooked my finger. "Come here. I'd go to you, but I seem to have lost the feeling in my legs."Quinn took a few steps closer to me, just beyond my reach. "You know, I realized something while I was getting changed.""Oh, yeah? What's that?" My eyes were glued to her fingers playing with the hem of
Keeping Score Chapter 125: For the rest of our lives
LEOI let her body slide down mine until her feet hit the floor. Looping my arms around her waist, I held her to me. "Mia, I know we've still got things to work out. I want to keep at it. I don't want to bury our shit under a rug or pretend we're perfect. But I want to deal with all of it together. I want us to be together, and not just for now, not until we see if things are good. I want you to live with me here, in this house I picked out because I could see you all over it."Quinn rested her cheek against my chest. I felt her tears soaking into my shirt, and I could only hope and pray that they were the happy kind. Swallowing hard, I went on, laying everything on the line and going for broke. In the back of my mind, I heard the old Eatonboro High Eagles chant: Go big or go home."Mia Quinn." I dropped to my knees and held both of her hands tightly in mine. "I love you beyond my ability to express it. I've loved you for so long that I can't remember when my heart didn't beat for y
Keeping Score Chapter 124: Redux
LEOThe last time Quinn had been in my house, I'd been in agony, wanting her and yet knowing the timing wasn't right yet. So as I led her up the steps and to my front door, I was determined to erase all the bad memories and replace them with only good ones.Before I turned the doorknob, I paused, gazing down at her. "The day I found this townhouse, I'd been looking at places all day. My mom was with me. Everyone had told me not to buy right away, in case I didn't last the season in Richmond or if I got traded or whatever, but I had a hunch. I knew I wanted to buy a place to live and not be just renting. I was ready for something permanent."She nodded, expectant. "I couldn't put my finger on why none of the houses seemed quite right. Then I realized it was because I couldn't see you in any of them. When I stood here for the first time, though, I turned around and looked at the neighborhood, the front lawn ...the view." I steered Quinn by the shoulders, pulling her back against me
Keeping Score Chapter 123: About time
QUINNBy the second half, Leo seemed to have found his rhythm. He caught several more passes and ran for a decent amount of yardage. When the clock hit all zeros, Richmond had won by ten points. I was ready to sprint down to the locker room, but Ellie caught my arm. "There's no rush, honey. Look." She pointed to the field, where the players were still milling around. "They'll be out there for a bit, doing some on-field interviews, and then they'll be in the locker room for a while before the post-game press conference. I doubt either Leo or Corey will be part of that today, but still-we don't want to be hanging out in the hallway until right before they come out. It's a mess. The press is there, and the jock junkies." She wrinkled her nose. "Okay." I sat down again. "So we just ...stay up here?""Yeah." Ellie lifted one shoulder. "Most of the wives take off and wait in the parking lot or meet their husbands at home. Corey and I have a tradition of meeting in the hall, so I don't
