Page 3 of Out of Bounds
Different?Urgh. But I’m not trying to charm the pants off Annie Quinn, so I decide to let the word hang in the suddenly very hot air between us. Is it me or is the sun getting stronger?
Annie rolls her eyes in response and I smile. I’ve seen her roll her eyes this way at her brother several times.
Annie Quinn the student, the baby mama, the girl who recently lost her own mama. Finally, my brain catches up with normality, respectability, ordinary greeting protocols. “How’re you doin’, girly?”
“Better than you’ll be doing if you tackle me to the ground like that again.”
I chuckle, mostly at her fierce pout.
“Sorry about that, the sun got in my eyes. I thought I was seeing stars but it turns out it was just the brightest girl at training.”
She looks around us. “I’m the only girl at training.”
“Still the brightest, though.” I wink again –gotta stop that.
“Well, not that it’s my fault but I apologize for spilling my entire horchata that I was enjoying immensely all over your too-tight shirt.”
I look down at my uniform, trying not to give her my trademark Danny Zuko laugh because I know it’s a secret flirt weapon.
“What’s horchata?” I draw a finger across my lips and lick it. She watches me taste the sweet, creamy drink.
“In a nutshell, rice milk with cinnamon over ice. It’s Mexican. Or Spanish.”
“Tastes good.” For a very inappropriate split-second, I glance to those pursed lips and wonder how horchata tastes on them. Then I have to remind myself this is Colton Quinn’s little sister. I must be twelve years older than her.
I cough, tucking the football I caught under my arm like a safety blanket: a reminder of guy code, teammate code, the fact I don’t date in season and I cannotevertaste horchata from the lips of Quinn’s sister.
“I hear you restarted college today,” I say,appropriately.
She nods, blushing, for some reason.Is she embarrassed?Even that looks good on her.
I throw the football back to the offensive coach – confident that my knock to the head has worn off.
“So Sister Quinn, to what do we Bears owe the honor?” I ask, ruffling the sweaty hair on my head.
“I’m waiting for a ride back to the ranch.”
“With Colton?”Well, duh.
“Unless Coach Roy is gonna start chauffeuring me around the state.”
“Alright, sassy pants.” Her lips curve up and she quickly looks down, pretending I’m not entertaining. I know I am, though, because I’ve collected the players’ award for funniest guy on the team in five of my thirteen years with the Bears. I rub my thick beard – freshly groomed for pre-season. “I meant?—”
“Why don’t I drive myself?” she asks. “I can’t drive. I took the bus here because I don’t have a license.”
“The bus? Come on now. I’ve seen you riding bareback on your mare. Don’t tell me you can control a horse but you can’t control a vehicle that can basically drive itself.”
She shakes her head. “Nope. I mean, I can drive my daddy’s truck and all but not off our land.”
“A technicality,” I say, making her laugh. It’s a gentle sound, unlike her quick quips. It softens her face, makes her look her age. It suits her and something tells me she hasn’t been laughing much lately. Perhaps it’s the way she cuts it short.
“Yeah, well, I don’t want to speak to the sheriff about a technicality now, do I? I’m the talk of the town enough as it is these days.” She shrugs. “And I never could seem to get through the driving test. I failed three times, then gave up.”
The talk of the town. She says it quickly and moves on like it doesn’t bother her. I never had the best GPA but I do know how to read people and Annie Quinn is not so easy-breezy about being the subject of gossip as she’d have me believe.
I watch her, the way her expressions change a million times a minute. She’s in her head. I know because I’ve spent years in my head, as a kid, as a baller. It’s an exhausting place to be. “Where’s Nelson?” I ask.
“Home. With the new nanny.” It’s subtle but her words break as she says them, and something in my chest twinges in response. This girl has had a long day and wants to get home to her baby, give him a hug and put her feet up.
