Chapter 26

chapter twenty-six

Gavin

Half the week slips away in a whirlwind of football and classes, and even though I don't see Quinn, I think about her and how bad I want to kiss her the majority of those three days.

I'm sitting in the quad on a bench waiting for my next class when I see Trinity out of the corner of my eye.

Shit .

"Hey, Gavin. Whatcha doing?"

I look around for my scapegoat, but come up empty handed. "Waiting on Levi to get out of class."

"Wanna grab some food in the dining hall?"

I stand up, trying to get the hell out of here, but she stops me. "Gavin, what is wrong with you? We hung out all summer and now you won't even look at me."

Trinity seems like a good person, which is why it's hard to reject her so publicly like this.

"I'm sorry," I sigh. "I thought I was clear when I said I didn't want anything serious. The season started…"

My heart flips against my ribcage when I see Quinn and Ava walking our way. Her blonde hair is blowing and I watch her eyes move to myself and Trinity.

Quinn's expression falls, and Trinity's head turns to her.

"Don't lie to me, Gavin. You just didn't want anything serious with me."

I don't know how to argue with her, because she's right. She stamps her foot like a toddler and stalks away, but Quinn doesn't move in my direction. She doesn't move at all. I walk to her, and sigh. "Ava, can I have a minute with Quinn?"

Ava looks at her and Quinn nods reassuringly, allowing her roommate to walk away.

"That isn't what it looked like." I defend, rubbing the back of my neck, nervously.

"Really?" she asks, "It looks like you told her that whatever thing you had going on was ending judging by the little tantrum she just threw."

"Well I did," I admit, "But it's nothing like us. Trinity and I hooked up a few times over the summer when I was here for workouts, before I met you."

"So it wasn't serious?" She asks, fidgeting with her bracelets.

I grab her hand and pull her into me, "No. God no."

She melts into my chest, and I love the way she fits against me. Like she's meant to be there.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," I say. "I hate that you did, but I needed to tell her the truth. I wish there were no girls before you."

She smiles, "We all have a past, Phoenix. It's okay. You've been dealing with mine since you met me."

I can't help but smile as I wrap my hand through her hair and behind her neck, whispering in her ear. "You are my favorite thing to deal with."

Kissing her neck, I take my lips down to her collarbone before pulling away. Levi clears his throat, interrupting our moment, and causing Quinn's head to turn.

"Good to see you, Quinn. You ready to go, Gav? Coach wants us to watch some film from last week."

"Yeah," I nod. "You wanna come by later? I can cook for you?"

Her brows shoot up, "Cook for me?"

"Yeah," I shrug. "Pick you up around seven-ish?"

"Ok," She agrees, and the smile that invades her face is adorable. "See you later, Phoenix."

Levi laughs out loud, and I elbow him in the ribs. Shut the fuck up, asshole. It's cute.

She walks away and I watch her for as long as I can before Levi starts to pry. "What is that? Are y'all dating?"

I shrug, unsure how to even answer that. "No, we're just hanging out."

"But you want to date her?" He asks, and it comes out more of a question than a statement.

"I really like her. So yeah, I'd date her."

His eyes widened, but I know it's not because I said I liked her.

"You've never dated anyone. Not exclusively."

I can feel the shock in his statement, so I try to make him understand. "When I told you the other day I was serious about Quinn, I meant it."

He still stares at me, eyes wide. "I just don't know how to picture you with a girlfriend."

"It's easy," I laugh. "Just picture me the same way I am now, just with Quinn."

He rolls his eyes, "Smart ass. Let's get to this stupid meeting."

"Yeah," I sigh. "I wanna cook for my girl."

He winces, "Do you even know how to cook?"

"Of course," I say, offended. "You forget that you grew up with dad breathing down your neck. I grew up with mom breathing down mine."

He stops walking, "Are you ever gonna try with dad? It seems like he's tried so hard this past year and you've done nothing but push him away."

I can't keep the words back, "I'm not you, Levi. He wants me to be you so bad he can't stand it, and if it wasn't for football, dad would want nothing to do with me. Just like before."

He looks stunned, but it's not enough to shut him up. "He's trying with you, Gav. You aren't even giving him a chance. Maybe he's trying to make it right. You know? Make up for all those years when he wasn't the best dad."

I can feel my jaw tightening, "I don't need him. I don't need the constant pushing and stress. I don't want it."

"What do you want, Gavin? Because right now, it doesn't seem like it's football."

I want to tell him that he's right. That it's not football. That football doesn't make me happy anymore because of all the stress that comes with it, but I don't because even though he's saying all this shit to piss me off, he's still my brother. The least I can do is play ball.

"I'm doing it aren't I? I'm there and I'm doing my best. That should be enough, Levi."

He shakes his head in dismissal and we both walk to my truck, because if we're late for film Coach will be pissed, and if we aren't ready to play our hearts out on the field on Saturday? We might as well kiss our personal lives goodbye.

I need to get my head in the game because I refuse to give up my personal life when things are just starting to fall into place for me, whether Levi likes it or not. If it comes down to Quinn or football, he might not like the outcome.

Even if it ruins everything I've worked for. Even if it means trading football for a job to pay for school.

Playing with those dogs on Sunday and spending the day doing something I wanted to do made me realize something. It was high past time that I started doing things that make me happy.