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His arms come around my waist. “Only that I’m going to lose you. I wish you would tell me what you need to do so I can help.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’ll all work out,” he whispers. He pulls me closer. “I’m going to make it work out.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

I’m so exhausted from the insanity of yesterday that I sleep in longer than usual on Saturday morning. But as soon as I’m coherent, I force myself to text Kashvi to ask if I can come over to talk.

Kashvi:I’m out right now, but can you stay after the game?

Quinn:I really need to talk to you before. It might not takelong.

There’s a pause as a text bubble pops up to let me know she’s writing back.

Kashvi:I should be done in an hour or two. I’ll text you when I’m home.There’s a pause and then another text pops up.Is everything okay?

I bite the inside of my cheek.

Quinn:Yeah. See you soon.

I take my time getting ready and finally go downstairs to find my parents still in their pajamas, whispering over their coffee cups.

“Late night?” I ask, surprised. Usually they’re up early.

Dad takes a long sip of coffee. “Yesterday was a roughone.”

“Yeah, I slept like death,” I reply. “Have you talked to Grandma this morning?”

“I called when I got up,” Dad says. “She sounded good. Almost contrite, though that won’t last long, knowing my mother. How are you feeling?”

“No pain if that’s what you mean.” I sit down on the couch.

“Are you heading out immediately?”

I check my phone, but there’s still no word from Kashvi that she’s ready. “No.”

“Would you mind picking Andrew up from Brennans Cafe?” Mom asks. “I dropped him off this morning, but I have some work I need to catch up on. It would be a bighelp.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. What’s he doing there? Is it a fundraiser for soccer or something?”

Dad and Mom exchange an amused glance. “Andrew’s on a coffee date.”

I laugh. “A coffee date? He’sfifteen.”

“I guess the girl was hesitant and this is all she’d agree to,” Dad says with a chuckle.

Interesting. Andrew has to put some work in with this girl. I like her already.

I grab my keys. “Well, you’ve piqued my interest now.”

“Hey, Quinn?”

I turn to find Mom studying me. “We’ve watched a few of your livestreams. I hope you don’t mind.”

My shoulders hunch forward. Ugh, there’s too much on my mind right now to get into a big discussion about this,particularly if they’re about to remind me of other extracurriculars I could be doing on the weekends or that they “don’t get” why I spend my time on D&D.

Dad puts his mug on the coffee table. “I can’t say I understand it—”