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That evening after his surprise run-in with Rae, Quinn stopped at the bar to tell the guys all about it, and to thank Chris for setting it up.

He wasn’t sure if he’d have had the guts to go if he’d actually known it was Rae’s office.

He’d spent the whole day buzzing with new energy- and okay, maybe he’d rushed back to his hotel to relieve some of that insane sexual tension- a few times.

Fuck, who knew some purely clinical arm palpations and proximity to Rae’s lips could leave him reeling like that?

It wasn’t just him either this time. He could see it. Rae had definitely been feeling the tension, too. The way she had licked her lips and concentrated so hard on his. The uptick in her pulse was visible in the soft curve of her neck.

Quinn relayed each detail of the interaction to Chris and Jett from his seat at the bar where he ate a grilled turkey club. “...and then before I left,” he paused for dramatic effect, “we almost kissed. I think.”

Chris snorted and shook his head as he buffed a tumbler, “You almost kissed, you think?”

Jett poured a tall beer for another customer down the bar, “Wow, twenty years of foreplay and you almost kissed. I’m scandalized.”

“You guys weren’t there. It was intense,” said Quinn defensively. “If that receptionist girl hadn’t walked in and killed the mood, who knows what would’ve happened?”

Chris and Jett both snickered and Quinn’s defensive tone heightened, “What? ”

“You would’ve chickened out like you always do when it comes to Rae,” Jett replied, sliding a Jack and Coke down to a server.

“I don’t chicken out. I’ve been with a lot- a lot - of hot women guys only dream about, okay? I don’t strike out when it comes to the ladies,” Quinn said around a large bite of sandwich.

“Maybe not ladies you have no intention of seeing again,” Chris shrugged, “but Rae?”

“You’ve never exactly been able to step up to the plate where she’s concerned,” Jett added.

“Baseball puns? Is that what we’re doing?” Quinn asked flatly, sidestepping the- admittedly fair point his friends were making.

“All we’re saying is you couldn’t tell her how you felt back then, and now you’ve got the perfect opportunity to make up for it,” said Jett.

“And don’t forget you’ve got a bad rep,” Chris said, pulling a tray out and filling it with drinks for a lingering server. “She’s already been played and I don’t think she’s looking for another Emerson.”

“I would never do that to her.” Not a chance. Though he had screwed up in the past and hurt her before without ever meaning to.

“You just need to show her that you’re serious,” Jett said. “Assuming that’s what you want. If all you’re trying to do is sleep with the girl you couldn’t get in high school, I’m going to kindly ask you to fuck off. But if you still think you want her for real, you’ve got some work to do.”

Of course he still wanted her. He knew to some extent that he’d still been crazy about her all these years, even if he had been drowning himself in one meaningless hook-up after another.

He could still remember the day he realized he was falling for her.

It had hit him like a physical punch. He knew they were too young to start anything serious, but the longer he waited the more nervous he got, the task seemed astronomically daunting.

And then when he'd finally felt ready, some other guy got there first. By the time they'd finished their short-lived fling, Quinn had already fucked up.

And when he got the second chance he probably didn't deserve, he'd managed to fuck it up again.

And now he was back, asking for another undeserved swing for the one woman who'd never left his thoughts, and it suddenly seemed critical that he get it right this time.

Looking up at his friends, he met their meaningful gazes and they each gave silent nods as though they knew exactly what he was thinking.

A rush of fresh air entered the bar as the front door opened.

A grin tugged up the corner of Quinn’s lips as he spotted Rae entering, blonde hair blowing back slightly as the door closed behind her.

She met his gaze with a reserved smile. His heart was hammering as a flood of old memories washed over him.

He swallowed hard. This was it. He was in the bottom of the ninth with two strikes.

Three strikes, you’re out.

“You guys are dicks,” Quinn grumbled, sitting on a beach towel as Chris and Jett tossed a football back and forth on the beach of Lake Michigan. It was only a short walk from here to where he’d met Rae for the first time, and he couldn’t stop glancing down the shoreline toward that fateful spot.

“Sorry, hot-shot,” Jett said with a grunt as he jumped to catch the ball out of the air. “You’ve had it pretty good the past few years; I think you can handle sitting out for a change.”

Quinn was not particularly pleased that the guys were playing ball in front of him and, thanks to his bum arm, he had to sit on his ass and watch.

He wasn’t a fan of sitting around, and he was even less excited about his inevitable awkward tan line he’d get from the splint on his arm so he hadn’t taken his shirt off yet.

It was warm for the middle of June in Northern Michigan, sunny and high seventies, but Quinn had spent the past several years in a much warmer climate, between his previous time in Atlanta and his current position in Los Angeles.

With the breeze coming off the cool surface of the lake, he was grateful for the thin layer of clothing.

Chris and Jett had lived up here their whole lives, so they broke out their shorts when the temp hit the mid-fifties .

The previous night at the bar when Rae had shown up, she’d taken a seat next to Quinn and it hadn’t taken long for the group of four to get back into their old rhythm.

Jett had suggested they all come to the beach for the day and hang out like old times.

Quinn really wanted to find a way to get Rae to himself, but when she enthusiastically agreed to meet up with them after work he wasn’t going to say no.

Seeing Rae in a bikini again was absolutely a good option.

There were three towels laid out in the sand, a large cooler filled with a variety of beer and a slightly smaller cooler of snacks. The guys had all arrived around 4:30 and Rae was supposed to be getting out of work and heading straight to their meeting place.

“Come on, just one throw,” Quinn pleaded. “Toss me the ball, I’ll catch left handed.”

“No way,” Chris shook his head. “The doc told us your restrictions. Besides, we don’t have the precise aim you do. What if we just throw it into your bad arm?”

“I don’t want that bill,” Jett said, then signaled for Chris to go long for his next pass.

The sound of tires on gravel caught Quinn’s attention and he whipped his head around toward the small parking lot beyond the sand.

A silver Jeep Wrangler came to a stop and Quinn saw Rae’s bright blonde hair catch the sunlight through the window.

The trip of his pulse sent his whole body into acute awareness.

Shit, she’s not even out of the car yet and I’m a fucking mess.

This was familiar and completely unfamiliar all at once.

Quinn knew how to act around women. He knew how to flirt and charm and get them to come home with him.

And once they were there he could pretty much get anything he wanted.

But this wasn’t some woman. This was Rae.

Everything he knew about charming or seducing women somehow flew out the window and got run over by a semi when she was near.

Because he actually cared. Because she was. ..it.

He hesitated as he watched her get out of her Jeep and sling a large blue and white striped canvas bag over her shoulder. She held the door open and a mass of fluff- brown, white, and some black- hopped out of the vehicle.

Quinn smiled as the huge animal wagged patiently at her side. So, she finally got a dog.

He wasn’t sure if he should get up and greet her.

Would that be weird? Was it rude to just sit here and wait?

Chris and Jett weren’t going anywhere. But Chris and Jett weren’t trying to make her fall in love with them.

If this was just some girl he was trying to hook up with, he’d stay put.

She could come to him. He wouldn’t put in any special effort. But again, this was Rae.

Yes, I should definitely get up and meet her. Walk down here with her.

But wait...should I? Would that be too obvious?

Shit.

Fuck.

God dammit, Case! Figure your shit out!

Making the last second decision to get up and greet her, he didn’t realize she had already crossed over half the distance between them. He was standing when she approached with an amused grin.

“You know, Case, I’m not actually a princess. You don’t have to stand up in my presence,” Rae teased coolly.

Quinn let out a short puff of laughter. The sound of her voice when she said the nickname all his high school teammates and coaches had used made his heart squeeze.

He’d heard it hundreds of times at practices and games, though not recently.

In LA he was just Quinn. But hearing Rae say it so fluently made it feel like the years they’d spent apart had suddenly evaporated.

He was here. In his hometown. On the beach where they’d first met. And she looked fucking beautiful.

She had on a long skirt cover-up that tied at the side and split so her long, toned and tan legs were still available for eager eyes, such as his own.

Her white tank top was simple, and he could see the yellow straps of her string bikini top underneath.

The contrast of white shirt against her golden sun-kissed skin was evidence of just how much time she spent out here.

Quinn couldn’t help the thought that she looked like she belonged in California. In LA. With him.