Page 162 of Slapshot Kiss

For once, there isn’t a single part of me looking for the exit.

I pull into a spot outside Quinn’s building and check my phone before getting out. Our messages from earlier are still sitting there, and I grin at one of hers before locking the screen.

Honestly, today could have gone a lot worse.

But I’m still employed, Quinn and I don’t have to lie to her dad anymore, and tomorrow morning I can wake up without wondering which one of us is going to get caught first.

I’m calling that a win.

I head inside and take the stairs two at a time.

By the time I reach her floor, my thoughts are already back to what else we’re gonna do after we’ve talked.

I knock.

She opens the door in gray sweatpants, an oversized T-shirt and hair pulled into a messy knot.

Her face is bare, and there are faint shadows beneath her eyes.

Ohm she must have been more worried than I realized.

“Hey,” I grin at her, bending down to kiss her.

She lets me.

“Hey.”

Her smile appears for half a second before disappearing again.

I frown. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Come in.”

She steps aside. I walk past her, and she closes the door behind me.

I hold out a hand to her, but she doesn’t take it right away.

That’s the first moment something feels genuinely wrong. This is more than some anxiety.

Then she walks over and lets me pull her against me.

Her arms go around my waist, but there’s something careful about the way she holds me. Her cheek rests against my chest, and instead of relaxing into me like she normally does, her whole body stays tight.

I rub a hand down her back. “Hey. It’s okay,” I try to soothe her.

Her eyes flick over mine. “Is it?”

“Of course it is. Why the hell not?”

She steps out of my arms and I let my hand fall uselessly.

“I don’t know.”

“Okay? You’re going to have to give me more than that.” I gesture vaguely at her. “You look like somebody told you Christmas was canceled.”

“I’ve just been thinking.”

Okay, now I’m really worried.