The Keeping Score Box Set

by Tawdra Kandle

  There were only a few small items in the wooden box: a tiny dried rosebud, a smooth white rock, almost perfectly round, and a piece of notebook paper, folded so many times that it was about the size of the pad of my thumb. I held it on the palm of my hand for a moment before I carefully unfolded it.

  On the light blue lines, I recognized my own scrawl, but at first, I didn’t remember writing the words.

  And then the memory came back. It was during our junior year, during that brief, sweet interlude when we’d been together. My mom had been undergoing treatment for leukemia, and spring practice was just starting. I’d stayed late that night, but Quinn and I had only talked; I hadn’t snuck upstairs with her as we sometimes did. She’d lay in my arms, touching my face as I poured out my worries about my mother, my frustrations about some of the guys on the team . . . and when I was finished venting, Quinn had kissed me gently and told me everything was going to be all right.

  For some reason, just hearing those simple words come out of her mouth had reassured me, and we’d sat on the couch in her parents’ den, just touching and murmuring the occasional word, until she’d dropped off to sleep. I’d carried her upstairs to her bed, torn a piece out of the notebook she kept on her nightstand, and scribbled the note.

  Quinn had kept it, over these two and a half years, through the year when we hadn’t communicated at all. I wondered what those few careless words had meant to her.

  My phone buzzed, and I jumped, guilty, dropping the re-folded note back into the box. I shut the lid and pushed it back into place before I checked the phone’s screen.

  Congrats on the win! Just saw a clip of your TD online. Proud of you, babe.

  I smiled, even as guilt panged in my chest. Quinn was so good about remembering everything going on with me, making sure to text or call me after every game when she couldn’t be there. I tried to do the same, asking her how tests had gone or if one of her articles had been picked up for the school paper, but I knew that all too often I forgot.

  Thanks. It was pretty much a rout. But a W is a W, right? What are you up to?

  I had a pretty good idea of what she was doing, but I wanted the total surprise, so I played dumb.

  I’m on my way back to my room. Tonight kind of sucked. I was over at Nate’s with Gia, but she was in a rotten mood for some reason. She ended up going out with some of her party friends. Then Nate’s mom called b/c his cousin is in town and she wanted him to come over for dinner. So I got ditched.

  I grinned a little wider. Nate had apparently played his part perfectly. I didn’t know why Gia was in a rotten mood, but I could guess it had something to do with Matt. Quinn had told me that Gia had started hanging out with a new group she’d met through a girl in her International Relations class. Since they went out to bars and parties on Greek Row more often than Quinn and Nate ever did, they’d dubbed the crowd Gia’s party friends.

  I’m sorry, Mia. Wish I could be there to keep you company.

  It was true. Just because I was going to make that wish reality didn’t make it a lie.

  I know. It’s okay. I’ll just binge watch some Buffy and eat chips. What’re you doing? Out with the guys celebrating?

  I heard a noise at the main door of the suite, the jingle of keys and footsteps as the door opened and then closed. I typed back fast.

  Nah, just hanging out. Decided to celebrate a little different tonight.

  She was in the kitchenette; there was the sound of a cabinet opening and closing. Looking for the chips, I decided, and crossed my fingers that something would bring her to the bedroom, because I didn’t want to have to sneak out and scare her.

  Not that finding me in here wouldn’t startle her, but still. I figured being in the bedroom was a more auspicious start to our mini-vacation, anyway. My phone vibrated again in my hand.

  Oh, yeah? How’s that?

  Yes! She was coming down the short hall, and before I could take another breath, the door swung open and she was there, her eyes on her phone as she waited for my text response. I sat perfectly still on the edge of her bed, waiting for her to—

  “AHHHHHHHH!!!!!” Her scream echoed off the walls of her room as her hand flew to her throat and she backed up against the door jamb. “Oh, my God, Leo! You scared the shit out of me? What the hell are you doing here?”

  I stood up, hands on my hips. “Well, I told you I was going to celebrate a little different tonight. I thought maybe I’d do it with you.” I drank her in, from the oversized hoodie that hung below her hips to the worn jeans encasing her legs. My girl was so fucking beautiful, it made my heart skip a beat.

  For a nerve-wracking minute, I wasn’t sure if Quinn was annoyed that I’d taken her by surprise or overcome with joy. And then she launched herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck and hugging me tight.

  “I’m so glad you’re here. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

  I pulled back enough to kiss her, my lips smothering the last few thank-yous. She moaned a little, opening her mouth to welcome my tongue with strokes of her own.

  “How did you do this? And how long can you be here?”

  I sank back onto the bed, pulling her onto my lap and holding her close. “Nate helped me. He maneuvered you over to his room and then back here at the right time. He told Zelda about it at the last minute, so she’d give us the suite to ourselves tonight. And I think he also had to tell Gia, which may be why she was so pissy with you earlier. Oh, and Tate drove me to the airport on that end.”

  “No one else knew?” She skimmed her fingers over my face, her eyes devouring me as though she couldn’t believe I was really there.

  “I told Matt about ten minutes before I left. And Coach knew, because I had to clear missing practice Monday and Tuesday—”

  “Monday and Tuesday?” Quinn was breathless, and her smile grew to light up her whole face. “You’re staying here that long?”

  “I have to leave Tuesday afternoon, so I can be back for a team meeting that night and practice Wednesday. I sweet-talked my professors into letting me miss a few classes, too.”

  “Did you happen to have the same conversation with my professors?”

  I laughed softly. “Sorry, babe. But I’ll be here three nights with you, sleeping in your bed—and not sleeping, I hope—and I’ll keep everything warm while you’re off being a good student. I know it’s not perfect, but—”

  “Shut up. It is absolutely perfect.” She pressed her lips to my jaw. “It’s perfect because you’re here with me. You did this without me asking you to come up. You thought of it all on your own. And you came to me, to see where I’m living and going to school, and—oh! You can finally meet Zelda.”

  “Already did. She’s the one who let me in.” I toyed with a dark curl of her hair. “She seems nice.”

  “Nice?” Quinn rolled her eyes. “There are a lot of ways you could describe Zelda, but nice isn’t usually one of them. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love her. But it’s taken some doing.”

  “Babe? I really don’t want to discuss your roommates right now. But I do want to say something else. I need to tell you I’m sorry.”

  “For what?” She arched her neck, wariness etched on her face. “What did you do?”

  I shook my head. “Nothing. And that’s the problem. I should’ve been up here to visit you before now. I went through our entire freshman year without seeing your college, and I justified it by saying to myself that it was just Birch, the same place we’d grown up near all our lives. But that was dumb, because it’s not the college I needed to see—it was your place in it. And your people. It’s ridiculous that I haven’t met Zelda until now, and it’s shameful that I didn’t see your dorm last year. And I’m sorry, Mia. So fucking sorry for letting that happen.”

  She shook her head, but I saw the tears gleaming in her green eyes. “It’s okay, Leo. Really. I understood.”

  I blew out a long breath. “I know you did, and that makes it worse. I want to say, you should’ve told me to
get my ass up here, but honestly? You shouldn’t have had to say it.” I smoothed back her hair, combing my fingers through it. “And while we’re on the subject, I’m sorry for last summer, too. I was an asshole. I shouldn’t have stayed down in Carolina. I should’ve come up here and lived at the shore with you and your mom, or at least gotten a job at home, where I could’ve seen you every few days. I was hurt that you decided to spend the summer there, and I never stopped to think how unfair that was.”

  Quinn closed her eyes. “Thank you for saying that, but it was just as much my fault. I didn’t talk to you before I took the internship, and I think . . . maybe it was because I knew what would happen. Nate said it was like I was testing you, making you decide when there really wasn’t any right choice.”

  “What if I said I had an idea for next summer, one that didn’t come with any hard choices?” I nuzzled her neck, murmuring close to her ear. “One that comes with so much togetherness, you’ll probably get sick of me. And all the hot sex your pretty little body can handle?”

  Quinn cocked her head. “I’m listening.”

  “The camp where I volunteered last summer? The director called me this week. He’s setting up for next year, and he offered me a job.”

  “Okay.” She frowned. “Not seeing where you’re going, though.”

  “I talked to Coach about it, and I told him one of the issues would be having a place to live. I can’t stay on campus, and I can’t live in the camp housing, like I did last year. They only house volunteers. Coach has a townhouse that he and his wife rent out to students during the school year, but it always sits empty over the summer. He said I could live there, just for the cost of utilities and keeping it occupied. Maybe do a paint job and a little maintenance.” I spanned her ribs with my hands so that my thumbs teased the sides of her boobs. “And you could live there with me.”

  Her eyes widened. “Really? I could? Your coach would be okay with that?”

  “Totally. He doesn’t care as long we don’t trash the place or have loud parties.”

  “We could do that!” She grinned. “We could be together the whole summer. Just the two of us. Like . . . like playing house, in a way.”

  “Practicing for the future.” I wriggled my eyebrows up and down suggestively. “And Coach said there are always summer jobs on campus, or even with the businesses just off campus. You could find something if you wanted, or you could just lay around all summer and write or whatever.”

  “That sounds like heaven. It totally makes up for last summer. And it makes me feel even worse for not coming up with a better plan last year.”

  “Nah, enough of that. No more sorry.” I kissed her forehead and then leaned mine against hers. “Are we all done with the apologizing now, do you think? Because I think I might have mentioned we have this place to ourselves for one night. I’d like to get to the part of the program where we make up, because you and I? We’ve always rocked the makeup sex. And then I want to get on to the other types of sex on the menu tonight.”

  Quinn wriggled to sit up a little straighter, her sweet little ass grinding into my cock. “There’s a menu? Oooh. What’s on it? Is there dessert?”

  I chuckled, grasped her hips and resettled her, this time so that she straddled my body. “There’s appetizer, entrée and dessert, babe. But I have a feeling that three courses aren’t going to be enough for me tonight. We might need to expand this menu a little bit.”

  Quinn’s eyebrows rose as she lifted herself up a little and then sank down, rubbing the heat between her legs against my aching dick. Two layers of jeans separated us, but I swore I could feel her already.

  “Remember that first night, in the playground?” She wound her arms around my neck, her eyes on mine, boring into my soul and completing every part of me that was wanting. “You got me off just like this, grinding me. I was so mortified because I came so fast and I’d never come in front of anyone before. Ever. And you said it was just you and me. Us. And that I should never be embarrassed by anything that happens between us.”

  “I remember.” And remembering, my erection grew. “That was seriously so hot, babe. You just let go and trusted me, and I swore I’d never let you down.” I held her chin between my fingers. “I have, though.”

  “This is my point.” She spread her legs a little wider, letting her eyes drift halfway shut. “You said we should never be ashamed. I think that goes beyond just sex. I’m glad you said you were sorry, and I’m glad we talked. But now it’s over, and we’re moving on.”

  I framed her face with my hands and brought her lips to mine, kissing her open-mouthed and with intensity. “I like your way of moving on, Mia.”

  “Mmmmm.” She slid back a little, stripped off her hoodie and the T-shirt beneath it in one fluid motion. I groaned at the sight of her luscious tits spilling over the lace cups of her bra. Still watching me, Quinn unhooked the bra and shook it off.

  “Is this part of the makeup sex, or have we gone right into the appetizer course?”

  “Didn’t you hear what I said just now? We don’t need makeup sex, because that’s all in the past.” She backed away, off my lap, reached between us and unbuttoned my jeans before she tugged down the zipper. Dropping to her knees, she gazed up at me through her eyelashes and began to ease my pants and boxers down my legs so that my cock sprang up, hard and interested. “And I’ve decided I’m going to choose the first item on the appetizer menu.”

  She bent forward so that her turgid nipples brushed over my thighs and took the head of my dick into her mouth. I sucked in a fast breath and leaned back, closing my eyes in pure unadulterated pleasure.

  “Babe, you can order for me every time.”

  Summer between sophomore and junior years

  “Quinn, did you do laundry last night? I need a T-shirt for today.”

  I rolled over in bed and groaned. “No. I was up late working on that article for class.”

  Leo’s voice became louder as he came back into our bedroom. “Shit. I need a shirt, and I’m running late.”

  I opened one eye and caught sight of him running a hand through his damp hair. “Sorry. I thought you were putting a load in yesterday afternoon. You don’t have anything clean to wear?”

  “It’s not that I don’t have anything clean. I need my uniform shirt, specifically. I’ll have to get one out of the dirty clothes and hope for the best.” He dumped out the hamper in the middle of the floor and began sorting through it.

  Guilt threaded through me. “I could toss it in the dryer real fast. It might help.”

  “No, I don’t have time.” Leo snapped out the words. “If I get there late, I have to park way out in the far lot. And then . . .” His voice trailed off. “It’s just a mess.”

  I heard the frustration in his voice and felt even worse. In an effort to jolly him out of his funk, I teased, “Oh, you mean you don’t like the girl groupies who hang out by the entrance, just hoping for a glimpse of Leo the Lion?” I put on high-pitched tone. “‘Leo! Hey, Leo? Look at me! Take a selfie with me, Leo! I love you, Leo! I want to have your babies!’”

  “Stop.” His face was drawn, and there was more than annoyance on it. “It’s not like that’s fun for me. I wish they’d all just leave me the fuck alone.”

  “Sorry.” I’d lost count of how many times I’d said it in the few minutes I’d been awake. “I was just trying to lighten you up.”

  “Yeah, well, you don’t have to deal with the damn press and the girls. I just want to do my job. I wish—” He growled and kicked at the pile of clothes.

  “What? You wish Carolina hadn’t won the championship last year? You wish you hadn’t been the guy who caught the winning touchdown? You wish you weren’t so hot that your picture became the most downloaded college football photo on social media?” I sat up, hunching my back over my bent knees. “Or you wish you hadn’t taken the job here this summer? Or you wish you hadn’t asked me to come down here and live with you? Or . . .” I swallowed over the lump in my th
roat. “You wish your girlfriend took better care of you? Did your laundry and cooked you decent dinners?”

  “God, Quinn. Just—no.” Leo straightened. “I’m not saying any of that. I just wish things were different. I never wanted all the attention, you know that. I only want to play the game.” He picked up a shirt and tossed it over his shoulder. “And a fucking clean T-shirt.”

  “Oh!” I swung my legs over the bed. “I just remembered. You have one shirt for work that’s still clean, in our suitcase. From when we went to Charleston last weekend, and we thought you’d have to go right to work from there, remember?”

  His face cleared a little. “Yes! Is it in the closet still?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. I forgot to move it when I was putting stuff away. Sorry.” There was that word again.

  “No problem.” He disappeared into the closet and emerged, pulling the shirt over his head and then bent to tie his sneakers, resting his foot on the edge of the bed. “Hey, Quinn. I’m sorry I jumped on you. Things have been so crazy.”

  That was the understatement of the year. Or at least the summer. We’d both been so excited for this, to live together on our own for two whole months. Leo had loved volunteering the summer before, and his new job was managing all the volunteers and coordinating their work. And I’d gotten an on-line gig, writing for two different news blogs and their feature columns. Not everything that I produced was picked up for inclusion on the sites, but it was good for me to get both the experience and the line on my resume.

  At first, everything had been exactly as I’d expected. It had been so much fun to go grocery shopping together, choosing food and planning our meals, making the bed together every morning and climbing back into it every night. The coach’s townhouse wasn’t anything fancy, but it was clean and well-maintained, so we had no complaints.