Sequel: Our Secret Hiding Spot ›
The Fear Is Paralyzing
Trente-Huit
Quinn just stared out the window of the rental car that she and Kris had gotten when they had landed in his home town. He was driving to his parents’ house while she sat there, biting her bottom lip, looking at all of the scenery. Kris had told her several times that he was sure his parents were going to love her, but she was still terrified.
She watched as the car turned into a neighborhood and came to a stop in front of a large house. She looked out the front window and saw the big yard that was full of flowers. Kris turned the ignition off but didn’t get out of the car right away. Instead he reached over and grabbed Quinn’s hand, softly rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. “Please stop worrying,” he told her.
Quinn plastered a smile on her face. “I’m not worried,” she told him, though she knew he saw right through her lies.
“Let’s go. I know they’re excited to meet you,” Kris told her as he got out of the car. He walked around to the other side and opened the door for Quinn and helped her out of the car. He put his hand on the small of her back as he guided her inside.
As soon as the front door was opened, Quinn could smell delicious food from the kitchen, and she could hear people talking. Kris called out to his parents, and before she could even think, his mother was coming out into the front room, dropping the kitchen towel she had in her hands onto the floor, and giving Kris a giant hug. “Kris! Je suis si contente que tu sois à la maison! Et cela doit être Quinn!” she said, turning to look at Quinn, who looked utterly confused by the French.
“Maman, c’est ma copine, Quinn,” Kris said, motioning towards Quinn. “Quinn, this is my mother, Christiane,” he said, switching to English for Quinn. “And, this is my father, Tristan,” he added as his father emerged from upstairs. “Papa, c’est Quinn.”
Kris’s mother pulled Quinn into a hug, something she wasn’t expecting. Her own mother didn’t hug her that often, so she definitely wasn’t expecting Kris’s mother to do so. “We’ve heard so much about you!” she said, and for a split second, Quinn’s mind went to the media and certain fans that were saying some not-so-nice things about her. But the way Christiane had hugged her so kindly and the smile that was on her face right now showed Quinn that it was Kris that had filled her in on Quinn. “Let’s go into the dining room and get some lunch and get to know each other,” she said.
Quinn felt Kris’s hand on her back as he led her into the dining room. She sat down in a seat with Kris on one side of her and Tristan on the other, with Christiane sitting across from her. “So tell us how you inherited the team,” Tristan began the conversation.
Quinn didn’t want to talk about her father, but she figured she could condense the story for his parents. She talked about how her father had left her the team and she had no clue about hockey whatsoever before Kris. “That’s how we really got to know one another, when he started teaching me about hockey. He was the only one willing to give me a chance, and then he’s the one that got me to keep the team, even when I had thought about giving it up. I really don’t know what I’d do without him,” she said, and she saw Kris smiling at her.
They continued talking throughout lunch, and Quinn couldn’t believe how much she was enjoying herself. Christiane was telling stories from Kris’s childhood, while Tristan and Kris were talking about the hockey season and what it was like to win the Cup. When Christiane got up to begin to clean up, Quinn immediately offered to help. She was so used to having to do so at her parents’ dinners, so it was second nature to her.
She picked up the plates and walked into the kitchen behind Christiane. She was about to go clean up the rest of the things on the table when Christiane put her hand gently on Quinn’s elbow. Quinn turned around to look at her and saw the smile on Christiane’s face. “I’m really glad Kris found you,” she said, her French-Canadian accent seeping through. “He’s happy.”
“I am, too,” Quinn smiled at her.
“I’ve already told him that he better keep a hold of you,” she said, and Quinn gave her another smile as she walked out of the kitchen towards the dining room. She saw Kris still sitting at the table with his father, talking animatedly in French. She had no idea what they were saying, but all she knew was that as she stood there watching him, she knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.
***
Quinn put on the tank top and shorts she had set out the night before. She didn’t know what Kris had in mind for today, but he had told her he had big plans for the two of them. They had spent the night before with his parents, going out to dinner. They had already accepted her into their family, and Quinn couldn’t be more grateful. She had called Claire after they had gotten back to the hotel and told her about it, and Claire had joked that Kris was going to propose to her today. Quinn hadn’t thought much about that whatsoever before, but now the thought was going through her mind.
“Where are we going?” Quinn asked him for the third time that morning.
“Will you just be patient and wait and find out?” Kris asked her, and Quinn rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. He kissed her temple before saying, “Now go get some shoes on and we can go.”
Quinn quickly went over to her suitcase and grabbed a pair of sandals and threw them on before Kris led her out to the car. They drove for about fifteen minutes before Kris pulled in front of a building. He got out and Quinn followed his lead as he grabbed her hand and led her inside. The cold immediately hit her bare skin, and she knew exactly where she was: a hockey rink.
Quinn looked up at him. “You miss hockey that much?” she joked.
Kris chuckled. “Well, yes, but that’s not why we’re here.” Quinn looked at him, furrowing her eyebrows at him. “This was the first place I played hockey,” he told her. “I was three and played for the Bulldogs,” he recalled. “My dad was the coach.”
Quinn tried to imagine a little three-year-old Kris skating around and playing hockey. She knew he had been playing his entire life, but she never expected that he started out when he was so young. “You think we could do a couple of laps around the rink?” she asked him, and Kris nodded his head, leading her to where they could rent a couple pairs of skates.
Quinn remembered how she hadn’t known how to ice skate until just a couple months ago when Kris had changed that. He changed a lot in her life in the time he had known her. When he had found out she had never ice skated, he immediately had to teach her. She had been nervous, but he had kept his arm around her the entire time, making sure she never fell.
She still didn’t know how to stop very well, but she knew Kris would help her out. He seemed so excited as they laced up their skates and made their way out to the ice. There were about five other people out there skating around, but none of them were paying any attention to Kris or Quinn. He laced his fingers with hers as they slowly skated around the rink and Kris told Quinn all kinds of stories about playing hockey while growing up.
Their stories were interrupted when a couple of fans of Kris came up and asked for his autograph, which he immediately gave them. But, those two fans turned into twenty, and soon Kris was surrounded by people, while Quinn had been pushed aside. She didn’t mind that Kris was signing autographs, but she felt out of place, and she eventually skated off the ice and took her skates off and returned them.
She waited on a bench for a little while before she finally saw Kris emerge from the crowd. “Je suis desolé,” he apologized, sitting down next to her.
“It’s okay, Kris. Did you really expect no one in your hometown to recognize you?” she asked with a chuckle. “You’re a hometown hero,” she said, poking him in the side.
“I just wanted a nice day with you,” he told her.
“And, that’s exactly what we’re doing,” she said. “What else did you have planned for today?” she asked.
“How much would you hate just going back to the hotel so we can have some alone time?” he asked, licking his bottom lip.
Quinn knew that look, and there was no way she was going to deny him that. “On one condition,” she said, and Kris raised his eyebrow, waiting to hear her terms of the deal. “You play by my rules,” she said, giving him a seductive smile.
***
Quinn woke up to Kris’s arm wrapped around her. The rest of the day had been spent in the hotel room having sex in every place possible. They had taken a nap together after their fourth round, and now Quinn was trying to look around Kris’s body to see what time it was.
She finally made out the clock that showed it was just after 8, and she suddenly realized just how hungry she was. They hadn’t eaten lunch, and her stomach was growling. She tried to climb out of bed without disturbing Kris, but she failed, and she felt him waking up. She leaned down and kissed his cheek, telling him to stay in bed, as she reached for her shorts and tank top that she had been wearing earlier.
Kris didn’t listen to her, standing up, stretching his fully naked body. “Are you as hungry as I am?” he asked.
Quinn nodded her head. “I’m starving,” she chuckled. “You want to go get something to eat?”
“Or we could order room service and stay in here. The hotel has been a good place for us,” he smiled.
“I like that plan.”
She watched as the car turned into a neighborhood and came to a stop in front of a large house. She looked out the front window and saw the big yard that was full of flowers. Kris turned the ignition off but didn’t get out of the car right away. Instead he reached over and grabbed Quinn’s hand, softly rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. “Please stop worrying,” he told her.
Quinn plastered a smile on her face. “I’m not worried,” she told him, though she knew he saw right through her lies.
“Let’s go. I know they’re excited to meet you,” Kris told her as he got out of the car. He walked around to the other side and opened the door for Quinn and helped her out of the car. He put his hand on the small of her back as he guided her inside.
As soon as the front door was opened, Quinn could smell delicious food from the kitchen, and she could hear people talking. Kris called out to his parents, and before she could even think, his mother was coming out into the front room, dropping the kitchen towel she had in her hands onto the floor, and giving Kris a giant hug. “Kris! Je suis si contente que tu sois à la maison! Et cela doit être Quinn!” she said, turning to look at Quinn, who looked utterly confused by the French.
“Maman, c’est ma copine, Quinn,” Kris said, motioning towards Quinn. “Quinn, this is my mother, Christiane,” he said, switching to English for Quinn. “And, this is my father, Tristan,” he added as his father emerged from upstairs. “Papa, c’est Quinn.”
Kris’s mother pulled Quinn into a hug, something she wasn’t expecting. Her own mother didn’t hug her that often, so she definitely wasn’t expecting Kris’s mother to do so. “We’ve heard so much about you!” she said, and for a split second, Quinn’s mind went to the media and certain fans that were saying some not-so-nice things about her. But the way Christiane had hugged her so kindly and the smile that was on her face right now showed Quinn that it was Kris that had filled her in on Quinn. “Let’s go into the dining room and get some lunch and get to know each other,” she said.
Quinn felt Kris’s hand on her back as he led her into the dining room. She sat down in a seat with Kris on one side of her and Tristan on the other, with Christiane sitting across from her. “So tell us how you inherited the team,” Tristan began the conversation.
Quinn didn’t want to talk about her father, but she figured she could condense the story for his parents. She talked about how her father had left her the team and she had no clue about hockey whatsoever before Kris. “That’s how we really got to know one another, when he started teaching me about hockey. He was the only one willing to give me a chance, and then he’s the one that got me to keep the team, even when I had thought about giving it up. I really don’t know what I’d do without him,” she said, and she saw Kris smiling at her.
They continued talking throughout lunch, and Quinn couldn’t believe how much she was enjoying herself. Christiane was telling stories from Kris’s childhood, while Tristan and Kris were talking about the hockey season and what it was like to win the Cup. When Christiane got up to begin to clean up, Quinn immediately offered to help. She was so used to having to do so at her parents’ dinners, so it was second nature to her.
She picked up the plates and walked into the kitchen behind Christiane. She was about to go clean up the rest of the things on the table when Christiane put her hand gently on Quinn’s elbow. Quinn turned around to look at her and saw the smile on Christiane’s face. “I’m really glad Kris found you,” she said, her French-Canadian accent seeping through. “He’s happy.”
“I am, too,” Quinn smiled at her.
“I’ve already told him that he better keep a hold of you,” she said, and Quinn gave her another smile as she walked out of the kitchen towards the dining room. She saw Kris still sitting at the table with his father, talking animatedly in French. She had no idea what they were saying, but all she knew was that as she stood there watching him, she knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.
***
Quinn put on the tank top and shorts she had set out the night before. She didn’t know what Kris had in mind for today, but he had told her he had big plans for the two of them. They had spent the night before with his parents, going out to dinner. They had already accepted her into their family, and Quinn couldn’t be more grateful. She had called Claire after they had gotten back to the hotel and told her about it, and Claire had joked that Kris was going to propose to her today. Quinn hadn’t thought much about that whatsoever before, but now the thought was going through her mind.
“Where are we going?” Quinn asked him for the third time that morning.
“Will you just be patient and wait and find out?” Kris asked her, and Quinn rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. He kissed her temple before saying, “Now go get some shoes on and we can go.”
Quinn quickly went over to her suitcase and grabbed a pair of sandals and threw them on before Kris led her out to the car. They drove for about fifteen minutes before Kris pulled in front of a building. He got out and Quinn followed his lead as he grabbed her hand and led her inside. The cold immediately hit her bare skin, and she knew exactly where she was: a hockey rink.
Quinn looked up at him. “You miss hockey that much?” she joked.
Kris chuckled. “Well, yes, but that’s not why we’re here.” Quinn looked at him, furrowing her eyebrows at him. “This was the first place I played hockey,” he told her. “I was three and played for the Bulldogs,” he recalled. “My dad was the coach.”
Quinn tried to imagine a little three-year-old Kris skating around and playing hockey. She knew he had been playing his entire life, but she never expected that he started out when he was so young. “You think we could do a couple of laps around the rink?” she asked him, and Kris nodded his head, leading her to where they could rent a couple pairs of skates.
Quinn remembered how she hadn’t known how to ice skate until just a couple months ago when Kris had changed that. He changed a lot in her life in the time he had known her. When he had found out she had never ice skated, he immediately had to teach her. She had been nervous, but he had kept his arm around her the entire time, making sure she never fell.
She still didn’t know how to stop very well, but she knew Kris would help her out. He seemed so excited as they laced up their skates and made their way out to the ice. There were about five other people out there skating around, but none of them were paying any attention to Kris or Quinn. He laced his fingers with hers as they slowly skated around the rink and Kris told Quinn all kinds of stories about playing hockey while growing up.
Their stories were interrupted when a couple of fans of Kris came up and asked for his autograph, which he immediately gave them. But, those two fans turned into twenty, and soon Kris was surrounded by people, while Quinn had been pushed aside. She didn’t mind that Kris was signing autographs, but she felt out of place, and she eventually skated off the ice and took her skates off and returned them.
She waited on a bench for a little while before she finally saw Kris emerge from the crowd. “Je suis desolé,” he apologized, sitting down next to her.
“It’s okay, Kris. Did you really expect no one in your hometown to recognize you?” she asked with a chuckle. “You’re a hometown hero,” she said, poking him in the side.
“I just wanted a nice day with you,” he told her.
“And, that’s exactly what we’re doing,” she said. “What else did you have planned for today?” she asked.
“How much would you hate just going back to the hotel so we can have some alone time?” he asked, licking his bottom lip.
Quinn knew that look, and there was no way she was going to deny him that. “On one condition,” she said, and Kris raised his eyebrow, waiting to hear her terms of the deal. “You play by my rules,” she said, giving him a seductive smile.
***
Quinn woke up to Kris’s arm wrapped around her. The rest of the day had been spent in the hotel room having sex in every place possible. They had taken a nap together after their fourth round, and now Quinn was trying to look around Kris’s body to see what time it was.
She finally made out the clock that showed it was just after 8, and she suddenly realized just how hungry she was. They hadn’t eaten lunch, and her stomach was growling. She tried to climb out of bed without disturbing Kris, but she failed, and she felt him waking up. She leaned down and kissed his cheek, telling him to stay in bed, as she reached for her shorts and tank top that she had been wearing earlier.
Kris didn’t listen to her, standing up, stretching his fully naked body. “Are you as hungry as I am?” he asked.
Quinn nodded her head. “I’m starving,” she chuckled. “You want to go get something to eat?”
“Or we could order room service and stay in here. The hotel has been a good place for us,” he smiled.
“I like that plan.”
♠ ♠ ♠
I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. Let me know your thoughts!