Second Chance: A Military Football Romance

"It’s mostly him," Quinn said. "I'm just playing for fun."

"What?" I asked. The way her father had talked about freedom and excitement I had started to think she was taking up a career in the professional gaming world. "I thought you were in the competitor bracket."

"I switched," Quinn said. "Call me crazy, but I decided maybe I could just have a little fun for once."

"As long as that is all you do in Vegas," Mr. Thomas warned. "No crazy dancing or big bets or little white chapels. You hear me?"

"What?" Quinn asked. "You don't trust me not to do anything you wouldn't do?"

I felt a knot in my chest come undone when they all laughed. My parents were rarely home and had not been since high school. I realized that was one of the reasons I had not broken up with Sienna when things got bad. No matter how they felt about me, the Thomas family had been the only family I had for a long time. To see them happy and together unlocked a deep longing.

Quinn and I waited until her parents had left, then gathered up her overnight bag for Vegas. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"No. I mean, yes. It's just weird to, I don't know, not be hated by your parents," I said.

"I know what you mean. I feel like they are finally seeing me, instead of just this knockoff version of Sienna. It feels strange, but good."

I opened Quinn’s car door for her. By the time I got into the driver's seat, my tongue felt heavy. The words I wanted to say were like lead. Quinn chatted about Caesar's Palace, where we would be staying, and the tournament. She did not notice my struggle to speak.

"Funny what your father said about the little white chapel, isn't it?" I finally managed to say.

"Yes. Especially since it is where he and my mother got married," Quinn said.

I swerved the car just a little. "What?"

"Oh, they had a big, white wedding where everything was perfect, but two nights before, they drove to Vegas and got married. I always thought it was so romantic," she said.

We pulled onto The Strip, but I started to recalculate my route so we could drive past the iconic wedding chapel. My heart was hammering because I knew that was the final piece that would make me feel whole.

"Quinn, I know this is out of the blue, but-"

"Owen, pull over! I think that man is having a heart attack!" Quinn said. She grabbed the wheel and forced me to pull over.

Tourist drivers went crazy with their horns, but Quinn jumped out of the car and ran to the side of the fallen man. Within seconds, there were sirens coming from two directions. The ambulances moved slowly through the awestruck tourists.

Quinn ignored all the chaos. She was bent over the man doing chest compressions. After a short eternity, she checked his pulse and leaned back on her heels. By the time the EMTs pulled their equipment out of the ambulance, the man had lifted his hand. He reached for his tearful wife's fingers, and she thanked Quinn over and over again.

Two EMTs loaded the man into the ambulance, while a third stopped to talk to Quinn. Her face lit up in recognition and I felt a sharp stab of jealousy. I walked over just as he handed her a card.

"Feel free to call me anytime," the EMT said.

"Thanks, I will," Quinn said.

#

I never knew what people meant when they said someone "glowed" – not until I got back into the car with Quinn. It was hard to concentrate on the cluster of bad Vegas traffic. A bright smile played around her lips and her eyes sparkled at everything without actually seeing it. I worried that was what love looked like. I felt that way when I looked at her sometimes.

"You're pretty happy for a woman who just saw a serious heart attack," I commented.

Quinn blinked at my terse tone. "He survived. That is seriously good news. That makes me happy."

"Okay, but this seems like a different kind of happy," I said. "Does it have anything to do with that cute EMT giving you his card? What did he say? You can call him anytime?"

"Owen Redd, you realize you sound jealous, right?"

"You look like if I opened the window you would float right out. So, if you're not happy about the EMT hitting on you, then what is it?"

"For the record, he did not hit on me," Quinn said. "Well, maybe he flirted, but he was giving me his business card."