LEO"Excuse me. Aren't you Leo Taylor?"I gritted my teeth and just barely kept from rolling my eyes. I wanted to turn to the blonde standing just behind my bar stool and tell her to leave me the fuck alone, but I knew that wouldn't fly with the PR suits at the Richmond Rebels, the team that had drafted me with their number three pick back in April.So instead, I stretched my lips into a parody of a smile and nodded, shifting a little so I could face the chick who was checking me out. "Yes, I am." I stuck out a hand. "Nice to meet you."She laughed and shook her head, ignoring my hand. "You don't remember me. Well, it's been a long time. I'm Dana Jenkins. Sarah's little sister?"It took me a minute before I placed her. The mischievous brown eyes, the pert, upturned nose-she'd been the annoying little kid who'd tried to spy on Sarah and me when we'd dated in junior high and then again in high school. "Holy shit." I stood up and wrapped her in a hug. "I haven't seen you in-well,

QUINNThe silence in my car was absolutely blissful. I drove slowly down the side roads of my hometown, smiling as I saw the red, white and blue bunting on some of the houses. Eatonboro had the best Fourth of July parade, and I'd missed it the last three years. It made me sad; the last time I'd sat curbside watching the floats, the antique cars and the endless local marching bands, it had been mere weeks after my father had died. I'd been with Leo and Nate that day, I recalled. Leo had carried two lawn chairs from my house to the edge of the parade route, five blocks away. After he'd set them up, Nate had taken one, and Leo and I shared the other, with me nestled between his muscled thighs. Leo's arms had been wrapped around me as I'd leaned back against his chest, feeling safe and protected-and just so right. With a sigh, I forced myself to pay attention to where I was going. There was a grocery store only about five minutes from Nate's house, and I was pretty sure I could get ever

NATE"Did I ever tell you the story of our first Christmas together, after your mom and I were married?" I frowned as my dad sat down at the other end of the sofa. We'd finished our makeshift Fourth of July picnic about half an hour before, and he'd been in the kitchen, helping my mom, Quinn and Carrie clean up. The red checkered picnic cloth was still spread over the coffee table; the idea of making my way outside to the backyard exhausted me, and no way in hell was I going to give in to my dad's suggestion that he carry me there. I might have been dying by degrees, but I could still do my best not to look like a cripple in my wife's eyes. Yeah, I knew it was stupid and pigheaded of me. But since I was dying at the age of twenty-two, I figured I was owed a little latitude. My father's opening line was random, but he was shrewd and more often than not, came around to his topic by the backdoor, as my mom liked to say. So I decided to see where he was going with this."I don't th

NATEI sighed now, remembering. These weeks since we'd moved down here had been incredible, and I was grateful that my dad had suggested it. For the first time since I'd proposed to Quinn, the guilt I'd been harboring over doing it had eased a little. Her happiness was all I needed, I realized, and now that I could have her with me and make her smile, that was everything. "Breakfast is served." She came around the corner of the kitchen doorway, carrying the tray. "All your favorites. Cinnamon toast, one egg over easy and crispy bacon.""Wow. It's like the best day ever." I reached for a piece of toast. "Under other circumstances, I'd ask you if I'm dying or something, but we both know the answer to that.""Nice, Nate." She exhaled as though in annoyance, but I could tell it was more bluff than anything else. "Just enjoy your food, and then maybe-"She was interrupted by a loud knock at the front door, and she jumped up, smiling big. "That might be your surprise. Be right back."

LEOIt was a typical August day at the Jersey shore, meaning the sun was hot and the air was humid. In the interest of expediency, I'd hopped a direct flight from Charlottesville to Atlantic City, rented a car and driven down to Ocean City, texting Nate that I was heading his way. I knew this route well, since my great-aunt had lived in Ventnor when I was growing up, and my family had frequently visited her before we drove down to spend time with the Russells at their shore rental, the same house Carrie now owned, and the same house where apparently Nate and Quinn were currently living. Nerves were jumping around my stomach at the thought that I might see Quinn today. The last few times we'd talked had not gone well; I'd let my anger get the best of me the day after she married Nate, and at the grocery store on the Fourth of July, I'd skirted out-and-out meanness when I'd let her think Sarah and I were together, as in dating. I'd seen the bleak hurt in her weary eyes, and instantl