She’d been so worried about striking out on her own that she had isolated herself from the man she loved. All the success in the world couldn’t touch her heart the way Teo had, let alone fillit.
She needed to find him. She needed to findthem.
A happy life wasn’t about balance. Balance was a cruel joke. There was no such thing as balance. There were priorities, and hers had gotten out of alignment. That’s why she couldn’t eat. That’s why she couldn’t sleep. That’s why her heartached.
Cedar squared her shoulders and welcomed the four golfers to her store. Her smile wasn’t forced. Her conversation flowed easily. Funny, all this time she’d been trying to shove Teo out of her head when she should have been welcoming him into her heart. As she stood there, listening to the men brag about their breeds, her heartwarmed.
That’s the miracle. She smiled.Love is the truemiracle.
Teo had that figured out, and it was about time she caughtup.
Hopefully, he’d give her a chance to prove that miracles happen—even toher.
Chapter 25
Teo ran down the tunnel,the sound of cleats on concrete bouncing off the walls. He took off his helmet, and his head was immediately scrubbed by the quarterback. “Great game!” the Zeus boomed, grinning so wide he could have been on a toothpastecommercial.
“Long live Zeus!” Teo thunderedback.
Zeus laughed and bounced around the locker, running high on their win. Winning the first game of the season was a great way to start. He could only imagine what the announcers were talking about in the booth. This was the year of theTitans.
Teo entered the locker room. He wanted to celebrate with his team. On the outside, he was all smiles. On the inside, he was an empty shell. Breaking up with Cedar was supposed to make things better—to remove her as a distraction from thegame.
It didn’t work. Cedar had lit up his and Akoni’s world. She made small things special. That was a gift he had taken for granted. He’d driven past the Doggie Café on opening day, thinking he would drop in and say hello. Without a dog, it was pretty obvious he would be there to see her, and he wasn’t ready to put himself that far out there. He imagined walking in and seeing her happy and content and realizing she didn’t need him the way he needed her. And then he droveaway.
Yeah—he’d chickened out. If any of the guys on the team knew, they’d razz him for weeks. He’d lost his shot. That was all there was to it, and he had to suck it up and live with hisissues.
The party atmosphere prevailed as guys changed clothes, gave interviews, and met their ladies to head home. Teo kept his head down and stayed out of the camera lights. He pushed through the doors to the back hallway, which led to the players’ parking lot. This area of the building was off-limits to press and muchquieter.
A large poster board had been taped to the floor. He stopped to read it,curious.
Lost: 1Boyfriend
A totalSTUD
If found, please return to parkinglot.
He chuckled. Some poor guy was going to get teased about thisone.
Teo took two steps, hesitated, and then went back to read it again. Stud? Hmmm. He’d joked with Cedar about calling him that in front of the team. He squinted. She wouldn’t … wouldshe?
He hurried around the corner, where a trail of posters lined the way to the exit. Each one said somethingdifferent.
Igavemy heart to a footballplayer
This one gave him pause.He wanted to believe Cedar loved him as much as he loved her, that she missedhim.
We all make mistakes.Falling in love with a football player isn’t one ofmine.
They’d both made mistakes.But he could learn from his and she could learn from hers and they’d be okay. They’d be better than okay. If this was really Cedar. If not, he was getting his hopes way toohigh.
You haveno idea how fast my heart beats when I seeyou.
Maybe not,but he had a pretty good guess. The idea that Cedar was waiting outside the door, which was only one poster away, made his heart pound so furiously he was sure it shook the roof on thestadium.
Wanted: A greatkisser
Please apply inperson.
