I shook my head. “It’s crazy how life puts things into perspective. My mom hauled off all my fancy shoes after the accident. I couldn’t even look at them. Then one day…” I gave him a shy glance as we stepped off the elevator “…I met this guy.It was just one day, but he changed my whole world. He was the guy girls would sell their souls to be with, and he flirted with me and then he kissed me. And even though I feared I would never see him again, I walked away with this crazy confidence that I’d totally lost the day of the accident. I wanted a new leg, one that I could use with high heels and that I could paint the toenails. And shoes… I wanted sexy shoes again.”
Cage opened the door to the front of the building. “Me? That was me?”
I nodded with an enormous grin. “Yep.”
He shook his head with a smile that rivaled mine. “That’s just… so crazy.”
Parked in front of the building was the same truck he had in Omaha.
“Wow. You still have this truck? No ridiculously expensive sports car for Mr. NFL?”
Cage loaded my bags in back. “Not yet.”
He shot me a frown when I didn’t wait for him to open my door. I shrugged with a grin. As he climbed in, I fastened my seatbelt, adjusted the strap, and tugged it several times. Then, I reached over and gave his seatbelt a firm tug. It was instinct. He looked at me with narrowed eyes for a moment. I looked straight ahead.
“Here.” He pulled a cup from the holder between us. “Tea with honey, no milk.”
My mouth saidthank you, but my heart saidI love you. My brain was removed from the equation.
“Anyway…” he continued, pulling away from the curb “…I can’t trade my truck in until I can no longer imagine my father’s disapproving face. He was the epitome of practical. I already know I’ll be grounded in the afterlife for the house I purchased, and compared to other players’ homes, it’s quite conservative.”
“As conservative as Everson’s?”
He chuckled. “You both live in luxury apartments, emphasis on luxury. All I can say is testing prosthetics must pay quite well.” He gave me a quick sideways glance.
I smirked.
“Everson has one more year before he becomes a free agent. I have no doubt we’ll keep him, but he had an offer on his mansion—and it was a mansion—so he sold it and leased the apartment until he knows for sure where he’ll be in another year.”
“It must be hard to put down roots as a professional athlete.”
“Depends. Some players stay with the same team for their entire career.”
“Is that what you hope to do?”
“Sure. If I’m on a good team and getting to play, that’s the dream.”
I nodded. After a few minutes, I reached for the radio. “No docking station for your phone in here. You’re so old-school in this truck. Time to get personal. What’s programmed into your radio?” Flashing him a devilish grin I turned on the radio. “Country?” I grimaced.
He shrugged, keeping his eyes on the road, a small grin teasing his lips.
I pressed the next preset button. “Country.” I shook my head and pushed the next button.
“Country.”
Next button.
“Country.”
Next button. “Oh thank God. Pop-rock.”
“I ran out of country stations in this area.”
I chuckled. “Wow… so you’re a country boy.”
Cage smiled. “Not in the cowboy sense, but yes, I like country music. I take it you don’t?”
“I like some of the crossover artists, but most of it is too twangy for me and some of the lyrics are just too sad—my girl left me, my guy cheated on me, my truck has big tires, and my dog died.”
