One

Chapter Thirty-Three

THE brAWL

I flew to New York the next morning, with a back-breaking chip on my shoulder and a boyfriend oblivious to his douchebag-ness. It wasn’t a glamorous word, or a real one for that matter, but it was the most fitting one. The notecard in my bag should have been a heart-melting gesture:

CHAPTER NINE

But it wasn’t.

The following ten days were a complete blur. At every turn I had a camera or microphone thrust into my face—questions about the photos and article, questions about my relationship with Cage, questions about my secret affair with Everson’s nanny.

Thad and I were supposed to be changing the world, but my personal life seemed to trump everything else.

His incessant eye rolling and jaw grinding said he was fed up with the sideshow of my life.

Even the scheduled interviews that were supposed to only be about the magazine article and Thad’s inventions ended with slipping in a question or two about my relationship with Minnesota’s famous quarterback.

Texting with Cage seemed to focus on the same shit. I was sick of it.

Cage: I read you’re having an affair with Thad.

Lake: Who’s the blonde with you on the front page of the sports section?

Cage: I miss you.

Lake: I miss you more.

Our schedules did their absolute best to keep us apart. After my ten days with Thad, and one missed game of Cage’s, I returned home for swapping out the clothes in my suitcase, desperate, hot sex with Cage, and right back on a plane for another week of promotion.

I made it back in time for Cage’s last game before Thanksgiving. It was a home game, so I went to it with Shayna and Jamie.

“You’re quite the celebrity.” Jamie smirked as we took our seats, bundled up for the cold evening game.

“I’m an exotic animal on display. I hate it. Thad is extremely agitated. I’m surprised I still have a job.”

“Look!” Shayna jumped to her feet. “Evson?” she yelled, seeing him warming up on the field.

“He can’t hear you sweetie.”

She plopped back in her seat with a frown.

Two guys in front of us, dressed in apparel for the opposing team, turned around once, then the bigger guy directly in front of me stood and turned. “You’re her.” He smirked, the kind that made me cringe.

I returned a polite smile, praying he’d take a seat and not get anymore drunk than he already seemed to be.

“I seen them pictures of you.”

I gulped down the thick knot in my throat, trying to hide my nerves as Jamie scooted forward in his seat.

Drunk guy’s eyes shifted to my leg that was covered in jeans and tall, yellow Bogs boots.

“You’re the naked chick without a leg.”

Jamie stood.

“The leg makes me sick, but your body, I’d turn a blind eye and fuck you any—”

Aaannd he was tumbling into the people in front of us, grunting like a stabbed pig and bleeding from his nose like one as well. Jamie shook out his fist and Shayna cried, burying her face into my chest as I hugged her to me.

“You fucker!” Drunk guy’s sidekick threw a clumsy punch at Jamie, but my British hero hammered in his nose as well.

“Lake, take Shayna and get out of here,” Jamie warned as security headed toward the erupting brawl.

What started out as Jamie putting two pricks in their place turned into an all-out war in the stands. One team’s fans against the other team’s fans.

Shayna wouldn’t let go of my leg.

“Come on, sweetie. We have to get out of here. Shayna!”

She refused to move, so I picked her up and maneuvered my way to the aisle. It was chaos navigating down the stairs as everyone else shoved their way toward the commotion.

“Shay!” I hugged her tight to me, cupping the back of her head and curling my body around hers as I lost my footing and fell forward down the steep incline of stairs.

Pain—my back, my arm, my head, my mouth. Lights, bodies, and voices blurred in chaos.

“Lake!” Shayna’s voice echoed as her perfect little face hovered just inches from mine.

God … the pain.

CAGE

It was a big game, but at that point, being one of the few undefeated teams left in the NFL made every game a big game. It was hard not to think about the playoffs, the Super Bowl.

One game at a time.

“Shit’s getting real.” Our offensive coordinator nodded toward the stands. “The bigger the game … the bigger the fights in the crowd seem to be.”

I threw the ball then turned toward the commotion.

“Lake.”

“What?” he asked.

I never let her distract me during the game, but I always knew exactly where she was sitting, and the brawl in the crowd, peppered with security guards that didn’t seem to have a damn bit of control over the fans, was exactly where her seat was with Shayna’s and Jamie’s.

“Monaghan? Where are you going? Stay the hell out of that,” my offensive coordinator called.

Even though my stomach wanted to empty its contents onto the field because I had a really sick feeling about the scene before me, I kept going, picking up speed.

Jumping to the first row, I hopped over the railing and shoved my way into the thick of it.

Within seconds I spotted Flint at the bottom of the stairs along with paramedics.

My presence drew a whole new commotion as fans attempted to shove shit into me to sign, and everyone had a camera phone in my face.

Flint looked up and shook his head. I couldn’t see past the circle of people huddled around the paramedics, but when my eyes shifted to Shayna standing next to Flint, tears rolling down her face, I knew.

The familiar yellow boot flopped to the side next to one of the hunched over paramedics confirmed my fear.

“Move …” I shoved through the congestion of people on the stairs. “Move … get the fuck out of my way!”

Flint had the nerve to try and step in front of me and block my pursuit.

“I’ll handle this. You get your ass back on the field.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Friends or not. I will plant your ass on the ground without a second thought if you don’t get The. Fuck. Out. Of. My. Way.”

“Cage!” Shayna hugged my leg.

Flint shifted his stubborn gaze to her then stepped aside.

“Lake’s bleeding …” Shayna cried.

“Stay with Flint.” I peeled her fisted hands from my pants and took one more step forward.

“Fuck,” I whispered as they lifted her body onto the stretcher.

She was strapped down, head in a neck brace and blood oozing from a slew of gauze pressed to her nose and mouth, but her eyes were open wide.

“Lake …” her name broke from my throat; it had a hell of a time squeezing past my heart lodged at the base.

Her eyes rolled to the side.

“Fuck, baby …” That’s not what I meant to say, but I just couldn’t think of anything but wondering what the hell happened. “I’m here. I’m coming too. I won’t leave your side.”

“Cage—”

I turned toward Flint, daring him to say one word. “It’s just a game.”

The look on his face hardened. “It’s not just a game and you know it. She’s just a girl, and she’ll be fine.”

I grabbed Shayna’s hand and pulled her toward me as I leaned forward and whispered in Flint’s ear.

“Fuck you and … you’re fired.”

LAKE

Two missing front teeth.

Stitches in my lip.

Bruised ribs.

And one pissed-off quarterback.

That summed up my Sunday night football experience.

“I’m quitting.” Those were the first two words I heard when I opened my eyes and my first clue that I was dealing with a pissed-off quarterback.

My head eased side to side.

He rested his forehead gently on my stomach.

My hand eased to his head. I wanted to comfort him with a witty reply, but as my tongue grazed the jagged edges of the remaining stubs of my front teeth, I decided I would never speak or smile again.

He turned his head, looking up at me. “You can’t talk, huh?”

I lifted my shoulders a fraction, feeling a twinge in my ribs.

“You have stitches in your lip.”

I nodded.

He grimaced. “Your two front teeth are fractured.

I nodded.

“Your ribs are bruised.”

That explained the twinge. I nodded.

“Jamie was arrested.”

My eyes widened.

Cage sat up and rubbed his face. “I fired Flint, so I called my attorney to deal with getting Jamie out.”

He fired Flint. My heart broke. Flint was his friend. What happened to me had nothing to do with Flint.

I tried to speak, but my first word ended in a grimace that only made the pain worse when it pulled at the stitches in my lip.

“Don’t.” Cage shook his head. “Everything is fine. Shayna is with Penny until Everson gets home. I called your parents. They’re waiting to hear back from me. I said I’d call again when you woke. From the panic that was in your mom’s voice, I’m guessing she’s already on a plane.”

Hearing voices close by, I scanned the room, realizing we weren’t actually in a room. It was nothing more than a hospital bed and a chair enclosed by a wall of machines to my back and a sliding curtain on the other three sides.

“Lake.”

My eyes shifted to the brunette in navy scrubs sliding open the curtain.

“How’s your pain level? Do you need more pain management?”

I shook my head. Yes, I felt pain, but nothing unbearable.

“Okay. No concussion. You’re free to go. You can thank this young man for your lip.”

My eyes narrowed.

“He insisted we have a plastic surgeon come down to stitch up your lip instead of the oral surgeon on-call.” She gave Cage a smirk.

He didn’t seem to care.

“Our on-call dentist did what he could. You’ll want to make an appointment with your dentist. Ice your face if you can and ice your ribs along with pain medication.

Take it easy for the next few days. Nothing strenuous.

Focus on your breathing when you can and try to take some slow, deep breaths even though it might hurt a bit. Okay?”

I nodded.

“We checked over your leg and it looks fine, so as long as you don’t have any issues with your prosthetic, you should be fine.”

Another nod. Damn! Worst injury ever for a chatty person like myself.

Cage thanked the doctor. As he stood, I noticed he was still wearing his uniform pants and cleats with a gray Minnesota T-shirt.

Flint would have already been there with a complete change of clothes and his truck waiting in the parking lot.

I think I saw the same thoughts go through Cage’s mind as I looked him over.

“Easy does it.” He helped me sit up, one inch at a time.

Blood-tinged saliva hung in a long string from my mouth. I couldn’t even swallow properly yet. Attractive.

There really had to be a limit for how many hospital trips were allowed in the first six months of a relationship. Cage had to think, “She’s going to the hospital again?” Could I be anymore clumsy?

“Shay …” I tried to talk without moving my mouth at all. It sounded like I was mad, gritting the word through my clenched teeth.

“I told you she’s with Penny. She’s fine. She said you were carrying her and you fell.” He shook his head as he eased my gown from my shoulders. “Whatever you did, it kept her from getting as much as a scratch. You…” his eyes met mine “…didn’t get so lucky.”

That’s all that mattered to me. Everything happened so fast, but I remember the moment I lost my footing all I thought about was Shayna and hugging her to me, protecting her.

He stared at my naked chest. I quirked a brow. It was not the time for that. Cage shook his head with a small smirk.

“I’m just wondering if we should leave off your bra. It might feel too tight around your ribs.”

I nodded. He helped put my leg on, like the pro he’d become with it, then he helped with my shirt and pants.

“Easy.” He helped me off the bed.

My ribs … they hurt.

“You want me to get a wheelchair?”

I shook my head.

“Want me to carry you?”

I gave him the are-you-serious look.

“It was just an offer.”

Big surprise. We were met with a small crowd of photographers as we exited the hospital.

I tipped my chin down, and Cage held one hand in front of my face as he guided me with his other hand. A familiar black Mercedes pulled up.

“We’ll find a cab,” he mumbled to me as Flint got out and opened the back door.

“No.” Cage shook his head.

“Swallow your fucking pride and put your girl in the back of my car.”

They had a brief stare-off.

“This means nothing.”

Flint nodded.

“Easy,” Cage whispered as I got in the back seat.

He made his way around to the other side, exchanging a few words with Flint that I couldn’t hear, and then got in next to me. Camera flashes sparkled in the night as Flint pulled away from the curb.

“Your truck is at your house.”

Cage didn’t respond.

“Your team lost. Bennigan threw five picks, two that led to touchdown conversions.”

Still no response, but the grip he had on my leg tightened a fraction with Flint’s words. I looked over at Cage, but he kept his eyes trained to the window, watching the road pass by.

When we pulled up in front of Cage’s house, he helped me out and led me toward the door without a word or glance in Flint’s direction. I stopped.

Cage narrowed his brow. “You okay?”

I turned, pulling away from his protective arms and walked back to the car where Flint still stood by the driver’s door. Flint shared the same confused expression as Cage had.

I looked up. “Thank you,” I whispered as best I could, but not loud enough for Cage to hear.

Flint just stared at me for a few moments then nodded once.

As I walked back toward Cage, I could see the look of betrayal in his eyes, but he didn’t say anything.