One

Chapter Twenty-Three

MISSING VIRGINITY

LAKE

“GTO Jones!” I called from the top of the stairs. One step down left me seething with a few mumbled expletives. I was not ready to wear any prosthetic yet, but … stubborn … contumacious.

“I’ll carry—”

Before Cage could finish his offer, I dropped to my butt and slid down the stairs. It didn’t feel awesome, but at least my backside didn’t feel like raw flesh. The messy, dark-haired boy at the bottom of the stairs giggled at me.

“Grant, Auntie Lake needs kisses.” I held out my arms.

He jumped into them. I tried to hide my flinch as even his little body caused mine pain.

“Good Lord, Lake. What did you do?”

Keeping Grant captive in my embrace, I looked up at my brother Luke. He was the male version of me: black hair, blue eyes, and yep, upon inspection, his ears stuck out a bit too.

“Meth lab mishap.”

He continued to stare at me with no reaction. Jessica laughed.

“Sunscreen, Lake,” Luke said. “SPF 75 for your fair skin.”

“Thank you, Dr. Jones. I’ll take that into consideration the next time I fall asleep on the beach. Hi, Jess.” Releasing Grant, I grabbed the stair rail to pull myself up without putting too much weight on my leg.

“We miss you. When are you moving back?” She winked and gave me a gentle hug.

Her body stiffened and in that moment I knew Cage had made his way down the stairs.

The son of her ex-lover.

The boyfriend whose name I never mentioned.

The man I wanted my family to love and accept more than absolutely anything.

Luke. He was the only one in my family who knew about my once-in-a-lifetime encounter with Cage.

I let everything go after that day for him and Jessica.

Luke looked at me and it was a very bittersweet moment.

I saw the man who didn’t want to remember that time in his wife’s life, but I also saw the brother who remembered the day his sister found “the one.”

Luke drummed the top of the steering wheel with his hands. He was tired of driving around the block.

“You didn’t need to honk the horn.” I slipped in the seat and slammed the door shut.

“So what did you find out?”

“He’s gorgeous. He plays quarterback for Nebraska. Oh … and I think he loves me and my prosthetic leg.”

That wasn’t the information he wanted. Luke needed to know if I found any clues to Jessica’s whereabouts.

I didn’t mean to blurt out all of that about Cage, but I had to tell someone …

I just had to. We rode in silence back to our hotel in Omaha.

Pain for his beloved radiated from him. I wanted to make it better, but just as we pulled into the parking garage, Luke reminded me why I loved him so much.

I rubbed the top of my leg, staring out the window.

“Your leg bothering you today?” Luke asked.

“No.” I stilled my hand. “It’s just a habit. That’s all.”

“I have no doubt that you’re right.”

I glanced at him. “What? That it’s a habit?”

“No. I have no doubt that you’re right about Cage. I’m sure he does love you and your leg. Any guy would be a fool not to.”

It was crazy for me to even suggest that Cage could love me after one meeting, but it meant the world to me that Luke said that with complete sincerity.

“Cage,” Jessica whispered as if he were a ghost. “What are you doing here?”

I stepped back, looking between her and Luke.

Luke cleared his throat and I knew … I just knew he was going to say something to make everything right. That’s what he did. He fought for the people he loved most in the world, and I was on that very lucky list.

“Lake and Cage met in Omaha when we were there looking for you. I think my dear sister fell in love with your neighbor, Jess.”

And just like that … Luke stole my heart. He let his past go and gave me my chance at a future. I nearly cried when he smiled, the one that said he was happy for me.

Cage took the last two steps and gave Jessica a sad smile. Then he hugged her. Yep, I had the very best men in my life. Jessica hugged him tight, like she needed a minute to get her emotions together before he released her.

“I wondered if that’s why you moved to Minneapolis of all places.” Luke smirked while picking up Grant, who had his arms outstretched to him.

“What?” I narrowed my eyes. “You knew he played for Minnesota?”

Luke shrugged. “Of course. You mean…” he laughed “…you didn’t?”

I shook my head feeling like the dumbest person in the world. How did everyone in my family know and follow the man of my dreams except me?

Jessica released Cage and took a deep breath. Both my brother and I waited for them to exchange something more than just a hug, but they didn’t, and I loved them both for it.

“He’s a damn good catch, Lake.” Jessica squinted one eye at Cage. “But Lake’s my sister, so fair warning, Monaghan, if you hurt her I’ll kill you.”

“Thanks, babe.” Luke shook his head. “That was supposed to be my line. You’re so emasculating.”

“Whatever, Jones. I’m starving. Let’s raid the kitchen. Carrying your baby takes a lot of energy.” She rubbed her belly as they headed toward the kitchen.

I turned and fisted Cage’s shirt, looking up at him. “Told ya they’d love you.”

“Mmm,” he hummed. His dimpled smile melting everything below my waist. “You know what I love?”

“Me, I hope.”

Cage chuckled, threading his fingers through my hair. “Yes, and I love that you moving to Minneapolis had nothing to do with me … that we just found each other.” He pressed his lips to mine, kissing me slowly.

The truth for me wasn’t explained by simple coincidence.

Everything that had happened in my life forced me to find meaning and direction—a reason to keep moving forward.

I believed my relocating to Minneapolis, out of endless possible destinations, had everything to do with Cage.

Time told many stories and it was time for ours.

“I’m leaving your father and stealing your boyfriend. Is that going to be an issue, Lake?” my mom asked as we stared out the windows overlooking the circle of testosterone.

My dad, Cage, Luke, my other brothers, Lane and Liam, and my brother-in-law, Drake, stood around the grill drinking beer. Even Cage cheated on his no alcohol, treating-my-body-like-a-temple routine and had a beer with the other men I loved most in the world.

I giggled like a schoolgirl at my mom’s comment. Thoughts of Cage did that to me. “I think it could be an issue, but feel free to ask him if he’s interested.”

“I might ask him too.” Lara teased the rim of her wine glass along her bottom lip as she drooled over my guy. “Do you think he’d go for an older woman with stretch marks and deflated breasts?”

“Maybe.” I shrugged, finishing off the last bit of wine in my glass. “I hear he’s dated an amputee before. Must mean he’s OK with some minor imperfections.”

“How long did it take him to notice your missing leg?” my mom asked with a Cheshire cat grin on her face.

“Hmm … I think it was maybe the fourth or fifth time we were having sex—in the same night of course.” I winked at Anne, my sister-in-law.

She turned almost as red as me.

She knew our family was crazy and more times than not, inappropriately crude.

But she never could jump in and role-play the bullshit quite like the rest of us.

Jessica? She could do it like she’d been born into our family, but she was downstairs with all the kids since her knocked-up state prevented her from drinking with us.

“Anyway, he rolled his hot, sweaty, rippled-muscled body off mine and said between labored breaths, ‘Baby, I think you’re missing something.’ I shrieked. He calmed me down and then we looked for my missing leg. Never found the damn thing.”

We fell into a fit of laughter, except for Anne. She had a permanent grimace etched across her face. I’m sure she wondered how we could joke about my missing limb.

Easy. It happened.

It couldn’t be undone.

We’d met our grieving quota years before.

Life was too damn short, so we did what the Jones women did best … we drank until we collapsed into a giggling stupor.

“You’re dating a celebrity, Lake. Has that sunk in yet?” Lara asked.

“Not really. I mean … we haven’t been dating during his regular season. There’s always someone snapping a photo or asking for his autograph, but I have this feeling when training camp starts things are going to change … a lot.”

“There’s going to be crap in the tabloids all the time,” my mom added.

I nodded, refilling my glass. “Yeah, we’ve already had some of that. Honestly, I can’t believe any of you haven’t seen me in some trashy magazine. I never dreamed I’d make it this long without you discovering the secret identity of my new boyfriend.”

“You told me his name, sweetie.” My mom gave me the stink eye. “Just not his last name.”

I grinned behind my wine glass. “I wanted you to meet him before you got any preconceived ideas about my ‘celebrity’ boyfriend. And I wanted to feel secure in my relationship with him before bringing him to … this place.”

“Good call.” Anne smirked.

Cage looked up and caught us gawking at him through the window, and he grinned then winked.

“Oh. Dear. God. He winked at me. Do you think Drake saw him wink at me?” Lara fanned herself.

“Wine … I can have a sip and not kill my baby, right?” Jessica came in the kitchen with Grant on her hip and exhaustion on her face.

“Shift change.” Anne took Grant from her. “Besides, you can handle the inappropriate talk better than I can.”

Jess kissed me on the top of my head. “Pour me an ounce of wine, Sis, and I’ll give you my first born.”

I laughed, pouring her an ounce, maybe two. “Don’t let OCD Jones catch you.”

Jessica sat down next to me and rolled her eyes, bringing the glass to her lips.

My mom’s and Lara’s eyes grew wide, their smiles pulled tight into grimaces.

“No. Way.”

Jessica closed her eyes and grumbled as I turned. Luke stood behind her with the intercepted wine glass in his hand.

“Dammit, Jones! You’re so controlling.”

I giggled, missing their angry banter that always turned into Luke saying something that rendered Jess speechless. That day was no exception.

After setting the glass on the counter, he bent down and kissed her cheek while resting his hands on her belly. “How does it feel to carry such an important part of me inside of you?”

She frowned. “You don’t play fair. You never have.”

Luke stood with a proud smirk stuck to his face. “Dad’s taking the hamburgers off the grill.”

“I’ll set out the salads and chips.” My mom stood, draining the last of her wine with a satisfied sigh as Jessica glared at her. “Oh, did Tom remember your veggie burger?”

“Women who carry such an important part of your son don’t get to have anything from the grill.”

“Your quinoa dish is in the oven next to the rhubarb crisp,” Luke called as he headed back outside.

I’m pretty sure out of the corner of my eye I saw Jess flip him the bird.

CAGE

Tom Jones. I’d gone almost two years without a drop of alcohol, and with one are-you-seriously-not-going-to-have-a-beer-with-me look, I had a cool bottle in my hand, the smooth lager coating my throat.

The men in Lake’s family were the opposite of her: they loved football.

Even Luke, who Lake described as ‘stuffy in a suit,’ knew stats and players’ names.

Red meat was also on the list of things I hadn’t had in a long time, yet one of the burgers Tom flipped on the charcoal grill was mine. How did I become the schoolboy who wanted to fit in? It was crazy because I’d never been in that role, but I wanted every one of the men in Lake’s life to like me.

After a good twenty minutes of discussing football with the guys huddled around the grill, and just when I started to get that fitting-in feeling, Tom asked me the question that made me choke on my beer.

“So how long have you been sleeping with my daughter?”

I looked at Luke, but he kept his head down, beer bottle to his lips, as did Lane and Liam.

Drake held up a finger. “I’m going to see if they need help with the kids.”

Had Tom asked him the same question about Lara when they first met?

Either Tom had the world’s best poker face or he was dead serious. Even his eyes narrowed a fraction.

“I love your daughter.”

Luke peeked up and winked at me.

“Did you love her when you took her virginity?”

My eyes ping-ponged between Tom and her brothers who continued to keep their eyes trained to the grill.

My brow pulled tight. Lake told me her father caught her in bed with Ben. Didn’t she? I began to doubt everything as the silence dragged on. I had no other choice, so I went with the best answer, the one that I liked too. It was the one where I was the only man who had ever been with Lake.

“Yes. I loved your daughter when I took her virginity.” I took a long swig of beer, praying for the buzz to kick in, but one beer could never give me a buzz.

My answer elicited all three of her brothers to glance up with their own confused faces. Just as I figured—she wasn’t a virgin and everyone knew it.

“Did you love taking her virginity?”

The Jones men lasted all of two seconds before every single one of them busted into laughter.

I smirked while shaking my head. I never expected the initiation to be quite so brutal.

If I’d had a daughter would I have been able to joke about her sex life?

Probably not. In all fairness, Lake warned me that her family was the complete opposite of normal.

“Fifty bucks if you answer him?” Liam laughed, still bending over to catch his breath.

“One hundred if you don’t.” Luke shook his head. The prospect of Liam’s offer bringing a bit of worry to Luke’s face as his smile faded.

I cocked an eye at Tom. He rested his hand on my shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze.

“You passed. No need to say anymore.” He chuckled.

I pulled my T-shirt away from my chest. “Shit. I’m sweating. That was just …”

“Fucking cruel.” Liam winked. “Drake bailed because he went through the same torture over Lara. I think watching your hazing was too much for him.”

“The psychiatry degree was more personal therapy from growing up in this family than a true dream job.” Luke grinned before taking a pull of his beer.

“Mmm …” I bit my lips together and nodded. “No comment.”

“Tom?” Felicity called. “Luke said the hamburgers were about done. What’s taking you guys so long?”

He scooped them off the grill. “Coming.”

“We’re not getting tickets to any games now are we?” Liam asked as we headed toward the door.

“Not a chance.”