“How’s the knee, Colorado?” he asked.
“Still sucks. Swollen, painful, and really fucking ugly. The bruises have turned a really gnarly combination of green and purple now.”
“Well, that car fucked you up pretty good. Have you tried walking on it without the crutches yet?”
“For about half a second, then I’m reminded what an awful idea that is.”
“Well, make sure you don’t miss any physical therapy appointments. We don’t have any time to waste. I don’t want to tell you what’ll happen if you aren’t ready by September.”
“Well, then don’t. I’ll be better,” I replied. Not getting better wasn’t a fucking option, and I wasn’t about to even talk about it as a possibility. I wasn’t about to let some snot-nosed texting kid sideswipe my entire career.
“I hope so, Colorado, we’re counting on you,” Will said.
“I won’t let you down, Coach,” I replied before hanging up.
Yeah, I’d get better in three months. Well enough to play at least. That was plenty of time. But for some reason, football wasn’t really the most important thing on my mind right now. The thought of only spending three months with Maisey didn’t seem like near enough time for me.
I might have failed today, but tomorrow is another day. I was determined to pull out all the stops, not letting up until I had Maisey exactly where I wanted her.
As I lay in bed alone later, I couldn’t help but think that where I wanted her was right there beside me, under me, on top of me, in my arms…
If my usual methods didn’t work, I’d just have to pull out the heavy artillery.
Either way, she was going to be mine.
At the very least, for one more night.
MAISEY
I woke up the next morning thinking about secrets.
I’d always told Maddy that keeping secrets would only hurt the person keeping the secret. I’d told her that it was best to share things, get them off your chest, to keep the energy flowing freely inside of your heart.
Maybe it was some hippie bullshit, or maybe it was just my own guilt eating away at my scarred and battered conscience. But either way, I didn’t want her to turn out like me.
My secret was big. But it was mine. I’d held it close to my chest for so long, it had become a part of me. I’d never told a soul and I wasn’t about to start spilling things now.
But goddamn, did I ever feel the need for some relief.
Relief was out of the question, though.
It’s not like I could trust anyone with the truth.
It’s not like I could expect anyone to keep their mouth shut once they learned how big it was.
They’d be able to sell my secret to the highest bidder. They’d fall over themselves to ruin everything I’d built here.
I guess I could have sold it myself and ran away from it all, but the last thing I wanted to do was drag myself through the mud like that.
I hadn’t even told Eddie, my best friend in the whole damn world. As much as I loved Eddie, I knew how much he loved to gossip. He'd been an amazing friend, a wonderful kind of ‘uncle’ to Maddie, and brought a lot of much needed happiness and color to our lives.
By day, he was Eddie Rockwell, a loving gay man with a heart of gold, but at night, he turned into an entirely different person — Rockie Montaigne, the Queen of the Denver drag scene. He emcee’d drag shows at Charlie’s downtown every Friday and Sunday night and was very well-known and well-loved in the Denver community.
I’d met him a few years ago when I was still in school, doing my clinicals at another PT clinic. Eddie had fallen while dancing in a pair of stiletto’s and hurt his knee. I was assigned to him and a fast friendship formed. He and Maddy adored each other.
But still, I never told him my secret either.
My mouth remained firmly shut, my secret locked deep inside of me, never to see the light of day.
Everyone had something, right? Something they never told anyone? Something they took to the grave with them? I was no different.
At least that’s what I told myself so I could sleep at night.
Everyone had secrets. I wasn’t any different. It was perfectly normal to keep this to myself.
And if it wasn’t normal, then it was certainly necessary. Some things are best left unsaid, and my secret was one of those things.
And if I didn’t want to answer Jesse’s questions, I damn well didn’t have to. I didn’t have to tell him why I left. I didn’t have to tell him why I stood him up. Maybe I owed him an explanation, but he wasn’t about to get one.
At least not the real one.
I’d been so lost in my own thoughts this morning, that I’d almost let Maddy out the door without her inhaler. That would have been a nightmare, because I would have been forced to leave work and come back home to pick it up and then drive it back to her school. Instead, I found myself chasing after the bus two blocks, frantically yelling and waving behind it like a lunatic until it had finally stopped and let me on.
I made my way to work afterwards, determined to clear my mind and not let myself get distracted any longer. I needed to stay clear-headed and keep my cool.
And I was doing so good, until Larry walked into my office after I’d only been there for five minutes and ruined everything.
“You’re going to want to take that coffee to go,” he said, gesturing to the steamy mug on my desk.
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“Your patient isn’t feeling well. He requested that you do an in-call treatment.”
“Which patient?” I asked, knowing exactly who he was talking about but hoping I was wrong.
“Colorado, of course. Your only patient.”
“For fuck’s sake, Larry!” I exclaimed. Yeah, I’m not supposed to complain, but this was too much.
“I don’t see the problem, Maisey. He doesn’t live far from here. I’ll pay for your gas and parking, if that’s your problem. Time and a half pay for having to leave the office.
”
“That’s not it!”
“Well, then what?” he asked.
“If he’s not feeling well, then why do I have to go to his home to be exposed to whatever he has?”
“His leg injury isn’t contagious Maisey. He’s hurting too much to walk, but we both know he can’t afford to miss a day of therapy.”
“I can’t believe this,” I muttered, shaking my head and gathering my things. “What’s his address?”
“He lives in a penthouse at Spire,” he said.
“Of course he does,” I rolled my eyes. Spire is the most luxurious high-rise in Denver, of course he lives there.
“I gotta say, Maisey. I’m surprised you aren’t more excited about this. It’s a great opportunity for you. He could be a really great reference for you, and for the company. If we can get Mr. Colorado back on his feet, we might end up doing physical therapy for his entire team. We’re talking about a substantial increase in business, and don’t think I won’t remember who helped make that happen. We’re talking about a big raise for you… Plus, you get to hang out in his penthouse. I hear the view is amazing.”
“Lucky me,” I sneered, grabbing my coffee and walking out of my office.
Jesse had upped the game. I knew he wasn’t hurting too much to crutch his way in here. He was just using that as an excuse to get me all alone. He was still trying to wear me down.
But he had another thing coming if he thought he could do that.
I was strong. I was resilient. I’d gone this long without letting a man, any man, steer me off course. I wasn’t about to let some jock come in and ruin everything, no matter how he made me feel…
JESSE
“The distributions will go out first thing Monday morning.” My accountant, Harlan Harrison sat across from me at my kitchen table. My crutches were leaning against it, and I was already so sick of seeing them that I wanted to throw them off the balcony.
“Make sure Samantha includes the letter I wrote when she sends out the checks,” I replied, just as the door bell rang. “Get that, will you Harlan? It’s probably my physical therapist.”