One
by Jewel E. Ann
Self-Published
A Standalone in the Jack & Jill Series
Lake Jones is a cover girl for cutting-edge prosthetic legs, a binge-watcher of Netflix, known to spy on her neighbor through her door’s peephole, and fond of laser games with her hairless cat.
She’s also a bit sexually-frustrated.
Until …
God bestows a breath of mercy upon her in the form of Minnesota’s NFL starting quarterback. But this gift is no stranger. Lake met Cage Monaghan three years earlier.
It was one day.
One moment.
One kiss that resurrected her dreams of finding love.
His dimpled smile distracts from his imperfections, which include: a love for country music, fishing, and a feline-hating girlfriend.
When life finally gives them their chance, it’s a humorous and heart-wrenching journey to find their place in the world.
"We would be Cage and Lake. We would be unpredictable. We would be reckless. We would give normality the middle finger.”
Genre
Triggers
Memories of accident that left character an amputee, trauma related to the death of a parent
I. Loved. This. Book.
I know I've said it multiple times - I love the Jack & Jill series.
While One is a part of that series, it's a whole different vibe.
It's not a dark romance, unlike the others in the series.
Whereas the other books in the series are intense and the characters struggle to get to their happily ever after - One is just ... lighter.
While normally I wouldn't like the mixing of genre's like that, it absolutely works for this story.
After the heavy drama that is the Jack & Jill series, One is just ... calm. There are troubles, but nothing to cause a wave.
It's all very normal.
But not boring.
The characters bring this story to life.
I loved reading a female character with confidence. I especially loved reading a female character with confidence and a disability.
And not once did Jewel write her in a way that made is feel like a disability.
The fact that she is an amputee was a big thing with her character, because of the work she does, but not because of any limitations, and I LOVED THAT.
I loved reading a male character that was in touch with his emotions. I loved learning more about Cage. Too many times, an author falls into the trap of making sons carbon copies of their fathers, but that wasn't the case here. Which is good. I liked AJ in the others books. I liked him and Jill together. But I didn't need another AJ. In fact, I loved that fact that Cage was comfortable with his emotions. He was more open. I loved that he loved his father - but he was his own person.
One was an unexpected lighthearted addition to the Jack & Jill series. If you haven't read it yet, I'm telling you, you need to!
Lake: "I hate flying to China."
Thad: "You told me you love Beijing."
Lake: "I do. I hate getting there. Fourteen hours on a plan. I get restless."
Thad: "Take a friend."
Lake: "I don't have that many friends here yet."
Thad: "Take a sedative."
Lake: "I don't like how they make me feel."
Thad: "You're being difficult, love."
Lake: "Strong. I'm being strong-willed. That's why you hired me."
Thad: "I hired you because you're active yet submissive."
Lake: "Pardon me?"
Thad: "Don't act offended. Who lets a guy get away with, 'I want to take your leg off,' on the first date - before so much as a kiss?"
Lake: "You were handsome."
Thad: "Were?"
Lake: "Yes. Now you're just bossy, and that's not very attractive on you."
Thad: "Next Wednesday. As on the plane, love."
Lake: "Bossy cow."
I sighed, plugging in the dryer.
Thad: "Mmm hmm."
Lake: "Maybe I'll see ya around sometime. Everson and I are pretty close."
He squinted.
Cage: "Really?"
Lake: "Oh yeah. I think he has a crush on me. It's sweet."
I loved the look of humor mixed with confusion on Cage's face, especially since it brought out his dimples.
Lake: "Anyway ... I'm off. Wish me luck."
I headed to the elevator.
Cage: "You're taking cereal on your date?"
I stepped into the elevator and turned back to him.
Lake: "Hell yes. The quarterback for Minnesota just signed my box of crispy rice. I'm showing everyone I see tonight."
The elevator doors began to close.
Lake: "And the selfie too!"
It meant absolutely nothing to me to have an NFL quarterback's signature, but since it was Cage Monaghan's, there was a good chance of me humping the box later that night.
Lake: "I had a crappy date. You should invite me over for a beer."
Everson: "Let me guess ... the prick was scared of your leg."
I liked drunk Everson's take on things. Sober Everson needed to take a few pointers from him.
Lake: "Aw ... you do like me."
Stepping in front of him, I peered up at his glassy eyes.
He shook his head.
Everson: "Never said that."
Lake: "You really did. If being scared of my leg makes my date a prick, then ... you like me."
He smirked, retreating a few steps to allow me into his apartment.
Plastic red cups, paper plates, and empty alcohol bottles dotted the premises.
Everson snagged a beer from his refrigerator.
Everson: "You're still not my type, even drunk."
He popped the top and handed me the cold bottle.
Lake: "Cool your balls, hot stuff. I'm not going to jump ya."
Everson: "Tell me, Stick, how you afford to live in this place and drive the wheels you do?"
Lake: "Wheels? You've been spying on me?"
Everson: "I notice things, that's all."
Lake: "I run an amputee porn site."
Everson stilled, looking over his shoulder, trash bag dangling from his huge hand.
Everson: "You're a freak. I knew you were a freak."
Everson: "Who's that?"
I shrugged.
Lake: "Sorry, my super powers don't extend past my bionic leg."
Lake: "You're going to just leave with her a stranger?"
Everson: "You're my neighbor."
Lake: "I could be a serial killer."
Everson: "Are you?"
Lake: "If I were, I certainly wouldn't tell you, would I?"
Everson sighed as if my legitimate argument somehow irritated him.
Everson: "I'll take my chances. So you'll do it?"
Lake: "Fine! But after you get back tomorrow we are having a serious conversation about condoms."
A sexy guy named Flint wanted to take me home. Best offer I'd had in weeks. Unfortunately, I still abided by the Stranger Danger rule."
Lake: "You don't have to leave too. I can find my way out just fine."
Cage: "You sure? 'Cause last time I saw you exiting a building you were in handcuffs."
Lake: "Such a funny guy."
I grinned.
Cage: "Such a beautiful smile."
Cage: "You didn't have to run off on me."
I shrugged.
Lake: "I didn't. This isn't my running leg, it's my sexy leg. I mean -"
Cage: "Your sexy leg, huh?"
Lake: "No. I didn't mean it that way, like I think I'm sexy. It's just the one that looks more like an actual leg, not that you can tell with my jeans and boots covering it. It's the leg that makes me feel sexy. Gah!"
I shook my head and tried to keep a few steps ahead of him so he couldn't see my flushed face.
Lake: "That sounds bad too. The leg doesn't actually do anything to make me feel sexy, like vibrate or something weird like that. Not that I'm suggesting vibrating things make me feel good."
Cage: "They don't?"
He chuckled.
I unlocked my door and turned before getting inside.
Lake: "I'm so embarrassed."
Slapping my hands over my face, I tipped my chin down.
Cage: "I think you're refreshing."
Cage: "Well, here's the thing: I don't have a girlfriend, so either you're going to give me your number or you're going to kiss me again. What's it going to be?"
Poof. There went my panties.
Two big gulps later ...
Lake: "She wasn't your girlfriend?"
Cage: "She was."
Lake: "But she's not now?"
Cage: "She's not."
Lake: "Why?"
The one! He was available. It was too much to take. Inside I died a little. There was a ninety-nine percent chance of me blowing my second chance at one of my two ones, which was a mathematical phenomenon.
He smirked.
Cage: "You're nosy."
Lake: "I am."
I bit my lips together.
Cage: "We weren't that serious, and I wanted to ask for Lake Jone's number without being a cheater boyfriend."
Cage: "I'll call you."
Lake: "Pfft."
I rolled my eyes.
Lake: "You won't remember me in the morning."
Cage: "I won't forget you when I'm dead."
Lake: "If the conditioner is not for hair, then I have a good idea what you're going to do with it and I'll give you some lotion instead. I splurge on good conditioner. I'm sure some sort of cooking oil would work just as good. Ya ever thought about trying that?"
Everson shook his head.
Everson: "Porn site or not, you're a freak, woman, that's all there is to it."
Cage: Need a ride to the airport?
Lake: No. My boss pays for parking.
Cage: ::clearing throat:: Do you WANT me to take you to the airport?
"I love him," I whispered to myself as my heart fluttered in my chest to the same rhythm as the butterflies in my stomach.
Cage: How do you like your coffee?
Lake: I like it as tea, honey - no milk.
Cage: See you in the morning. I might even bring the sun with me.
Lake: I fear you're making fun of me.
Cage: Never.
Lake: "What the hell is with your hand?"
He held his new invention out in front of him as we made our way to baggage claim.
Thad: "You like?"
Lake: "It has eight fingers."
Thad: "Indeed it does. Technology isn't limited to biological standards. Have you ever heard someone say they needed another hand?"
Lake: "They're fingers, Thad."
Thad: "It's just an example. Trust me, the ladies love it."
Lake: "You're a pervert."
Thad: 'I'm a gentleman and you know it."
Lake: "It's not fair. I think women look at amputee men differently than men look at amputee women."
Thad: "We're visual creatures, love. Don't worry, you'll find your man ... he may only have five fingers to give you, but if he's good with them -"
Lake: "Enough, jeez."
Cage: "You fit in here. Big, China doll eyes. Long, straight, black hair. Flawless skin. Tiny nose. Petite frame. The ears though ..."
She grabbed her ears.
Lake: "What's wrong with my ears?"
I shrugged.
Cage: "They stick out a bit, but don't worry about it. I'm sure no one notices unless you wear your hair back."
Lake: "Dumbo ears? Are you suggesting I have Dumbo ears?"
Her voice elevated a few octaves.
Fuck. me. Lake Jones was the sexiest woman I had ever met, and I think I knew it the moment I laid eyes on her. The space-age looking prosthetic below her knee? It only made her sexier in my eyes. She held her head high, shoulders back, confident smile. She owned herself completely.
Cage: "No. I'm no suggesting you can fly."
Lake checked the peephole.
Lake: “I’m not required to see you until morning,”
she yelled. A muffled man’s voice answered.
Thad: “Oh come on, love. I’m just stopping by to say goodnight.”
“Love” didn’t sit well with me, neither did the jealousy it evoked. Lake opened the door, grumbling something under her breath.
Lake: “Goodnight, Thad.”
She started to close the door but his hand stopped it. I moved closer.
Thad: “Do you have company?”
He peeked past her to me. She sighed, moving back as Thad took a step inside the room. He held up his hand, an Iron Man-Doc Ock hybrid. Eight fingers.
Thad: “He doesn’t look Chinese, love.”
He eyed me.
Lake: “He is. It’s just poor lighting.”
She shoved his chest, but her little body made the impact of a fly.
Lake: “I’ll see you in the morning.”
Thad smirked, looking down at Lake. I didn’t like the way he looked at her. Maybe it was because he called her “love.” Maybe one had nothing to do with the other, or maybe they had everything to do with each other. Didn’t matter. It left me on edge.
Thad: “Are you paying him?”
I fisted my hands, but Lake’s left-field reply sidetracked my anger.
Lake: “Yes.”
She shoved toward the door with her whole body, and he stepped back.
Lake: “I’m paying him for sex, now go because you’re wasting my money.”
Thad: “So you’re trying to tell me that Minnesota’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback turns tricks in Beijing during the offseason?”
Cage Monaghan flew to China to kiss me. If he didn't marry me, it would be very awkward for my future husband or children to hear that my greatest memory was another man flying to China to kiss me.
After his whole body visibly relaxed and I was certain that he was asleep, I looked in the direction of God and whispered, "Can I keep him? Pretty please?" I didn't want to play the you-owe-me card with the creator of the world but ... he owed me.
Cage: “Lake, tell me this is too fast. Tell me what’s going on between us is crazy because …”
My eyes flitted between hers and my hand high on her leg.
Lake: “Because…”
she whispered
Lake: “…it feels like we’ve known each other forever. Like that one day three years ago held the significance of every day before it. Because on the one day you needed to feel a connection to life again, I showed up at your door. I was your connection.”
She did. She knocked on my door when the pain, anger, and loss were just too much. I was so mad at my dad for leaving me, for giving up, for dying. Nothing in my world made sense until I opened the door that day, then magically, everything made sense.
Cage: “Yes,”
I whispered. Lake nodded.
Lake: “I know because you were mine too. You confirmed what I’d been trying to convince myself of for the previous year—not one single yesterday mattered.”
Lake: “I haven’t had sex in a long time and even then it was—”
I slapped my hand over my mouth. Cage started to remove his hand from my leg, and I stopped him with my other hand.
Lake: “Don’t stop,”
I mumbled then removed my hand from my mouth, biting my lips together, hard. His expression went from confident and sexy to slightly mortified and utterly confused.
Lake: “I’m sorry. I just said that so you wouldn’t have high expectations. Not that I don’t know what I’m doing … it’s just that when or if we do that, it’s going to progress quickly for me—like a fifteen-year-old boy with a supermodel.”
Cage failed to hide his smirk.
Cage: “And just to clarify … you’re the supermodel and I’m the fifteen-year-old boy in that scenario.”
Trzy had nothing on me. My slutty touch-me-pet-me-love-me skills surpassed hers. Desperate. I had to look pathetically desperate. Surrendering to the reality that my big mouth robbed my vagina of some much-needed attention, I released his hand and flopped onto my side, covering my head with a pillow.
Lake: “I’d rather be a blubbering idiot with you here than a well-spoken genius with you gone.”
Cage: “That’s sexy.”
He threaded his hands through my hair, grasping my head as if preparing to take something that was his. Independent woman, I belonged to no man, blah, blah, blah … I wanted to be his. The desire to find the one guy that made me want to wave my white flag lived in the non-feminist part of my brain. Cage was white-flag worthy. I grinned.
Lake: “It’s really not, but it’s me and I want you to like me.”
He pulled me a breath away from his lips.
Cage: “I’m here, Lake. I think we’re good in the ‘liking’ you department.”
Then he kissed me.
Lake: “My teeth,”
I mumbled against his lips.
Lake: “I … need … brush … them …”
Cage: “Shut up,”
he mumbled back.
Lake: “Please, please, please, tell me you have a condom,”
I murmured over his jaw, working my way to his lips as he grabbed the back of my legs to straddle me over his cock.
Cage: “If I say yes, will it mean I’m too presumptuous?”
I stopped, hovering over his face, our noses nearly touching, my hair falling around us like a curtain.
Lake: “No. I think if you say yes, then it means you’re going to score this morning, Monaghan.”
Lake: I’ll see you tomorrow. If you knock on my hotel room door 2nite you will leave this country in need of prosthetic man parts.
Thad: Don’t let your sports star impregnate you. The extra weight would require new legs. Basically … don’t have sex. Night, love.
The morning after we had sex for the first time, I started my period. I blamed Cage at first, claiming he broke my vagina. After he made a sincere offer to take me to the hospital for an X-ray, I conceded the probable explanation was the start of my period. In my dreams—where I controlled the world—men bled out of their penises one week every month. Fair? Yeah, I thought so too.
Lake: “It’s basically a regular prosthetic leg underneath a cosmetic silicone leg. I call it my pretty leg. I have several to wear with different high heels as well.”
Cage: “You told me they’re your sexy legs.”
With my blushing face, I turned to Cage who was biting into an apple, and leaned up against the granite countertop of the kitchen island.
Lake: “Yes…”
I gritted my teeth behind my tight smile
Lake: “…but since we’re talking to your mom, I’m using pretty instead of sexy, but thanks for correcting me.”
Cage: “You’re welcome.”
He winked.
Cage: “Tell me you’re done with your …”
He kissed along my cheek to my ear, sucking my earlobe into his mouth.
Lake: “My?”
I laughed.
Lake: “Period?”
Cage: “Mmm hmm. One night with you and then nothing for days. I’m dying a little.”
Lake: “Would you buy me tampons from the store?”
He pulled back, brows knitted.
Cage: “Do you need some?”
Lake: “Nope. I’m done with my period. I just wondered if you were that guy.”
Cage: “That guy?”
Lake: “Yes. The guy that buys a woman tampons.”
I tapped my temple.
Lake: “In my head, you’ve always been that guy.”
Cage: “Pussy-whipped?”
Lake: “No.”
I laughed.
Cage: “It’s flattering to be in your head, however, I’d rather be naked or part of some fantasy, not shopping for tampons.”
Lake: “All the best fantasies start off with a guy shopping for tampons.”
Cage’s eyes grew wide, a smirk teased the corners of his mouth.
Cage: “Tampons to stop the bleeding after fantasy guy breaks said girl’s vagina?”
Biting my top lip, I nodded.
Lake: “It happens.”
Cage: "My mom is my number one fan."
Lake: "No shit. I'd considered taking on the role myself, but clearly I'm way out of my league."
Lake: “I’m calling a cab, staying at a hotel, and getting a flight home in the morning. I like you so this really sucks, but we’re done because I can never face your family again, and I just don’t think you want to waste time on a girl you will never be able to bring home. Thank you for coming to China. Best kiss ever. I wish you luck and happiness in your life. It’s been nice knowing ya.”
Cage bit back his smirk, making a shitty effort to act serious.
Cage: “I … I don’t think they even noticed anything out of the ordinary.”
“Says the fully-clothed god that everyone in this house pays homage to on these walls. But then there’s the naked woman who no one has seen or even heard of before today, just sitting on the couch with like…”
I looked down at the blanket
Lake: “…six measly strands of yarn wrapped around her naked body. Your sisters are going to need therapy. They’re going to have nightmares about body parts just … lying around the house. Your mom has to think I’m a complete slut trying to seduce her son. Probably thinks I’m some disabled gold digger. And don’t even get me started on what Rob must be thinking …”
Cage: “Well, let’s do this, then.”
He scooped me up, yarn and all.
Lake: “Do what?”
Cage: “Fuck you senseless while we wait for your cab.”
Lake: “Stop mocking me.”
Lake: “What is…”
I sat up
Lake: “…all of this?”
Boxes and boxes of tampons covered the foot of the bed.
Cage: “I got super, regular, with applicator, without applicator, organic …”
Lake: “Um … I’m not having my—”
Cage: “Period. Yes, I know. I witnessed that fact more than once last night.”
He smirked. I blushed.
Cage: “I want to be the that guy.”
Tampons. Tampons were my proverbial long-stemmed roses. Tampons took my breath away.
Lake: “You bought me tampons,”
I whispered, still in a daze. The bed dipped as he sat on the edge. He laced his fingers through my hair and cupped my head as his lips brushed my ear.
Cage: “I bought you tampons because I kinda like you—a lot.”
Lake: “And my leg?”
He laughed.
Cage: “No worries. My mom explained it to them last night. Now it’s your turn to do what you do best.”
Lake: “But aren’t you about out of condoms and doesn’t that seem a little inappropriate for a birthday party?”
Cage: “Yes.”
He adjusted himself.
Cage: “And so is the hard-on you’re giving me by talking about it.”
He tossed the tampon bag by my suitcase.
Cage: “I bought condoms too.”
He winked.
Cage: “Take your time, pancakes will be waiting, and then you can show my sisters your cool leg. The other thing you do best.”
Mom: “I like Lake, she’s real,”
my mom said then laughed.
Mom: “Your sisters adore her. I think she sealed the deal when she played in the bounce house more than their friends did. She played all the kids’ games, and she braided ribbons into their hair. If you don’t keep her, then I’m going to adopt her as their big sister.”
Mom: “Lake told me you flew to Beijing just to kiss her.”
I bit my lips together, a little surprised Lake said that to my mom.
Cage: “She did, huh?”
My eyes remained set on the girls, but I saw my mom’s grin out of the corner of my eye.
Cage: “What kind of schmuck would do something like that?”
I stood.
Cage: “I’m going for a run. I think the rain looks like it will hold off.”
Mom: “Okay. I love you, my dear schmuck.”
Inexplicably, she owned a part of me from the moment she was born, and it took twenty-one years for her to find me and dangle it in front of my face in an are-you-missing-this sort of way.
Cage: “You’re that girl, Lake. Had you not disappeared after that day in Omaha, I would be an elementary school teacher. I would not have chosen this life, because football is my life now. I don’t know how to balance this anymore, and if I’m honest, I don’t want to balance it. I want to give it up for you. I want being with you to be what I do every day because I swear to God I know I can do it better than anyone else. I love you, Lake. I love you in a way that makes me uncertain of everything in my life but you. I love you in a way that makes me want nothing but you.”
He rested his hands on his hips.
Everson: “Are you fucking blind? Jamie is a dude. I’m not hiring a dude to be my sister’s nanny. That shit’s just not right.”
Lake: “Wow … oh wow! Could you be any more sexist?”
Everson: “Yes, as a matter of fact, I could be, but I’ll spare you and just keep it simple. No. Not hiring him.”
Lake: “Because he’s a guy?”
Everson nodded.
Everson: “Correct.”
Lake: “Two years ago he nannied for royalty in England. He has a degree in education. He’s a part-time EMT. He speaks four different languages. He’s completed seven Ironman competitions. AND he’s hit the New York Times Bestseller list for a series of children’s books he’s written. Are you out of your mind? It doesn’t get any better than Jamie.”
Everson: “You gonna still help with her sometimes?”
Lake: “What? Yes. But I can’t guarantee my time with the unpredictability of my job, so I can’t be her nanny, otherwise I would have offered.”
Everson: “I get that, Stick. But you’ll be around when you can?”
I shrugged.
Lake: “Of course.”
Everson: “You’ll hang out with Shayna and her nanny?”
Lake: “Yeah, sometimes.”
Everson: “Great. Wait here.”
I waited. Why? I wasn’t sure.
Everson: “Jamie, man … mind if I take your picture for security purposes?”
I peeked around the corner as Everson took Jamie’s picture.
Lake: “What’s that all about?”
I asked when Everson came back into the bedroom. He tapped the screen of his phone.
Everson: “What were all those credentials again? Royalty … teacher, EMT, four languages…”
he continued to type into his phone
Everson: “…Ironman competitions, oh and New York Times Best Seller.”
Lake: “What are you doing?”
He held up his phone.
Lake: “Just sent a picture of Jamie and his amazing resumé to Monaghan to see how he feels about me hiring him to work next door to you.”
I rolled my eyes.
Lake: “He’s not going to care. If anything, he’ll be impressed with my skills for finding the perfect person to watch Shayna.”
Everson held up his phone as it dinged with a response from Cage.
He smirked.
Lake: “Yeah, that’s what I figured he’d say.
Monaghan: No. Fucking. Way!
Penny: “Wowza, never seen a leg like that before. Rupert, my husband, lost half his finger when he was fourteen. Came out on the short side of garbage disposal roulette."
I grimaced.
Penny: “I know, right?”
She nodded slowly.
Lake: “Mine was a car accident. If Rupert ever needs an extra finger,”
or eight
Lake: “I know a guy.”
Penny laughed.
Penny: “I’ll tell him. He doesn’t know what to do with the nine and a half he has, so I don’t think it matters.”
I’d known Penny for all of two seconds, and yet I felt pretty certain she was sharing cringe-worthy details about her sex life. It was official—I liked Penny Weiss.
Cage gestured to my running leg.
Cage: “Testing a new leg?”
I shook my head.
Lake: “Underwear.”
His brow wrinkled and the guys behind him inched a bit closer, ears perked.
Cage: “What?”
Lake: “My favorite underwear has been discontinued. I’m trying a new brand and the best way to test them out is to go for a jog. I want to know before I buy ten pairs if they’re going to ride up on me. I’m not a thong girl. I don’t like anything shoved up my ass.”
His cheeks turned red while taking a hard swallow. The fishing crew tried and failed to hide their chuckling. One of the guys slapped him on the shoulder.
Guy: “We’ll meet you out front.”
He cleared his throat.
Guy: “Our condolences on the ass news.”
Cage: “I’m going to text you an address. Meet me there in three hours.”
Lake: “What if I haven’t sorted through this underwear situation by then?”
My head tilted to the side as my poker face slipped a bit, revealing my own impending grin.
Cage: “Hmm …”
He pulled me to him, his hands easing into the back of my running shorts.
Cage: “Don’t fret over it,”
he whispered before sucking my earlobe into his mouth. My lips parted, and eyes closed, as I held onto his biceps to keep my knees from buckling.
Cage: “Panties are optional.”
Three words and my knees buckled. Thankfully—not really thankful at all—he fisted the back of my new panties and yanked up. My hero? No. The wedgie was underway a few seconds before my knees gave out.
I gasped. He smirked.
Cage: “I think you should consider getting used to the idea—the feeling—of something in that sexy ass of yours.”
Not much left me speechless, but my first non-brother-male-induced wedgie left me with cow eyes and a numb tongue.
Lake: “When your season begins and we don’t see each other as much…”
I took the hat and put it on, Cage smiled
Lake: “…can you do me a huge favor?”
Cage: “Anything.”
Pressing my palms to his cheeks, I whispered,
Lake: “Don’t forget to love me.”
Lake: “You don’t want the story. You don’t want anyone to come along and disrupt your memories, but you’re A-fucking-OK with digging up my past, a past you don’t even completely understand because Jessica … Jillian has been this no-go subject for us, and if I can’t tell you that she was in a wedding dress, getting ready to walk down the aisle when I was on my way to the hospital, and that I woke three months later to not only the news of my leg and Ben, but that my brother didn’t get married because of my accident and that she ‘committed suicide’ after her parents were murdered … if I can’t tell you that…”
she batted away more tears and her voice cracked
Lake: “…then you’ll never understand that my greatest disability has nothing to do with my missing limb. It’s the sleepless nights and the nightmares and the need to move on with my life and find something that makes me feel like I’m the one who deserved to live.”
Lake: “Cage?”
He turned.
Cage: “Yes?”
Lake: “You want to know what comes after the epilogue?”
Cage: “What?”
Lake: “A new book filled with endless possibilities.”
Cage sighed.
Cage: “Photographers. Not fans. Maybe there’s a back entrance.”
Lake: “Why? You embarrassed to be seen with me?”
I perked a brow. He smirked.
Cage: “For the love of God, have you even looked in a mirror?”
I laughed.
Lake: “I’m sure they’ll spin it. Lake Jones, girlfriend to Minnesota’s quarterback, suffered severe burns and loss of a limb in a meth lab explosion.”
Cage: “Flint would love that. Come on, crispy.”
Photographer: “What brings you to L.A.?”
the same photographer asked me.
Lake: “Sex on the beach.”
Cage adjusted his baseball cap low on his face, either to hide his amusement or embarrassment. I couldn’t tell.
Cage: “Sex on the beach?”
he asked after we left the reporters behind. I shrugged as the elevator took us to the fourth floor.
Lake: “It’s a better headline than the meth lab scenario.”
Cage: “Have you had sex on the beach?”
Lake: “Only in a shot glass. You?”
Cage: “No comment.”
Lake: “What was her name? Bambi? Summer? Fantasia? I have it on good authority that sand is not genitalia-friendly. So hopefully you didn’t drag your elephant trunk through the sand before slipping it into her delicate clamshell.”
He fisted his hand at his mouth, and shook his head as the laughter he refused to share shook the rest of his body.
Cage: “Only you … only you …”
Lake: “I felt a little nauseous, so I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.”
Cage: “It was painful to watch, like a vulture on the side of the road with a fresh kill. I can’t believe the plate survived.”
From the chair by the window, Cage smirked, tapping his fork lightly against his lower lip.
Lake: “Has the brash insult thing worked for you in the past with … Bambi, Summer, Fantasia? I mean, does your brain make a conscious decision between telling a girl she’s sexy and beautiful versus a pig with Dumbo ears?”
He shook his head.
Cage: “It’s really not for your benefit, it’s for mine.”
I choked on my laugh.
Lake: “Benefit? Enlighten me. How does insulting me benefit you?”
Cage: “It’s my attempt to see you in a different light so my mind doesn’t focus on doing very dirty things to you.”
My jaw dropped. Cage shrugged, like can’t blame a guy for being honest.
Lake: “Sss … so in Beijing you said my ears were big to keep from thinking about doing very dirty things to me?”
Cage: “Yes,”
he answered diplomatically.
Lake: “So you don’t really think I have big ears?”
Cage: “I didn’t say I made up shit. I just implied I tried to focus on something less sexy.”
My hands inched toward my ears as they always did when he mentioned them.
Lake: “Can, I mean … do you think ears can really be sexy?”
Cage: “Lake?”
Lake: “Huh?”
My brow tensed as I covered my ears.
Cage: “I love your ears.”
Lake: “It’s OK if you don’t. It’s not a deal breaker, right?”
Cage: “I love your ears.”
Lake: “I’m trying to remember … maybe one of my siblings pulled on them when I was younger. Maybe my mom dragged me to my room by them when I got in trouble.”
Cage: “I love your ears.”
Lake: “It really shouldn’t matter though … it’s not like you stick your dick in my ears. Although, have you ever read any books or seen movies where guys say they want to fuck every hole or orifice of a woman’s body? That would have to include ears and …”
I wrinkled my nose.
Lake: “Nostrils too. Those guys must have pencil dicks. I think you’d have to have a pencil dick to even say something so ridiculous.”
I twisted my lips as Cage threw his head back in laughter.
Lake: “Lucky for me your dick is too big to fit in my nose or my ears. Do you suppose a guy’s spunk dissolves wax or clears sinuses?”
Cage: “Stop!”
He kept laughing.
Cage: “You win.”
Lake: “Yeah, I think so too.”
I smirked and heaved a pillow at his head.
Lake: “I love our story. I love it so much because in every chapter you make me fall in love with you all over again. Let’s never be in love. Let’s fall every day without ever touching the ground.”
Cage: “Fuck gravity.”
He rested his cheek on my head. I chuckled.
Lake: “Exactly, fuck gravity.”
Lake: “My mom doesn’t know about my beach mishap, and I’d rather not tell her. She worries enough as is.”
Cage: “Sure. I get it. Because it’s going to be real easy to hide when your entire front side looks like you lost a battle with a dragon.”
Tom: “Your mom has your room ready, Lake. Cage can sleep in the blue room.”
Their house. Their rules. I wasn’t going to question one word. That’s how military kids were raised. My spitfire of a girlfriend? She wasn’t as submissive to their rules.
Lake: “Pu-lease, Dad. Newsflash, I’m twenty-four. We’ve had sex.”
I closed my eyes, trying to pretend she did not just say that.
Tom: “Lake—”
Her dad tried to speak.
Lake: “It’s true. Deal with it. We’ve had lots of sex in a lot of different places and posit—”
Felicity: “Lake!”
Felicity stifled her laugh. Tom was to my back, so I couldn’t see him. I just prayed he didn’t own a gun.
Lake: “He probably owns at least a dozen, but he’s never used one on my boyfriends. He came close with Ben, but my mom swooped in as the voice of reason to save the day.”
Cage: “What did Ben do?”
I looked up.
Lake: “Took my virginity … in the green bedroom. Did you know they make dirty conversational hearts? It’s true. I’m not proud of this, but all it took was a candy heart that said, ‘Let’s make love,” for me to hike up my skirt and rip off my panties. It didn’t even matter that he gave me two more right away that said, ‘Bend Over’ and ‘Lick me.’ I’ve been permanently banned from that room, which is a shame because it’s the only one with a king-sized bed; the rest are queen. Hope you work well in small spaces.”
Felicity: “How long did it take him to notice your missing leg?” 'my mom asked with a Cheshire cat grin on her face.
Lake: “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.
Lake: “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.”
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.
Tom: “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.
Drake: “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.
Cage: “I love your daughter.”
Luke peeked up and winked at me.
Tom: “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.
Cage: “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.
Tom: “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.
Liam: “Fifty bucks if you answer him?”
Liam laughed, still bending over to catch his breath.
Luke: “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.
Tom: “You passed. No need to say anymore.”
He chuckled. I pulled my T-shirt away from my chest.
Cage: “Shit. I’m sweating. That was just …”
Liam: “Fucking cruel.”
Liam winked. “
Cage: “It was a jok—”
I jumped as he bit the back of my ear.
Lake: “It wasn’t a joke. Not wanting to marry me … that was a joke.”
Cage: “Now you’re just being arrogant.”
I nudged my knee into his leg.
Cage: “I’m not. I’m just being honest. I don’t ever want another man to touch you. I want every baby that ever grows in your belly to be mine.”
Fuck the tears … here they come.
Cage: “I want you to call me first when someone steals your leg … even if I completely lose it and have to call Flint.”
I laughed, biting my lips together to keep my emotions in check.
Cage: “And when I tell you to get your ass to my training camp because I’m fucking dying to see you, then I expect you to be there without worrying about how it will affect me. Football is my job. Let me worry about it. You are my life … worry about that. Worry about keeping yourself safe so I don’t lose another person I love. Focus on our future because, Lake … you are my future and I will marry you, even if I have to drag you to the altar and fuck a yes out of you.”
Cage: “You agreed to be my baby mama, Lake. You let me come in you … twice.”
Her face turned crimson.
Lake: “I don’t have a car here.”
Cage: “Just as well. You’re not going anywhere.”
I grabbed her hand.
Lake: “Come on. I’m starving. My baby probably is too.”
Cage: “Not funny,”
she grumbled, following me into the kitchen.
Cage: “Have a seat. Put your feet up before your ankles start to swell.”
Lake: “Still not funny. Actually … it’s a little funny. I only have one foot and ankle.”
Lake: Lol. Sorry. Trzy loves you. You can take her anywhere as long as she has a litter box and food. She’s too much of a diva to piss on your floor. Just make sure you have a water bowl for her and take her laser pen to play with her.
Cage: So now I have to play with her too?
Lake: Do I have to beg you to play with my pussy?
Cage: Knock that shit off. I don’t need an erection before my massage.
Lake: Another massage? It sure is rough being you. Play with Trzy and pet her too. Lots of petting.
Cage: She’s hairless. I’m not sure she likes it.
Lake: The last pussy of mine you petted was also hairless and believe me she sure as hell liked you petting her … and licking her … and …
Cage: Fuck!! I’ve got to go whack off before my massage. Thanks a lot.
Lake: Monaghan … Don’t forget to love me.
Cage: Impossible.
Biting my trembling lips together, I shook my head.
Lake: “Do you really love me?”
Thad’s brow wrinkled like my question was somehow a slap in the face, like I should have known the answer.
Thad: “Yes,”
Lake: “Then I’m going to tell you something and when I’m done you’re going to forget about this day like it never happened and you’re going to do it because love is giving all and taking nothing.”
The defeat in his eyes told me he knew the answer, but I needed to say the words because I did love the tall, handsome geek before me, even if he made me hate him that day.
Lake: “I’m not the one for you. I can only be the one for one man and he’s the reason you didn’t choose me that day. The universe knew something we didn’t at the time. Cage was the one for me before I took my first breath, and he’ll be the one after I take my last.”
Lake: "Ben was my first love. Cage is my everlasting love. And you …”
I brushed the back of my hand along Thad’s cheek.
Lake: “You’re the reason I’m changing the world. I don’t want to lose you, but I also don’t want to hold you back.”
Thad: “You’re breaking my fucking heart.”
I wiped away a stray tear.
Lake: “You’re breaking mine.”
He rolled his eyes toward the sky and shook his head.
Thad: “You’re just worried I won’t make you any more legs.”
Lake: “I’m not worried. I’m terrified.”
His head snapped back down. I felt the tension between us lighten a bit, letting my heart slow and my lungs take a breath.
Love—the hand that pulls someone to their feet. Love—the lips that kiss their wounds. Love—the proffered tissue to wipe their tears. Love—the smile that reminds them we are all human. Love—the mind that doesn’t judge. Love—our soul’s purpose. Love—our sole purpose. Cage was my love and I was his.
Felicity: “Well, I hope he’s the one. It would be a crime for one of the Jones women to not be with the hunky quarterback with dimples, and as much as it breaks Lara’s and my heart, you really are the obvious choice.”
I laughed because in spite of the loss in my life, I still had the very best people.
Lake: “He’s the one, Mom.”
Cage: “Give me you. Give me every tear. Give me every breath. Give me every fear. Give me every touch. Give me every smile. Give me every day.”
He dipped his head and kissed a trail down my leg and over my knee to where it ended. He kissed every inch of skin until I swear to God I could feel the rest of my leg, until I could feel all ten toes touching the ground.
Cage: “Lake…”
another kiss
Cage: “Ivy…”
another kiss
Cage: “…Jones…”
his eyes came back to mine
Cage: “give me forever. Give me the one thing I cannot live without…”
grabbing my backside, he scooted me closer to the edge of the bed and pressed his lips to my chest over my heart
Cage: “…give me you.”
Grayson: “Porn?”
Grayson, one of my wide receivers sat down across from me. I continued to stare at Lake’s text.
Cage: “Better than porn.”
Grayson: “Not possible.”
Cage: “Clearly you haven’t met my favorite lake.”
Grayson: “Mmm … no, but I’ve seen her photos.”
Looking up, I narrowed my eyes. He held up his hands.
Grayson: “It’s all good. They’re tasteful. And out of respect to you, I have a copy of the magazine on my coffee table, not on my bed stand.”
Cage: “Good to know you value your life.”
Lake: “I’m scared.”
My lips held a residual smile to hide the true depth of my fear. Cage’s hand slid behind my hair, gently holding my neck as he leaned down and kissed me.
Cage: “What are you scared of?”
he whispered over my lips.
Lake: “I’m afraid we’re too high. I’m afraid the universe—God—is going to demand balance again. I’m afraid we’re going to stop falling when the ground hits us.”
I rested my hands flat on his chest.
Lake: “I’m afraid of the ground.”
Resting his forehead on mine, he rolled it side to side.
Cage: “Fuck gravity.”
Gretchen: “Show the cameras that beautiful smile of yours. They love you too, you know.”
Gretchen winked. I wasn’t so sure “they” loved me too. I’m pretty sure there was an “I Hate Lake Jones” Facebook group with thousands of jealous women bashing the girl with the missing leg. Facebook was a shit-fest like that.
Jessica hunched down in front of me, taking my face in her hands with a firm hold.
Jessica: “This is it. This is where you sink or swim. This is where the survivors are separated from the victims.”
She grabbed my leg, my prosthetic leg.
Jessica: “You’re a survivor. Get up.”
I’m sure people around us thought she was being insensitive. I knew otherwise. She loved me too much to watch me ever be a victim. There was a reason I’d idolized her for so long. She stood and held out her hand.
Jessica: “Up.”
An eerie silence claimed the entire waiting room. The numbness began to wear off, and the first thing I felt was a roomful of eyes on me. My naked body circulated around the world in a magazine with a massive readership. I bared everything to everyone without fear, yet I was so fucking scared to take the thirty steps that separated me from Cage. I stood. Jess squeezed my hands.
Jessica: “Strength acknowledges weakness. It has a healthy respect for it, but it never submits to it. Got it?”
Lake: “Got it,”
I whispered. Turning, I followed Brooke to the ICU.
Doctor: “Monaghan.”
I turned. The doctor who talked to us in the waiting room came in.
Doctor: “You’re causing a ruckus in my ICU. The news of you has led to other patients requesting to see you, claiming it’s their dying wish. And I’ve been told the parking lot has turned into a weird mix between a candlelight vigil and a Super Bowl celebration. Half or more of your teammates and coaches have claimed my waiting room, even though they’ve all been told they will not be allowed to visit you until tomorrow. So … here’s what I need from you. By tomorrow afternoon, if the swelling has gone down—which it should—I need you to move some body parts for me so we can transfer you to a different room, not in my ICU. Can you do that for me?”
Cage grinned as best he could.
Cage: “I’ll see what I can do.” The do
Banks watched her leave the room like he was enjoying her ass moving with each step a little too much.
Cage: “Stop eye-fucking my nurse.”
He chuckled.
Everson: “Well, you weren’t givin’ her the appreciation she deserved, so I thought I should.”
Cag:e “I’m engaged, in case you didn’t hear.”
Everson: “Yeah, I know Stick worked her freaky voodoo on you. You crazy fuck. She’s a handful. What the hell were you thinking?”
Everson: “You think your dick will work again?”
Cage: “God, I hope so. Like … screw walking, if I have to choose between my dick and my legs—”
Everson: “You choose your pecker, no question.”
We eyed each other with shit-eating grins plastered to our faces.
After everyone else left, I jabbed my thumb behind me, not having any clue where I was going to go.
Lake: “So … I’ll just … um …”
Cage: “Lake?”
Lake: “Yeah?”
Wringing my hands together, I smiled.
Cage: “Get your ass over here.”
Lake: “But you said—”
Cage: “What I said was code for ‘Get the hell out of here so I can be alone with my Lake.’ Now, take off your shoes, ditch the leg if you want, clothing is optional and actually quite discouraged.”
Cage: “I’m thinking we fly to Vegas and just do it.”
Lake: “Ha! My mom would disown me. Lara and Drake did the Vegas thing, and I think my mom is still pissed about it. She has this wedding dress, a gawd-awful looking thing, which was her mother’s dress. I don’t think it was ever white, but it’s now a piss yellow. Anyway, my mom promised her mom she’d wear it for her wedding, but after having Luke before they got married, her hips and boobs no longer fit into the ugly dress. Soo … she promised my grandmother, before she died, that Lara or I would wear it. Honestly, I think that’s why Lara went to Vegas.”
Cage: “Flint found someone to rent the space above his law office.”
Lake: “And that’s not a good thing?”
Flint scowled at me.
Cage: “No. She’s not.”
Cage continued,
Cage: “Her business is loud and distracting.”
Lake: “Oh? What does she do?”
Flint: “Drive me fucking insane.”
Both Cage and I laughed.
Lake: “What did Flint whisper in your ear before he left?”
My words came out breathy as his tongue circled my nipple.
Cage: “Same thing he said to me on our wedding day when you were walking down the aisle.”
Lake: “And what was that?”
My hips jerked as his hand slid between my legs.
Cage: “He said, ‘best decision of your life, buddy.’”
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