It's cute, this place. It’s everything I ever wanted. And now I’m probably going to lose it all. And the one who finally pushed it over the edge was Jake. What are the odds?
I shake my head, not believing how crazy life can be. But now it’s time to focus. "Blankets, there are clean ones in the cabinet to your left," I point behind Kaylee.
Kaylee dashes in that direction. "I'm so sorry, Angie. We just found out a few minutes ago. We tried to get to you first." She hands me the towels.
I comfort the pup. Then I sedate him and set him down on a gurney in the hallway, covering him with the clean blankets so that I can do a quick x-ray and see if anything's broken.
"Thanks, Kaylee. It's not your fault. How did you even know he was in town? Did he come for the weekend just so he could destroy Puppy-Thon? I mean, you'd think a big-shot professional football player would have better things to do than come back to St. Tropic just to ruin one of the most important weekends of my life."
Kaylee's silence tells me something's wrong. I turn to her. "What?"
"He's back, Angie."
"What do you mean, he's back?"
"He's kind of back, back," she answers.
"Like, back for good? Why the hell would he do that?"
Kaylee's face turns to a frown. "Something about an injury. You’re telling me you seriously don’t know what’s going on with him? You never once googled him? Not even after everything went down?"
Of course. I googled the hell out of him. I’m just not willing to admit it. "The past is the past. What good would it have done me?" I exhale as I push the gurney with the pup down the hall to the end office with the x-ray machine.
I specifically like having an on-site x-ray machine. It had been a big cash expenditure when I first got started, but it’s been worth its weight in gold as far as time and convenience. Now I'm regretting every single purchase I’ve ever made and kicking myself.
Kaylee continues to follow me. Her black hair is pulled back in a ponytail and she’s in sweats and a tee. That’s when I realize she came from home.
“Wow, you never googled him, I’m proud of you.”
"But," I add. I know there’s something else that Kaylee isn’t telling me. She’s obviously holding out.
Kaylee is a lot of things, but a closed book is not one of them. Of course, there was that time she got fake engaged to a freaking billionaire. She held out on Fi and I for almost twenty-four hours which is a Kaylee record.
It turned out well, though, and now she and Chase are engaged and living in an ocean-front cottage. The two of them have an adorable story.
Which is the opposite of me and Jake. I don’t have a cute story. I have a past with a wrecking ball. “Spit it out, Kaylee.”
"Which part?" She asks.
I knew it. "All of it. Summarize or something.” Then I stop in my tracks as the realization hits me. “Hey, why in the hell would you be stalking him if I'm not stalking him?"
"Oh, Fi and I set alerts on our phone. Every time he hit the news wire or TMZ or ran afoul of the local press or traveled anywhere across Arizona state lines, Fi and I knew. The first few years anyway. I guess we got lax lately. He snuck up on all of us when we least expected.”
Kaylee catches up and opens the door to the x-ray room, making eye contact with me. "Of course. He had a recent ankle injury that didn’t heal right. If you add that in with bad local press and complaints of his overly generous contract compared to his on-field production, then it makes sense that they cut him."
I stop wheeling the bed. "They cut him?"
"And according to the internet, now no team will touch him with a ten-foot pole."
I digest this news while I wheel the bed into the room and switch on the light. "So, he's here for Dr. Kade." Dr. Kade is one of the best physical therapists in the country.
Kaylee nods.
That's when Gwen materializes in front of me, practically pushing Kaylee out of the way as gently as she can.
"Gwen and I have it from here, Kaylee. Thanks for your help. Will you go check on Fi for me?"
Chapter 4
Jake
The morning air is so different here at the beach than it was in Arizona. It fills me with hope that I can mount a comeback. I'm Jake Fucking Mann. I've got this.
Pulling into a parking spot right in front of the bright yellow building, I hop out. I've been out of the ankle brace for months, and yet the scar tissue remains.
As I approach, I can tell that the front desk receptionist knows exactly who I am. She's a knockout too, with dark hair pulled into a ponytail, silky blouse, and perky tits. As if reacting on its own, my face curls up into a flashy smile.
She returns the smile and arches an eyebrow at me. "Mr. Mann?"
"Please, you can call me Jake."
"Well, Jake, Dr. Kade is ready for you. The office is right down that hallway." She points behind her. Then she pulls out a business card and writes something on the back.
"Thank you, um."
"Emma," she answers with a flirty smile. "Here, Jake. In case you need the office contact info."
I accept the business card, knowing full well it's got her number on the back. "Thank you, Emma."
The rest of the morning is filled with consultations, additional tests, action plans, and paperwork. Finally, I'm back in the car and headed to my condo when I pass a billboard I do not expect.
The billboard itself isn't a surprise, it's always been there. In the past, it usually had a picture advertising a fast-food place or a beer company.
Now it's a life-sized photo of Angie. And she's holding
