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I switched Lance on. Yes, I’d named him after my savior.
This Lance was my stand-in for the man I’d expected to someday rescue me from Kevin. The fantasies of Lance whisking me away and solving my problems had kept me hopeful, and I’d be forever grateful to him, wherever he was.
The tingles started as I maneuvered Lance lower.
CHAPTER4
Boone
The next morning,I woke later than normal, and not because I’d slept well—quite the opposite. Seeing Angela Lerner again had set me off. If she was hanging out with Calla-Lilly, I knew who I’d be avoiding for a while.
I circled the drain for hours, wondering what it would have been like to make it into the pros. At twenty-seven, I’d still be playing. Receivers like me had a longer shelf life than running backs. I could have looked forward to playing well past thirty, talent allowing. But the conspiracy had robbed me of that chance.
After a shower, I wandered into the kitchen. My aunt Marge had already made breakfast.
She looked up from her paper. “Rough night?”
“Not particularly.”
“Your breakfast is in the microwave.” Her lips tilted up as she looked toward the hall. “Just you?”
That question came up too often for my taste. I nodded. “Just me.”
“You know, Willamina told me her niece came back into town about a week ago.”
My aunt, bless her, always had a dating suggestion for me.
“Really?” I’d seen her friend’s niece, Kelsey, at the Barrel last week. She was a pretty enough girl, and last year she would have warranted at least a first date. But not now.
“I could—”
“No,” I cut her off. “No, thank you,” I corrected. “I’m a little busy.”
The last thing I needed was a girl to take up the spare time I didn’t have right now. I couldn’t fit someone in—not today, not this month. Hell, not this year. I set the microwave for thirty seconds and started it.
“You still pining after that Lisa girl?”
I blew out a breath. “No.”
That made the millionth time I’d had to deny it. I’d been over Lisa Fox for months. She’d been an emotional handful, too much for me—the kind of aggravation I didn’t need.
“I hear she’ll be back in town before long,” my aunt added.
It had taken Lisa seeing me in one conversation with Ella-Mae to learn Lisa scored a twelve on the ten-point jealousy scale. True, Ella-Mae was a flirt, but it had been an innocent conversation about her beauty salon. I’d taken a stake in the business, so I couldn’t very well avoid Ella-Mae, and I shouldn’t have to.
Who knows what would have happened if Lisa’d had something sharp at hand. I hadn’t cared to learn the extent of her crazy.
My aunt went back to her puzzle. “I need a five-letter word for grumpy…” she murmured after a moment.
“Grouch,” I suggested as I pulled my plate out of the microwave.Yum, an omelet.Her cooking was a giant step up from the Pop-Tarts and toaster waffles I’d been eating last year.
“That’s six letters.”
I sat down across from her and cut off a bite of sausage. “Thanks for making breakfast.”
“Oh, I got it,” she squealed. “B-O-O-N-E. Boone… And you’re welcome.”
“Very funny.” I scowled, but bit back the words I knew were too mean for her: “You know, if I’m such bad company, you can have breakfast by yourself.”
