The Perfect Life (30 page)

“It was rather

beautiful: the way he

put her insecurities to

sleep.

The way he dove into

her eyes and starved

all the fears

and tasted all the

dreams she kept

coiled beneath her

bones.”

–Christopher Poindexter

Monroe

“HELLO? COLIN? IS
everything okay?” The questions rushed from my mouth in a single breath as my heart pounded nervously against my ribcage. Phone calls at 4:40 in the morning weren’t typically a good thing, often the result of someone being arrested, seriously hurt, or worse. “Colin? Can you hear me?”

“Hey, babe, yeah, it’s me,” the familiar, comforting voice of my husband replied, but instantly, I knew everything was
not
okay. My stomach constricted into a tight knot as I waited for him to continue. “Sorry to call at this hour, but I’ve had a little accident.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. “An accident? What happened? Are you hurt?”

Two strong, corded arms circled my waist from behind as I stood naked in Oliver’s living room, the farthest place I could get from his bedroom when I called Colin back, in an attempt to not wake him up. Apparently it hadn’t worked. Leaning my head back onto his shoulder, I welcomed Oliver’s supportive touch and rested my free hand over where his were clasped at my belly button to show my appreciation.

“I was playing basketball with some of the kids and the other chaperones, and there was just a fluke collision between me, another dude, and the wall,” he gritted out, clearly in discomfort. “Ended up dislocating my throwing shoulder, and who knows what other damage. I’m on my way to Foxborough now. One of the guys is driving me. I just got off the phone with Dr. Turner, and he’s meeting me up there to do an x-ray and an MRI. Guess we’ll go from there, but I already know I’m looking at a month minimum.”

“Maybe it’s not really dislocated,” I hoped aloud.

He barked out a painful laugh. “Baby girl, it’s currently not in the socket. I’m pretty sure it’s dislocated.”

“Oh, Colin honey, I’m so sorry,” I lamented into the receiver as Oliver squeezed me tighter and kissed the top of my head, sensing my distress. Although I was obviously relieved he wasn’t in a life-threatening situation like a car wreck or something, I knew football was his life, and if he couldn’t throw the ball with the precision and accuracy he needed, to him, it was a fatal blow. “What do you need for me to do? Just say the word.”

“Since I haven’t been to sleep yet—the kids refused to lay down at any point in the night—I think I’m gonna shower and maybe catch a nap up at the facility while we deal with all this. Once word gets out later today, it’s going to be a media circus, and I’d rather be there with Dr. Turner and the coaching staff to answer everyone’s questions. I was hoping you could bring me a change of clothes, something suitable for a press conference, as well as the black scouting notebook that’s on my desk.”

I nodded as if Colin could see me through the phone. “Yeah, no problem. Let me get up and dressed and I’ll be on my way. If you think of anything else, just message me. Okay?”

“’Kay, babe. Love you.”

“I love you too. See you soon.”

Disconnecting the phone call, I spun around in Oliver’s arms and peered up at him, soaking up his sexy, just-rolled-out-of-bed vibe. Even with the fresh sheet-crease line on his right temple, the man rocked the unkempt, rebellious look like nobody’s business, and seeing the combination of his messy mop of brown curls and a jaw lined with dark stubble, the entire phone conversation with Colin disappeared from my mind for a brief moment as I thought about dragging him back to bed for a repeat of the previous night, damn the soreness between my legs.

“Colin’s hurt? What’s going on?” he prompted, lifting his eyebrow inquisitively.

Nodding again, I gave Oliver the rundown of what I knew about my husband’s condition while we stood naked in his living room in each other’s arms. As wrong and deceitful as that may have seemed to anyone else on the planet who could’ve seen us, I’d never experienced anything more right than when I was with him. And as soon as I got the chance, I’d let Colin know everything that was going on, but right then wasn’t the time.

“Do you need me to drive you wherever you need to go in your SUV? I don’t want you behind the wheel if you’re too upset or too tired,” he offered while tenderly stroking my cheek with the calloused pad of his thumb. Closing my eyes, I delighted in the roughness of his musician hands against the smoothness of my skin along with the selflessness of his words.

“I’ll be all right. I promise,” I assured him as my lids flitted open, my eyes searching for his. “I’m sorry our first night together is being cut short like this. I wanted to wake up in the morning with you and have our Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch and chocolate milk in bed together while we watched
Grease
or something.”

Oliver’s face lit up like Boston Harbor on Independence Day, and without warning, his mouth collided with mine in a forceful, claiming kiss as his fingers skimmed up the back of my neck and sunk into my hair. I whimpered against his lips when we eventually broke apart for air and he grinned down at me, rubbing the tips of our noses together.
I really don’t want to leave.

“Don’t apologize for things out of your control, Monroe.” He smiled with a gentle shake of his head. “Go take care of what you need to do, and me and the rest of the Pink Ladies will be right here whenever you can come back. I’ll even save you some cereal.”

After another kiss—this one soft, sweet, and full of promise—we retreated to his bedroom for me to get ready to leave. When I turned on the overhead light and saw the Poison Ivy costume scattered across the floor, along with several twenty dollar bills that must’ve fallen out of my bra when Oliver had undressed me, sensual visions of the night before flashed in my mind. The urge to stay with him pinged in my chest again, but I knew that wasn’t an option.

The costume also reminded me that I had nothing but the revealing green dress and my jacket to wear home. But Oliver—who’d slipped on some pajama pants at some point—was already a step ahead of me, digging out some sweatpants and a hoodie from his closet. They were a little big, as I had to roll the waist of the pants to keep them up, but it was a vast improvement from my other option, so I was appreciative. Unfortunately, the only shoes I had were the sparkly green heels, which I wasn’t wearing under any circumstance, so he gave me two pairs of socks to help keep my feet warm in the cab ride from his place to my street. I wouldn’t risk being dropped off in front of my house, in case it was being staked out for any reason. Being photographed getting out of a taxi pre-dawn with last night’s makeup and hair, no shoes, and in another man’s clothes would appear to be exactly what it was. And exactly what I had to avoid.

“You look sexy in my clothes,” Oliver announced matter-of-factly once I was dressed and ready to go.

Glancing down at the oversized getup, I laughed. “Sexier than in the costume?”

He nodded as he sauntered toward me, a waggish smirk tugging up the corners of his eyes and mouth. “Absolutely.”

“Sexier than my business suits?” I cocked an eyebrow, knowing how much he appreciated when I wore my fitted pencil skirts and the matching jackets.

“Without a doubt,” he chuckled as our bodies made contact and I found myself encased in his affectionate arms.

I squeaked as he lifted me off the ground and buried his face in my neck. My arms and legs instinctively wrapped around him and I clung to the final minutes I had with him before I had to leave. “I’m not very good at this kind of thing,” I confessed in a soft whisper. “Not sure what to say. I don’t wanna leave you.”

He smiled against my skin and the warmth from his breath tickled my ear, sending a trail of goose bumps down my back. “That’s it, beautiful girl, what you said right there. Knowing you don’t want to leave is all I need to know.”

His lips grazed mine as he lowered my feet back to the ground, but before we were entirely untangled from each other’s embrace, my phone buzzed inside my wristlet. Worried something else had happened, I hurriedly fished it out and glanced down at the screen.

Colin: Please call Seth and let him know. Tell him I’m sorry and I love him.

Shoving the device back into my small purse, I peered up at Oliver and knew immediately by his dumbfounded expression that he’d seen the text. My stomach sank to the basement of my gut where guilt, failure, and self-loathing sunk in.

“Look, I’m sorry—” I started to apologize, but he pressed two fingers to my lips and shook his head.

“You trusted me enough to give me what you gave me last night, right? All of
you
—inside and out?” he asked, not removing his hand.

I nodded, my hopeful gaze searching his.

“Then you can trust me with this. I promise you,” he swore. “No matter what happens between the two of us, I swear to you, I will never do anything to hurt either of you. That’s not who I am. You know that. You wouldn’t be here if you thought I was.”

Oliver’s words provided some relief, as I felt confident he wouldn’t ever take my and Colin’s story public, but I was still irritated with myself for the way it had happened. That was Colin’s story to tell, not mine.

“’Kay.” I offered a faint smile. “I’ll update you when I know more about what’s going on. I’ll come back as soon as I can.”

“I’ll be here.”

Walking me to the front door, he held my face in his hands and looked intently into my eyes before he leaned down and kissed my forehead, the tip of my nose and, finally, my lips. His hands made a slow descent down my arms until they met my own. He released one hand and as I walked away, not wanting to let go, his outstretched arm held onto my hand for one more gentle squeeze of his fingers before I reluctantly left his place.

The Saturday morning sun was just beginning to crest over the eastern horizon as I pulled out of my driveway a little after six AM. A canopy of autumn leaves in brilliant shades of gold and red veiled the cobblestone street I drove down, a reminder that November was upon us and the frosty, snow-ridden days of winter would follow soon after. For everything I loved about my adopted hometown of Boston, the one thing I could do without was the winters. Colin was always deep in the season, spending countless hours away prepping for each week’s game. Night would fall before I’d make it home in the evening, leaving me wanting to go to bed before nine. Plus, I was reminded continuously of the family I didn’t have to share holiday meals with. As nice and as welcomed as Colin’s family always made me feel, I couldn’t help but feel melancholy at the lack of my own parents who cared.

Pushing aside my own forlorn thoughts I could do nothing about, I hit the voice activation button on my steering wheel and focused my attention on the task at hand. “Call Sexy Seth Andrews on mobile.” I enunciated the words clearly for the car’s computer, snickering at the silly name Seth had entered into my contacts.

“Would you like to call Sexy Seth Andrews on mobile?” the digital voice replied, eliciting another giggle from me.

“Yes,” I confirmed then waited for the call to connect.

After three rings, I grew nervous he wasn’t going to answer, but before his voicemail picked up, I heard his groggy voice on the other end of the line. “Roe? You okay?”

“Hey, Seth,” I greeted him a little too cheerfully, unsure of how he was going to react. “Sorry to call so early, but I’m calling because Colin’s been in an accident.”

Suddenly, he sounded wide awake and panicked. “An accident?! Where is he? What happened? Is it serious?”

“He’s okay, he’s okay. Don’t freak,” I assured him. “It’s not life-threatening, but he thinks it’s a pretty serious injury to his shoulder and arm.”

I went on to explain to him what happened and how I was on my way to take him some clothes, when he cut me off. “Monroe, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m not sure why you’re calling me right now. I feel really terrible this has happened, because I honestly want the absolute best for him, but something like this doesn’t concern me anymore. I told you a while back at the game that I’m moving on. I can’t continue to fall back into something I know is going nowhere, and that’s exactly where Colin and I are headed as long as he wants to continue living a lie.”