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They chose the wrong player, I thought one evening while the two of us were watching TV together.Luke may only be twenty-two, but he’s more mature than most of the other guys on the team.
“You’ve got a weird look on your face,” Luke suddenly said.
I glared at him playfully. “What a rude thing to say to a lady.”
He rolled his eyes. “You look like you bit into a lemon for the first time. What’s on your mind?”
“Just thinking about my job here,” I said. “And why a month has gone by without another attack.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” he answered. “It’s you. Whoever was targeting me is scared shitless now that you’re here.”
I laughed. “I hope you’re right. Especially since the Stallions just extended my contract another month.”
“I ought to call you Nuclear Caz.”
I gave a start. “Why?”
“Because, like nukes, you’re a fantastic deterrence.”
I laughed, and Luke laughed with me at his own silly analogy. I grabbed a pillow from the couch and pretended like I was going to hurl it at him, but he lunged forward and grabbed it. After a brief bout of tug-of-war, he ripped the pillow away from me and grinned in victory. I paused to admire the way he looked, his dirty blond hair falling across his face before he brushed it back. He was so close to me that his scent was unmistakable, a musky fragrance that stirred something inside of me.
My phone on the coffee table interrupted the moment by vibrating. I grabbed it and stared at the screen. It was a name I hadn’t seen in a very long time.
Luke frowned. “Who’s Jessie?”
“I… I need to take this.” I got up and went out on the balcony. Fortunately, neither Lexi nor the other neighbors were outside right now. I took a deep breath, then another one, and then answered the call.”
“Cazzie Price speaking.”
“Caz,” came his voice, just like how I remembered it from the last time we had spoken. It made the hairs on my arms stand on end. “How’ve you been?”
“Jessie.” The name sounded foul in my mouth, so I quickly spoke on. “Why are you calling?”
“It’s been a while. I wanted to check in. See how you were doing. We haven’t talked in… God, how long has it been?”
“The last time we spoke was Christmas,” I said, voice rising. “After I caught you texting that whore you were assigned to. What was her name again? Slut-tina?”
“Don’t blame Selena,” Jessie said in a tone that was far too calm. “She had no idea I was engaged.”
“Okay. I’ll blame you, then.Youcheated on me with an eighteen-year-old pop singer who you had been assigned to for a month. And thenyoutried to say it was my fault for being gone two weeks on an assignment in Santa Clara.Two weeks.”
“I won’t disagree with you, Caz,” he said in that calm voice. Like he was perfectly in control of the situation. “I made a lot of mistakes back then.”
“Great, then we agree you were a prick. Is that all you wanted to talk about, or is there a point to this random phone call?”
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately. It’s clear to me how much I fucked up, Caz. I’m older now. I’m more mature. And I’m ready to own up to those mistakes.”
“Oh, fuck all the way off,” I replied. “Older and wiser? This was less than a year ago. You’re thirty-five. Somehow I doubt you magically matured overnight.”
“Are you in Los Angeles?” he asked. “I’d love to sit down and talk about it over dinner.”
“You don’t get to know where I am,” I replied, unable to keep myself from shouting now. “You don’t getanypart of me ever again. I’m focused on my career right now, something you always kept me from doing. And after this big assignment, I’m going to lobby for a long-term position. Something with stability. And when I have it?ThenI’ll call you and tell you how glad I am that I never made the mistake of marrying you.”
As soon as I hung up, my body shook with rage. I wanted to punch something. It took me almost a full minute to calm down enough to go back inside.
“Ex girlfriend?” Luke asked.
I gave a start. “Huh?”
