“It’s okay, thank you,” I said. “Her loss was hard on me, but I’ve poured time and money into giving her a legacy. The charity raises money for research, outreach, and treatment for children across the country. We’re learning more about the causes of childhood heart disease every day. I’m hoping someday we can eradicate it in my sister’s name… Until then, the foundation has been helping fund as many studies and experimental treatments as we can.”
“That’s amazing,” she whispered, wiping her eyes.
“Thanks,” I said, hobbling over to her. I loved being close to her. She was like a museum painting that I wasn’t supposed to touch, and the rule breaking part of me was begging me to reach out and do just that.
To my surprise, she reached out and gently touched my arm.
“You were a good brother. I’m sure she’s looking down and appreciates what you’ve done,” she nodded solemnly, peering into my eyes.
I swallowed hard, her words shooting right through my heart.
“That’s all I can hope for,” I said, attempting a smile. “Nina deserves a piece of her to live on. She was such a caring girl. She wanted to save the world, and I think she’s going to do it… One patient at a time.”
We stood in the middle of the kitchen, me leaning against the island, trying to pretend my knee wasn’t killing me. I wanted to show her how strong I was. I wanted her to see how good I was doing.
I don’t even know why I cared, but I did. I wasn’t mad at her for standing me up all those years ago, hell, I’d never really been mad at all. It was more like I was worried about her. Here she was standing in front of me, a self-made woman in the flesh - it made me think about starting over. It made me think about possibilities that I hadn’t thought about in a long time. I’d given up the idea of ever settling down with anyone in my life. I wasn’t that kind of a man. Without a doubt, that was just not me.
So why was I having fantasies of running off into the sunset with this woman from my past? I chalked it up to being told no, and pushed away any stupid ideas of it being anything else. I wasn’t getting soft. It was the pain meds talking.
I was Jesse fucking Colorado. The girl in front of me might have been from my past, but she was still just a girl, right?
My cock and my heart continued to fight that debate the rest of the day. We started on my exercises and I let them have at it. In the meantime, I enjoyed the view.
“That feels really amazing today,” I said, as Maisey ran her hands along the inside of my thigh, trailing up towards my groin. “It doesn’t hurt like it did yesterday.”
“Good to hear,” she muttered, digging into my muscle harder. We were on the floor of the living room, and I was lying on my back on a mat she’d brought with her. I didn’t want to embarrass both of us with another raging erection like I had clearly done yesterday, so I was trying to think about everything I could that was not related to how much I wanted to rip those scrubs off and take her right here on the living room floor.
I hated being disabled but it sure was nice having her run her hands all over my legs.
“Why aren’t you married?” I asked, broaching the subject again.
“Don’t know. Never really had time for relationships,” she shrugged.
“You should make time,” I replied.
“I should, huh? Well, what about you? I don’t see a Mrs. Colorado hanging around here.”
“I’m not the marrying kind, I guess,” I said. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve been busy too.”
“The NFL can take a lot out of you, I’ve heard. I’ve seen it first hand in some of my other patients,” she said. “You gotta make sure it doesn’t take over your life.”
“Well, it tends to do that,” I laughed. “I really don’t know how the guys with families do it. I’m in a different city every week. This penthouse is empty more often than not…”
“That’s too bad,” she said, sliding her hands down to my knee and lightly massaging it. I winced in pain, but tried to hide it. She smiled up at me and massaged lighter.
“Sorry,” she said. “Your knee is going to be very sensitive for a long time.”
“Do you ever wish you could go back, Maisey?” I asked.
“Back where? To Ault?” she asked.
“Yeah. Back to those early days when we owned our lives, when we did whatever we wanted to do, with no responsibilities and nobody to answer to.”
“No, I don’t,” she said softly.
“I do. Everything was so simple then,” I replied.