Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 101335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Really?
Jace had no idea what to say, so he didn’t bother with words. He bypassed the guy, placed his earbud back in his ear and returned to his seat at the kitchen table, reading over the contractor’s report. The guy never uttered another sound, but the front door of his condo slammed shut. A strong indication that bad breath left angry.
Jace grabbed the report and the juice and plopped down on the sofa, praying he might get an hour or two of sleep before he needed to be at the gym. Reaching for the remote, he turned the television to ESPN, hoping to catch the highlights of the missed Dallas Mavericks playoff game last night. He wished he’d gone to the game instead of on the date. What did that say about him? Jace ignored that question, too and looked down at the report in his hand.
Everything with the contractor’s proposal looked in order. They would begin breaking ground in about a month, and by football season, the cheer gym should be ready for a grand opening. Layne Construction was known for staying on schedule. Which would be critical in the timing of his move. A beeping sound caught his attention as a breaking news report popped up across the bottom of the screen. At last, something about the game. Jace turned up the volume, but nothing could have prepared him for the image of Colton Michaels that flashed across the screen. Jace’s bare feet landed with a thud on the hardwood floor when he leaned forward as though being closer to the television would make the information come more quickly. His heart reeled before it fell from his chest as he watched images of Colt and his latest girlfriend out on the town. The girlfriend flashing her ring in front of the cameras. Reports claimed they just got engaged last night.
Jace sat frozen in place. The realization Colt planned to marry punched through his already fragmented heart, ripping open old wounds. Jace never got over the pain of Colt’s rejection, of his complete abandonment. Even today, he still wanted to know why Colt had left him without so much as a goodbye.
How could he still have a devastatingly broken heart over a guy he’d spent five days with? Anger shot through him, but not enough to stop him from hitting the play back option on his remote control and replaying the footage. Colt didn’t look happy. He actually didn’t look anything. He played no part in delivering the statement; the girl did the talking, and she was clearly drunk or on something, perhaps both.
Well, good for him. Colt landed himself a party girl. They fit together perfectly.
Jace, by no choice of his own, had inadvertently kept up with Colt’s career. All the tabloids and gossip magazines kept his picture plastered on the front page, all claiming in big bold print that Colt Michaels was America’s Sweetheart Party Boy.
The obstacle came in reconciling the Colt of today with the boy he’d known all those years before. The famous, party-at-all-cost, living-on-the-edge-of-trouble guy of today wasn’t the self-assured, easy-going Colt he’d watched through college and certainly wasn’t the man he’d spent five days with in Hawaii.
Even when derogatory news began filtering out about Colt a few years ago, nothing dissuaded Jace from the deep down goodness of the young man he’d been given the brief opportunity to know. Yes, Colt had totally played him, but the iPod in his hand proved he also had a big heart. And also proved Jace still wasn’t over their brief fling almost ten years ago. Damn, he thought he’d resolved these feelings a long time ago.
Jace punched off the television, tossing the remote back to the side before he grabbed the laptop off the coffee table. His gym had been invited to perform at the Dallas Broncos-New York Panthers football season opener. He hadn’t responded to the invitation. Instead, he let the email sit. The only concern he had over the invitation centered on his personal doubts about being in the same circles as Colt. Jace cleared his head and forced himself to think from a business perspective. Performing at the season opener was too big a deal to pass up. Jace booted up his email and replied to the offer. He’d be happy to prepare a routine and send one of his teams for the halftime entertainment. The opportunity would be cool and exciting for the kids in his gym, but Jace wouldn’t be attending with them. He’d send Haley, give her a bonus or commission or something as an incentive to take that many kids across country by herself. He placed the resolve firmly back in his heart. Although clearly, he’d always love Colt and that would never change, their relationship happened almost ten years ago. The man he loved wasn’t the man Colt had become. End of story.
Jace finished his email and clicked send before he could change his mind. He’d already stalled too long. He took the minute and sent his coaches a message to add this to their calendar of events for the upcoming year. When done, Jace closed the computer and shoved away the crazy pain the few unguarded seconds watching the television had caused. He forced positive, productive thoughts back into his soul.
No way could he sleep now. He stood, stretching out his long body. Colt always wound him up tight. That being one of the biggest reasons his gym performed in so many competitions during football season. They would keep Jace too busy to think about the professional quarterback.
Since his lifelong strategic plan focused on staying busy and ignoring memories, Jace decided the time had come to get to the gym. If only this newest round of pain in his heart would ease up some. On a sigh, he headed for the shower.
***
Hung over and hurting, Colt showered, dressed, and forced himself to put aside his craving for liquor. He began carefully going through his apartment, tossing everything party-related in the trash. He wasted no time draining the bottles of liquor and flushing all the drugs he could find down the toilet. Everyone in his bed stayed sleeping as he made his way through his bedroom and bathroom, cleaning out those rooms too. He personally took everything he found downstairs to the dumpster, making sure nothing was left behind inside his apartment to tempt him.