“I’m not nervous, thank you very much.” A fucking lie. I’m nervous as all hell. In just a few days I’m going to come face to face with the only man who could possibly unravel the careful facade I’ve created for myself.

“Okay, so it’s been what? Twelve years since you’ve spoken to Kai?”

“Thirteen.” Thirteen painful years.

“Well, listen. I’m just gonna warn you now. I’ve seen the pics of you guys at prom and all that and he was cute back then but he’s a grown-ass man now. Like the IG pics do not do that man justice.” Angie fans herself as she describes Kai’s apparent manly prowess. She used him as her PT when she fractured her fibula years ago, and I wouldn’t allow her to tell me a damn thing about him or his life.

“Thanks for the unnecessary warning.”

She shrugs with a smug smile.

Every fiber of my being wants to hear how he turned out. I know of Kai Morris, top-of-the-line physical therapist, but who is the man behind that? Does he still have that slight hitch in his voice when he laughs? Does he still make dumplings with his grandmom every Friday night? Does he still go for long, punishing runs when upset? Does he still have that way of projecting his calm nature onto everyone he comes across so that they want to spill their deepest, darkest secrets to him?

I don’t deserve to know. He’s not mine. And that’s my own fault, so why did I decide to torture myself by calling him for help when my life fell apart?

One minute, I’m flying down the field, keeping Paraguay’s midfielder at bay, and the next I hear the loudest fucking pop I’ve ever heard and I’m being carried off the field.

It wasn’t even a thought to call Kai. The moment the fog lifted from my mind and I realized what happened, my fingers acted on their own accord and pulled up the number that I may or may not have stolen from Angie’s contacts.

A part of me is surprised that he even agreed to do this for me. He should hate me. Shit, I hate me. But a bigger part knew he’d accept because that’s just who Kai is—the golden boy. Always putting everyone else’s needs before his own.

“Oh God, am I being selfish? I’ve been so worried about how I would feel seeing him again I didn’t even think of how he would feel having to be around me. Should I cancel? I should. I can find another PT. A local one. Yes, that’s exactly what I should do. There’s no need for me to go home to Texas and subject Kai to my bullshit when there are perfectly capable PTs in the North Carolina area. Shit, where’s my phone?”

“Oh shit, she’s spiraling.” Justine’s voice brings my surroundings back into focus. Did I say all that out loud? Shit, I did.

I clear my throat and adjust my legs so they’re just grazing the water in the pool. “Guys, I’m not spiraling. I’m fine. I just realized that I need to change some things around.”