<p><em style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); color: rgba(15, 17, 17, 1)">This existence I'm surviving passes alongside the bars of an invisible cage.</em></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); color: rgba(15, 17, 17, 1)">Until one night when there's a choice I can take.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); color: rgba(15, 17, 17, 1)">I flee the oppressive barriers without a backward glance.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); color: rgba(15, 17, 17, 1)">The adjustment is a steep incline.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); color: rgba(15, 17, 17, 1)">Unknown obstacles lurk in every direction.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); color: rgba(15, 17, 17, 1)">But those turns are part of my journey, which makes them treasures to cherish.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); color: rgba(15, 17, 17, 1)">The most meaningful of them all is crossing paths with Ridge Carter.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); color: rgba(15, 17, 17, 1)">The former hockey star is intimidating but irresistible.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); color: rgba(15, 17, 17, 1)">He's the opposite of the men I've been raised to fear.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); color: rgba(15, 17, 17, 1)">Rather than restrain my newfound freedom, he shows me what it means to thrive.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); color: rgba(15, 17, 17, 1)">That gives me the courage to wade deeper.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); color: rgba(15, 17, 17, 1)">Ridge's stony exterior rarely cracks, except for me.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); color: rgba(15, 17, 17, 1)">He's different when I'm nearby and I like that. A lot.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); color: rgba(15, 17, 17, 1)">It has me seeking him out, but I never have to look far.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); color: rgba(15, 17, 17, 1)">Maybe I should question his close proximity that has little to do with him living next door.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); color: rgba(15, 17, 17, 1)">I choose to trust instead.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); color: rgba(15, 17, 17, 1)">Ridge acts like I'm a bigger score than any goal he made on the ice.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); color: rgba(15, 17, 17, 1)">But the experiences he's giving me are just the beginning.</span></p><p></p><p><em style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); color: rgba(15, 17, 17, 1)">And once again, a single choice has the power to change everything.</em></p>