Second Chance Summer (Chance Series, #1) (22 page)

But there is a divorce. And a wedding. And a damn
baby
.

I’m reminded of that every time I go to dial his number. I’m reminded of the life he’s lead without me for the last six years. I’m reminded of the fact he was “too cheap” to fight for me but not too cheap to get a new woman knocked up.

I have no idea how it makes me feel, not really. I don’t know if I’ve let myself process it yet; I’m not sure I’m ready to deal with my new reality.

The shrill ring of my cell breaks through the silence, and I jump. I pause for a second, thinking it could be Dad calling, then shake it off. I know it’s my move here.

“I’ve done something really stupid,” my best friend’s voice whimpers through the speaker.

“And you expect me to be surprised by this?” I reply dryly.

“No. Stupid. Really stupid. Really, really, really stupid,” she babbles back.

I sigh and rub my forehead – which is pounding from last night at MIXX. “I’ll be right there.”

~

“You’ve done
what
?”

“Mmph,” she squeaks, hugging her knees to her chest.

“How the hell can you not remember?”

“I… I don’t know, Kia. I just can’t. It’s a bit blurry.”

“Uh-huh.” I stare at her in disbelief, her red-ringed, worried eyes causing a pang in my chest. “What about the morning after pill? Just in case?”

“It’s Sunday,” Luce whispers. “Everywhere is closed.”

“Not in Dayton. We’ll drive out and get you it. Just in case.” I rub my hand down my face. “Shit, Luce. I really don’t know how you can’t remember whether or not you used protection!”

“You can’t tell him!”

“Hey, I never said I was gonna. It’s not my place to tell him anythin’.”

She drops her forehead to her knees. “Stupid. Stupid stupid stupid!”

I scoot across her bed and wrap my arms around her, even if I do agree with her. “A little.”

“A lot. This is exactly why I didn’t want it to happen. I lose my head whenever he’s around. It was one drink, and then another, and another, and another, and then he’s driving me home, and then bam we’re kissing and then we’re in bed and then…” She takes a deep breath, pausing for a moment. “And then I don’t remember much else except the best fucking orgasm I’ve ever had.”

Typical. She can remember the orgasm, but not a condom. “And because you were at his you can’t even check… Unless you call him.”

Her head shoots up. “I am not calling Adam to see if he wrapped it up!”

My jaw clenches as I stand. Stubborn… “Then you need to get your sorry, hungover ass the hell outta bed, and let me drive you to Dayton so we can get you the morning after pill, just in case.”

“What if someone sees us?”

I look back at her with my eyebrows raised. “It’s that, or you call Adam. Let’s face it, calling him could mean we have to go there anyway.” I grab her sweatshirt and throw it at her. “You fucked up, Luce, so now you have to sort it before it’s too late.”

Slowly, she drags herself off the bed and pulls the sweatshirt over her head. There’s a slight slump to her shoulders, and I know she’s regretting what happened with Adam. Hadn’t she said only hours before that she didn’t want a one night stand with him?

But that’s Luce. When she’s drunk she’s impulsive and erratic. She thinks she’s invincible, and she doesn’t stop for a minute to think about the consequences of her actions. That’s the problem here.

She never stopped to consider what could happen if she slept with Adam.

And even though I shouldn’t be, as we pull away from her house, I’m hit by a pang of guilt. ‘Cause goddamn, I know her better than anyone, and I could tell she was on a mission to get rip-roaring drunk last night, but I still left with Reese. I left her there without a voice of reason.

I trusted Adam not to take advantage of her. I trusted him to look after her.

Apparently, I was wrong.

“I don’t want… I’m scared,” Luce says softly, staring out the window.

“The pill will sort it, Lu. It’s supposed to be ninety-five percent effective if you take it right away,” I spout off what we had drummed into us in high school. “You’ll be fine. It’ll be fine.”

“But didn’t Shelly Cooper get pregnant after taking the morning after pill?”

“Yes,” I answer slowly. “But she thought you had three weeks to take it, not three days.”

“How can you even get that confused? There’s a big damn difference.”

I bite my tongue to refrain from mentioning there’s a big damn difference between drunk and sober, and protected and unprotected sex.

“Well, she never was the brightest crayon in the box.” I pull into the parking lot of the drugstore and look at Luce expectantly. She gnaws on her thumbnail, eyeing the store. “Well?”

“I’m scared.”

“I’m scared for you, but you have a choice.”

“Mmph.”

“Pill or pregnancy test. That’s your choice.” I shrug. She snaps her teeth together and storms out of the car.

Maybe that was a bit harsh…

Maybe I’m being harsh to her, but I’m not gonna sit and sugarcoat it. She fucked up and now she has to deal with it. It’s because I care – and because a part of me feels like if I do the “best friend in the movies” thing and get it for her, I’m almost excusing it. I’m almost making it okay that she wasn’t clear-headed enough to make sure they used protection.

Even if it isn’t just her fault. I mean, Adam might have used it and she’s genuinely forgotten, meaning all her freakout is for nothing… But then Adam might not have or assumed she was using it. So they’re both guilty of it. Although she won’t tell him through her own pride. Which means I can’t go and kick his ass. Which means she gets the brunt of my annoyance at them.

Because I am annoyed. I’m annoyed at her blatant fucking stupidity.

“I am never doing that again,” she groans, climbing into the car. I glance over at her. Her cheeks are as red as her hair, and I crack a small smile.

“Well, you know the solution. Use a condom next time.” My eyes fall to the long, rectangular box in the bag she carried out, and I raise my eyebrows when she meets my eyes.

“Just in case,” she mutters with a heavy sigh. “Just in case.”

~

The lake really is one of my most favorite places. Ever. And if anywhere is gonna stop me running back to New York – especially after Luce’s drama yesterday – then its here. And if anything is gonna root me to this town for another three weeks, its Reese and the thought that, though he has plans to come to New York with me, we’ve never actually discussed it. It makes me want to stay even if it’s only long enough to talk to him about it.

My feet dip in the cool water and send mini waves across the surface as I contemplate the fact it hasn’t been mentioned. Despite his one-time protest about me living with Jay, he hasn’t acknowledged any of the issues that come with moving to a big city.

Like where he’s going to live, where he’s going to work, and how he’s even gonna cope in the city. Compared to here, New York may as well be on a parallel dimension. It’s not called the city that never sleeps for no reason, and in ten minutes you’ll hear more horns beeping and sirens than you’ll hear in six months here.

Maybe that’s why Dad moved there when he left us; because it’s a world away from the life he knew. From the life that was destroyed for him by the person that was supposed to care more than anyone.

Gentle footsteps on the dock behind me pull me from my never-ending, circling thoughts, and I peer over my shoulder. Reese drops next to me, pulls his shoes off, and holds his arm out to me. I shift up and curl into his body with my head resting on his shoulder. His lips press to the top of my head, and I relax a little.

Sometimes all you need is a big cuddle.

“Mom said you were out here,” he says softly.

“She doesn’t mind, does she?”

He laughs. “Of course she doesn’t. It’s you. I’m pretty damn sure you could have been waiting on the sofa, watching TV, and she wouldn’t have minded.”

I smile. “I’m good with the lake.”

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?”

“Who said I was thinking?”

“I know you, Kia. Your treehouse is your safe place, but the lake is your freedom.”

I sigh. “Just… Everything. You know I go back in a couple of weeks, right?”

“But summer isn’t over for another month.” He sits up straight and looks at me.

“I have to get sorted for the start of the semester. And… Move into Jay’s,” I finish quietly. His jaw tightens but he says nothing. “It’s gonna take me a while to get settled. I don’t wanna be battlin’ first classes, schedules, and a new place to live.”

“Can’t you stay in a dorm? At least until I get there?”

“We don’t know when that is, Reese. Neither of us has any idea when you’re gonna be able to come to New York. It’s not the kind of place you drop in on unannounced – you have to be one hundred percent certain you want to be there.”

“Doubtin’ me, Kia?”

I stand up and shake my head, wrapping my arms around my stomach. “No. Not doubtin’ you, Reese, just the likelihood of you actually being able to move as quickly as you think you can.”

His cell ringing interrupts us, and he answers it with a snap. “What?... No… You’re jokin’, right?... No, Hana, if I’ve told you once then I’ve told you a hundred fuckin’ times. There is no us… No, there ain’t… Who gives a crap if I’m seein’ someone else? Did you hear me?... There ain’t an us… I don’t care…”

I turn around and look at him. His hand is covering his face, and he continues to try and convince them there’s nothing between them.

He’s kinda lucky there’s so much between us, or I’d be going all jealous girlfriend.

But that’s not to say I’m not jealous. Because I am. Just a little. She did get to have him – even if it was only a small part – when I didn’t.

Reese turns his head to me, shaking it, and he obviously sees something in my eyes because instead of replying to her shrill shouts, he launches his phone into the middle of the lake.

My mouth drops open. “Did you just-?”

“Hang up on her by throwin’ my phone in the middle of the lake?” He stands with his eyebrows raised. “Yep. Looks like it.”

I look at the lake and back at him. “But. What. Why? I…” I shake my head. “Why?”

“Because she was annoying the shit out of me. She’s been callin’ for three days now, asking me about “the bitch who thinks she can steal me from her.””

“Nice,” I mumble when he wraps his arms around my shoulders and pulls me into him.

“Don’t worry,” he whisper against my ear. “I told her you’re twice the bitch she can ever dream of being.”

A laugh escapes me even as I jab his stomach. “Asshole.”

“What? New York has given you a major bitchy streak. I like it.”

“I think I’m supposed to take that as a compliment.”

“I think that’s how I meant it.”

I poke his sides, and he squirms.

“Kia.” There’s a warning in his voice and it’s oh so tempting. So despite the fact he’s holding onto me, I sneak my fingers below his shirt and tickle his sides.

He shouts out, and I laugh, and he tickles me back. I scream, my knees buckling, and we both fall to the slightly wet dock. I’m laughing so hard I can barely breathe as I push at his chest to get him off me.

“Can’t…breathe…” I giggle, shoving at him again.

“You know what happens when you tickle me, damn it, girl!” he responds in his husky laughing voice, slipping to the side and freeing my chest up.

I hold my stomach as I let my laughter peter out, and turn my face to his. “But it’s so damn fun.”

Reese pokes at my stomach, grinning. “The tickling
you
part is. It’s a great excuse to touch your body.”

“You know, sometimes you can be the cutest guy ever, but others you’re a total pig.”

He grins wider.

“But on that subject, I don’t remember you ever needing a reason to touch my body.” I raise an eyebrow.

“True.” He rolls his body over, putting one hand flat next to my head, his face hovering above mine. “I don’t need a reason, but I like having one.”

“Why?”

“Because if I have a reason to touch you sometimes, then I can touch you more without one. It’s like kissing. I don’t always need a reason, but every time I can get away with a reason, I will.”

I stare into his eyes, and I can feel the warmth in them throughout my whole body. “What if I like it when you kiss me without a reason? Don’t you know the spontaneous, just-because kisses are the best kind of kisses?”

His lips quirk upwards, and he lowers his face. “In that case…” He moves closer until not even air can pass between our lips. “…Just because.”

Warm softness presses against my mouth. My hand immediately reaches up and my fingers thread through his hair, holding him against me gently. His tongue flicks against the seam of my lips, pushing them open with the barest touch. My body arches into him as his tongue plays with mine teasingly. This kiss is in no way erotic or promising of a night together, but each tender sweep of his lips over mine resonates love and hope throughout my body.

“Trust me,” he whispers against me, kissing me again. “Don’t worry…” Kiss. “…About New York…” Kiss. “…I will be there. I promise.” Kiss. “Just trust me.”

“I do,” I whisper back. “I just don’t want to leave you.”

He sweeps his mouth across mine once more and leans our foreheads together. “You’re not leavin’ me, baby. Not entirely, anyway.”

“I am, though.”

“Kia, it doesn’t matter where you go, who you’re with, or what you’re doing. You’ll never leave me behind entirely, because you’ll always have my heart with you. You don’t get a love like ours and get to leave it behind. It doesn’t matter where we are, or how many miles are between us. Our love will always be there.”

“How do you know?”

He pulls back, a knowing smile playing on his lips, and cups my cheek with his hand. “We’re still here, aren’t we?”

My own lips curve into a smile and I turn my face into his hand, closing my eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess we are.”

CHAPTER 16

“What if I wanted to stay in tonight?” I grumble, getting into the truck.