Second Chance Summer (Chance Series, #1) (4 page)

“Am I funny now, Kia?” he breathes, still holding my face.

“Yep,” I whisper, my voice slightly shaky. “You’re fucking hilarious.”

Reese’s hand leaves my waist and tugs the door open. “Then you better get in the truck so you can find out exactly how not funny I am.”

“I’m not...”

“Get in,” he growls, his eyes promising me a fight.

“No,” I say, pushing him back. I shake my head. “No.”

“What?”

I walk around him and away from him, walking backward. I shake my head, everything warring inside me. “I… No, Reese. I can’t.”

“Kia?” he calls.

“That…” I take a deep breath and stop at my car. “That shouldn’t have happened.”

I unlock my car, get in, and shut the door behind me. I click the lock from the inside. My hands rest on the steering wheel for a second while I get myself back together. I can still feel his lips on me, and it’s disorientating.

For someone usually so together, I’m already falling apart. And it’s all down to him.

I take a deep breath again, readying myself to drive back to the empty house. I start the engine and make the mistake of glancing out of the window.

Reese is standing against his truck, his foot propped up on the door. His eyes are fixated on mine, and they’re all I can see. The urge to leave the car and go with him, to have another night, is almost too much. But I know it won’t stop there. I know one night will lead to another, and another, each night weaving a web of growing feelings and want for things that can’t happen.

I tear my eyes from him. I back out and drive away, not looking back at him.

Luce was right. I’m back and he won’t let it go. I had my doubts, sure, but now I know he won’t.

It was the predatory gleam in his eye, the promise and a threat. It was the desperate way he kissed me, like I’m the air he needs to breathe. It was the deflation in his body when I walked away.

I don’t know if I can fight it if he does chase me. I don’t know if I want to fight it. I don’t know anything where he’s concerned.

My uncertainty is evident in the rolling of my stomach as I drive away from him, back toward the house. My lips still tingle where he touched me and my blood is still thrumming through my veins. It would be so easy to turn this car back around and drive back to him.

It would be too easy.

I pull up outside my house and see all the lights are off. I text Luce to tell her I left and I’ll call tomorrow, and get out of the car. The door is unlocked when I reach it. That only means one thing… Momma’s home.

I poke my head around the front room door, and she’s lying spread-eagle on the sofa, her head hanging back. My eyes close for a second, and I’m fighting back the sting of tears. I cross the room and gently shake her awake. She mumbles something in her sleep.

“Momma come on,” I say softly. “We gotta get you up to bed.”

“Bed?” she slurs. “I’m in bed.”

“No, Momma, you’re not. You’re on the sofa. Come on, I’ll help you.” I hook my arm under hers and with her feeble help, I pull her into a standing position. “The stairs are in a second, so watch your feet, okay?”

“Gotcha,” she mumbles. Slowly, we make our way up the stairs. She stumbles a few times, and I catch her, and when we make it into her room she falls into bed. I tug her covers from under her and put them over her instead, tucking them under her chin as if the blankets alone can drown out the overwhelming stench of vodka and cigarette smoke. She snores once, loudly, and I back out from her room.

I shut my bedroom door behind me, kick off my shoes, and climb into bed fully clothed. My head sinks into the pillow, and I tuck the quilt under my chin, curling my legs into my chest. I squeeze my eyes shut, wondering how my life in the city and my life here could be so different.

CHAPTER 3

My phone rings, breaking the silence and pulling me from my pointless perusal of eBay’s finest. Reese’s name is on screen, and my finger hovers over the accept button for a second before hitting it.

“Yeah?” I answer tentatively, unsure if I really want to talk to him after last night.

“Look out of your window.”

“Huh?”

“Look out your window,” he repeats.

“Is this some kind of joke?”

“Just do it.”

I sigh and push up off my bed, crossing to my window. My fingers slip between the curtains, sliding them open, and my jaw drops.

“What the hell?” I shriek, shoving open my window. “Why are you in my tree?!”

He shrugs and grins boyishly. “I was bored. Are you busy today?”

A thousand thoughts and excuses run through my mind – I’m seeing Luce. I have summer schoolwork to do. I have to clean. Organize my closet. Wash my hair…

“No,” my traitorous mouth says. “I’m not busy.”

“Want some company?”

“Doing what? And why are we still talking on the phone?”

“No idea.” He laughs, and the line clicks off. “I thought we could go chill somewhere, y’know, catch up and that.”

“Won’t your girlfriend’s friends have their beady little eyes on you?” I raise an eyebrow.

“She’s not my girlfriend.” He smirks. “And I see Luce has been talking to you.”

I can’t help but grin. “How did you know?”

“Apart from the fact I saw her leave as I got here, she’s the only person with enough balls to speak out about Hana.”

“I sense a story there.” A story I want to know… “Give me ten minutes?” I finally meet and hold his gaze, hoping I don’t look as wary as I feel. A whole day with Reese?

I think I’m asking for trouble.

“Five,” he barters.

“Ten!”

He sighs. “Seven and a half?”

“Fine,” I acquiesce. “But I’m not counting.”

“Don’t worry.” He grins. “I am. One, two, three…”

“Ass!” I laugh and pull the window shut, drawing the curtains after me. My eyes scan the half-empty suitcase in the middle of the room, still packed with my clothes, and I pick out some shorts and a tank top. Reese texts a five minute reminder as I brush some mascara across my eyelashes and slip my shoes on. I grab a hairband and pull my hair on top of my head, grabbing my sunglasses as an afterthought, and head downstairs.

“Close call,” he shouts down as I open the back door.

“Are you really still in that tree?” I call back, lowering my glasses slightly to look at him over the top of them.

He puts his arms out and looks around. “Looks like it.”

“Are you coming down anytime soon?”

“Depends.”

“On?”

“Will it be worth it?” He grins wolfishly.

I whip my glasses off, put my hand on my hip, and glare at him. “You’re an ass, Reese Pembleton!”

“Yet you’ll still spend the day with me.” He scales down the tree, crosses my yard, and looks up at me on the porch. “Won’t you, Kia?”

“For some reason.” I jump off the porch onto the grass next to him and walk toward the truck. I can feel his eyes on me as I walk, and I bet it’s not because I have a tag poking out of my shirt. “Reese?” I cough out his name and pause. His eyes flick up to mine, and I raise an eyebrow.

“Yeah?”

“Are you coming?”

“Just enjoying the view.”

I roll my eyes and start walking again. Reese’s feet pad against the ground as he jogs to catch me up and he beats me to the truck door. He opens it and puts his hands on my waist, hoisting me up into it. Shivers snake across my skin under his touch, and I bite the inside of my lip.

“Thanks,” I say softly.

“Anytime.” He shuts the door behind me and walks around, jumping in next to me. I avoid looking at him as he starts the truck up, instead watching the Grove go by.

“Where are we going?”

“I thought we could go to the lake. You know it’s on our property, and no one will see us there,” he answers. “If you want to, I mean.”

“That sounds good.” I look over at him and smile a little. His own lips twitch in response, and I tuck a wayward lock of hair behind my ear. His eyes flick toward my movement, and he fiddles with the radio for a second before gripping the steering wheel tighter.

I flick my glasses back down over my eyes and hide behind the darkness of them. His knuckles are almost white, and his hands are as weathered and rough-looking as they always have been. I drop my eyes to my lap before I think things I have no place thinking.

I’ve only been to the lake behind Reese’s house a few times, mostly for parties in senior year, a few alone times. If Hana is as bad as Luce said, it’s best no one sees us together. After all, everyone knows what happened between us last summer and nothing stays a secret in this town for long. If someone saw us alone, rumors would fly.

So the lake is the perfect place to catch up. It’s secluded by trees, and no one goes there unless he or his family okay it.

We pull up at the side of his house on a beaten track, and I get out before he can help me. I pull my shoes off and let the grass tickle my toes as I walk toward the large, clear lake.

I sit at the base of a tree and stretch my legs out, letting the red hot sun hit them. The only thing Alabama has on New York is the summer and the ability to get a decent natural tan.

“Comfy?” Reese smirks.

I look up into his warm, hazel eyes, and wriggle a little. “Now I am.”

“Great.” He laughs, sitting next to me. He hooks his arms around his knees, his biceps tensing. I tear my eyes from his body and focus on the sun glinting off the lake.

“So tell me about Hana,” I begin.

“You don’t really wanna hear about her.”

He’s right. I don’t, but I’m too nosy not to ask anything.

“No, I do. Does she really have her friends watching you?”

“Probably.” He laughs again. The rich sound wraps around me, and I relax, leaning my head back on the trunk behind me. “She’s in Europe right now with Daddy. She comes back a week or so before school starts back up, and call me an ass, but it’s kind of nice not to have her voice bleating at me every ten damn seconds.”

“Ass.” I smirk.

He winks.

“So why are you with her? Sorry,
not
with her. You don’t seem to like her much. I mean; that’s what I’ve been told,” I add.

“By Luce,” he guesses. “Damn! That girl is in Vegas at least nine months a year and still knows all my shit.” He shakes his head, chuckling. “I don’t like her that much. She’s just kinda… There.”

“But why is she?” I push, kinda amused. “Why would you be with someone you don’t want to be with? I don’t get it.”

Reese’s head rests back against the tree next to mine, and he turns his face toward me, leaving our noses inches apart. “Because,” he says softly. “The person I want disappeared on me, and then when she finally came back, she did it again.”

I breathe in. “Reese…”

He turns his head. “Tell me about New York.”

I don’t want to tell you about New York. I don’t want to tell you about anything that doesn’t involve your lips on mine, your hands on my skin, and your body against mine.

“It’s… New York.” I shrug. “It’s different to here – a lot. It’s nice not to be known wherever I go. I’m just one of the crowd, just another person. Sometimes that’s all I need.”

“To be unknown?”

“To live without everyone knowing each time I buy a new bra? Yeah, pretty much.” I smile, and Reese returns it.

“So you like it then? College.”

“Yeah… Its hard work, but it’ll all be worth it in the end. Nothing in life comes easily, after all. If it’s worth it, it’ll happen.”

“Wise words,” he teases.

“Something to live by,” I correct. “What about you? What’ve you been doing the last year?”

“Not much.” He shrugs. “Working, mostly. That and whatever plan Adam’s been cooking up.”

I smirk at the mention of Adam’s name and take my glasses off. “I saw him getting cozy with Stacy last night. What’s that all about?”

“Sex, as it always is.” Reese looks at me. “Y’know, I think he’s got a bit of a thing for Luce,” he adds.

I grin, chewing the arm of my glasses. “That could be interesting. She’s had a thing for him since we were thirteen.”

“No way?”

“Way.” I nod my head once and get up, his closeness starting to stifle me. I walk over to the lake and sit on the wooden dock. My bare feet slip into the water warmed by the sun, and I lean back, closing my eyes. The sun is hot on my skin, and I smile, kicking my legs slightly as I realize just how much I’ve missed this weather. When I open my eyes, Reese is standing opposite me, topless.

His tribal tattoo curves over his shoulder and down onto his bicep stopping an inch or two above his elbow. His body is lean but defined, all smooth, tanned skin with an obvious ‘v’ that drops well below his pants.

My eyes crawl back up his torso to his face. His lips twitch, his eyes showing his amusement. Slowly, he walks around the lake toward me.

I swallow, my stomach flipping. There’s a playful gleam in his eye that both excites and worries me. My eyes follow him until I have to turn my head to see him. I spin my body around as he closes in on me, not fully trusting him.

“What’s the matter, Kia?” he asks. “Don’t you trust me?”

“I would be a fool if I said yes,” I reply slowly.

“I’m only comin’ to sit next to you, baby. Don’t worry.” He flashes me a grin, dropping down next to me. His foot brushes mine underwater, and he leans back, putting a hand behind me.

“I’ve heard that before.”

I keep watching him. Watching the flick of his eyelashes as he blinks, the amused twitch of his lips, the tick in his cheek as he fights his smile. His eyes are dead set on mine, and time stretches between us. So many things unsaid; so many things to say, and so many that will never be said.

“This water is cool,” he’d said as he innocently sat down next to me.

“I’m sure it is,” I replied dryly, looking at the lake.

“Really refreshing in this weather,” he went on, his eyes meeting mine. A spark flickered in the depths of his eyes, a spark riddled with mischief.

“Don’t you even think about it, Reese Pembleton,” I warned, pointing at him. “I’m not dressed for swimmin’!”

“Who mentioned swimming?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.