Love By Chance (Chance Series Book 1)

by Blake Allwood

  It took less than a moment; one second I was talking to Mrs. Alverez, the next Elian was standing in front of me, unshaven, hair a mess and beautiful.

  “Hi… hi,” he said sheepishly.

  “Hi,” I said and glanced around, noticing we had quite an audience of family members around the bar.

  “Do you have someplace private we could talk?” I asked.

  “Do you want to go down to the beach?”

  I smiled. “That would be perfect.

  As we walked down the stairs to the beach exit, I leaned over and kissed Elian. “I’ve really missed you,” I said.

  “I’ve missed you, too. I’ve missed you more than I’ve ever missed anyone,” he said.

  By the time we reached the beach, we were holding hands. Elian looked over at me and said, “I’m so sorry about my cousin. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you…”

  I stopped him. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for. I overreacted. You were right not to tell me your cousin owned the restaurant. It would’ve been unprofessional and biased if you had. Did you know that he and your aunt were coming to see me today?”

  Elian winced. “No, I didn’t know, or I’d have stopped them.”

  “I’m glad they did. Actually, it took your aunt to get me to pull my head out of my ass and realize how much I missed and needed you.”

  “Really?” Elian asked in surprise.

  “Yeah, really. It also helps to know your family doesn’t hate me.”

  “No, they’re all pissed at Ian. We are all pissed at Ian.”

  “Good, cause I’m still pissed at him, too, but I shouldn’t punish you.”

  Elian came up to me, took my head in his hands, and kissed me. Then, he said, “I thought my heart was going to break in half without you.” A small tear escaped down his face.

  “Oh, baby,” I said, emotion hitting me in the solar plexus. “I’m here, now.”

  We stood, kissing, hugging, and then staring out over the water. Neither of us said much more than the occasional reminder of how much we’d missed each other.

  Finally, I got the courage to say what I was thinking. “I saw my ex, Peter, when I was in Austin.”

  The weight seemed to drop out of Elian with the statement. He continued staring at the water. I could tell he was thinking the worst was about to happen.

  “Elian, can you look at me, please?” I asked.

  “Not if you are going to tell me you are getting back with your ex,” he replied.

  I laughed. “Fat chance of that ever happening.”

  Elian turned to me as some of his panic had begun to recede.

  “Seeing Peter brought back some pretty nasty memories and reminded me why I’d blocked off my heart. I need to admit I was always waiting for him to come back, and that is a big reason I kept you at arms length this whole time.” I sighed and returned my gaze back out toward the sea.

  “When I saw him, I knew immediately I never wanted to be with him again. In fact, I tried to get him to leave, but he kept pushing. I already told you some of the circumstance so, I admit, my heart assumed you would do the same. Peter wanted me to come back, but I explained to him how important it was for my partner, my spouse, to be there for me. Not that we won’t ever disagree, but at least I need to know, when there is a conflict between me and my sweetheart’s family, that he’d at least give me the benefit of the doubt. Peter didn’t do that, and maybe I could forgive him, but I’d never forget.”

  “Then, my jackass cousin does the same damned thing here?”

  “Yeah, he did, but you didn’t do the same thing. You stood up for me because you knew I was telling the truth. That is what is different.” I took Elian’s face in my hands, saying, “Mi amor, you are my one, my defender. It was very brave to stand up to someone you care about even if they are wrong. When your aunt came in this morning and explained that to me, I realized I needed to see you and to thank you for being brave… for me.”

  “Are you still breaking up with me?” Elian asked.

  “That’s up to you, Elian. In the end, I’m the one who has been acting like an ass. Do you forgive me?”

  Elian didn’t respond but grabbed me in another huge kiss. He held onto me like he was afraid I’d disappear if he let go.

  When Elian finally pulled back, he looked me in the eye and said, “I never want to lose you again. I’ll gladly kick Ian’s ass again if you want me to.”

  I laughed. “I think you just want to kick Ian’s ass but that isn’t necessary. He apologized, and I could tell he was sincere. Besides, both you and his mom have sort of already handed him his ass on a platter. I think we can let him off the hook now.”

  “If you say so,” Elian replied, then kissed me again. “Wanna go play in the ocean?” Elian asked.

  “I don’t have a bathing suit,” I replied.

  “I do. Come on up. We’ll get changed, then go play. Can you surf?”

  “Hell, no,” I said. “I grew up inland. I never had a chance to try.”

  “Then, today is your lucky day,” Elian teased, pulling me up with him.

  We spent the day playing in the waves, then went to Lucia’s restaurant for dinner. When we finished eating, we sat on the beach and watched the sunset over the ocean.

  “I think I’m in love with you, Martin. Is that OK with you?”

  I chuckled. “I know I’m in love with you, so that is perfect with me.”

  Elian leaned up on his elbow. “Really, you are in love with me?”

  “Hook, line, and sinker,” I replied. “I think that is the main reason I reacted like I did when your cousin went apeshit on me. I assumed I’d lose you, and it really knocked my life into a tsunami. But, Elian, I didn’t give you a chance to be you. It wasn’t fair.”

  Elian continued to stare at me. “I’ll never intentionally hurt you like that,” he said. “As long as you give me a chance, I promise to do my best to do what is right by you.”

  “Then,” I replied. “I promise to always give you a chance. Even if I’m terrified.”

  Elian rolled on top of me and kissed me. I could feel his erection under his swimsuit. He ground it into me and whispered, “Now, let’s go find somewhere where I can make love to you. I want to fuck you in every way possible to make up for the past two weeks.” Elian wiggled his eyes at me and said, “Two weeks is a long time to come up with the different moves I plan to use on you.”

  I laughed. “Want to come back to my place?”

  “No need. I bought a condo here and closed on it last week. I already have a bed in it.”

  “Really?” I smiled. “Then, by all means, let's go christen your new condo!”

  Elian pulled me up, and we all but ran to his new front door.

  >>Keep reading for a preview of Another Chance<<

  Another Chance With Love

  by

  Blake Allwood

  Love By Chance

  -

  Another Chance With Love

  -

  Taking A Chance For Love

  Coming Soon

  On

  Amazon

  Trevor

  “Lisa, how the hell am I supposed to raise a baby?” I asked with as much incredulity as I could muster.

  “How the hell should I know?” she replied. “At least you have money. I have nothing. My parents even kicked me out when they heard I was pregnant.”

  That made my heart hurt. Lisa and I were friends long before we hooked up. “Damn, Lisa, have you spoken to them?”

  “No, they cut me off completely, that’s why I didn’t come back to school this year.”

  The anger hit me like a ton of bricks. “You mean you were pregnant with our baby, your parents kicked you out, and you still wouldn’t return my calls?”

  Lisa stared down at her hands. “I was going to get an abortion, Trevor. I didn’t want you to know.”

  “But you didn’t!” I replied, still fuming that she’d chosen to go through all that on her own.

 
“I tried, but I couldn’t go through with it,” she continued staring at her hands. “I pulled up to the clinic and saw three people I went to church with protesting and I… I just couldn’t.”

  I sighed, some of the anger leaking out of me. “You should’ve told me at least. I would’ve helped. Shit, at least I can help now.”

  The baby began to fuss in the carrier. Lisa reached down and patted his stomach as the tears rolled down her cheek.

  “When I couldn’t go through with the abortion, I decided to give him up for adoption. But I chickened out when they told me you’d have to sign the paperwork. So, I was stuck, and I knew how I’d left you and…”

  Her tears continued to flow.

  I leaned back in my chair and ran my hands through my hair. This had all hit me out of the blue. Lisa and I had gotten drunk one night at the end of the spring term, and being idiots, we’d ended up having sex. She left the next day, stopped texting, stopped taking my calls, wouldn’t return my emails… it sucked, and I missed her.

  “We can do this together, you know,” I said, even though my hands were still over my eyes.

  Lisa was staring at the baby when I finally looked at her.

  “No,” she replied in a small voice. “I can’t raise him. My parents would never forgive me for embarrassing them with a child out of wedlock. You know how religious they are.”

  I hmphed. “They don’t deserve you, Lisa. In some ways, they’re worse than my parents.”

  A small but tentative smile crossed her lips as we began the same argument we’d been having since high school. Lisa’s parents were strict Catholics, and mine were insane Baptists.

  “What do you want me to do, Lisa?” I asked when she reached down and picked the infant up. This was the first time I’d seen him properly, and I lost track of the conversation immediately. He was so small, his little face was scrunched up with an expression of discomfort. I could tell he was about to start wailing.

  “My God, he’s beautiful,” I remarked, and Lisa looked at me in a strange way. “We made that?” I said in shock.

  “If I remember right, I did all the hard work,” she said, and we were back to our snippy friendship like we hadn’t been apart for nine and a half months.

  I chuckled. “I’d have helped if I’d known. Can I hold him?” I asked, feeling a strange stirring in my chest.

  Lisa hesitated like she was afraid to let me, but then she handed him over. I’m lucky I didn’t lose my shit right there. I nuzzled him, lost in all that this meant and all it would mean from this point on. He settled down in my arms, and I smiled. I could see some of my grandpa in his face. The second I spotted the resemblance, my own tears threatened to fall. My gregarious, left-wing nut of a grandpa would have loved this baby, and he’d have known exactly what to do. But we’d lost him just last year.

  When I turned toward Lisa to tell her how much I thought he took after grandpa, she was gone. I looked at the door just in time to catch sight of her back as she left the restaurant. I turned my attention to the infant and wondered for the millionth time if I’d finally lost my best friend. The anxiety of losing her and my grandpa, all within a year of each other, began to take over, but when I stared at the baby, something loosened inside me. I had no idea how I was going to manage an infant, but having him, even though I’d just found out about him, seemed to fill the holes that had been left in my heart.

  I sat staring at him for what had to have been thirty minutes. Finally, a server came over and put her hand on my shoulder. “I accidentally heard some of your conversation. Do you need some help with him?”

  I burst out laughing, which caused the sleeping baby to jerk and me to immediately tense. “I have no idea what I’m doing,” I said, and the lady chuckled.

  “If it helps any, none of us really do.”

  I glanced up at her, willing my tears not to flow. “But at least you had some prior warning.”

  The lady sighed. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll go through the stuff your lady friend left here, and we’ll make sure you have everything you need. I’ve had three myself, the youngest is three, so I know the drill.”

  Without looking up from the little one, I asked, “Won’t you get in trouble?”

  “I doubt it. I’m Catherine, I own the place, and it’s unlikely my staff will have the nerve to challenge me.”

  She smiled when I met her gaze, and walked over, starting to go through Lisa’s things. “Looks like you’ve got what you need. Do you have anyone you can call?”

  I immediately thought of my mom. Over Christmas, I’d come out to my parents as bisexual with a preference for men, and it had gone spectacularly bad. My grandpa had known but, he’d never told them. Unfortunately, I assumed he had. Well, you can imagine what the pastor of a mega Southern Baptist church’s reactions were.

  My grandpa got custody of me when I was a preteen. My dad hit me so hard once, he broke my arm. I still don’t remember what stupid infraction I’d committed. I just remember being picked up from the Emergency Room by my grandpa, and after that, I never lived with my parents again.

  On Christmas night, my dad’s expression when I made a comment about dating a guy looked a whole lot like the one I remembered the night he broke my arm. He was bigger than I was, even though I’d just turned nineteen. I stood up and walked out of my parent’s house. Luckily, he didn’t strike me that time, but he hadn’t spoken to me since.

  “My aunt will probably help. I just need to call her. Can you hold him for a moment?” I asked.

  The lady’s face beamed. Not for the first time, I wondered what it was about babies and puppies that inspired such a response from the female of the species.

  The woman took him from me, and gently rocked him in her arms. The experience of child-rearing struck me as I watched her with him. For what must have been the hundredth time since Lisa told me I was a dad, I felt completely out of my element. What the hell was I going to do?

  The spell broke when she looked up at me, so I pulled my phone out of my pocket and immediately called my Aunt Doris. She was the closest thing to a mom I had. She’d moved in with Grandpa and me after her divorce. Just after I’d moved in with him.

  “Aunt Doris,” I said.

  “Oh, hi, honey,” she replied immediately. “This is unexpected.”

  “Yeah,” I said, trying to find the words to explain to her what was happening. “Um, are you home?”

  She hesitated. “Baby, what’s wrong?” she asked. Luckily all the maternal instincts my own mom never had, Aunt Doris, her sister, seemed to have in spades. Too bad she didn’t have any kids of her own to share those instincts.

  “Well, um…” I glanced at the baby and then at the server as I tried to figure out how I was going to explain things.

  “Trevor, spit it out, sweetie. You’re scaring me.”

  “I have a baby,” I finally blurted out. “Lisa and I had a baby.”

  Aunt Doris was our family’s carefree, happy, eccentric member who honestly believed love cured all. As I should’ve expected, she squealed at the news. “I’m a great aunt!” she exclaimed loud enough that the server still standing next to me smiled.

  “Yeah,” I said. The tears I’d managed to hold in until that point slipping down my face. “But Lisa left. She said she can’t take care of him.”

  “Oh, baby,” my aunt said. “You bring him over here, and we’ll figure this out. And don’t you worry about a thing cause I’m going to be the best great aunt that’s ever been born.”

  Her optimism struck me squarely in the chest, and I couldn’t resist letting out a sob of relief. I knew she was right. Aunt Doris had my back.

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  Titles by Blake Allwood:

  Aiden Inspired

  Suzie Empowered

  Bobby Transformed

  Romantic Renovations

  By Chance Series
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  Love By Chance (Book 1)

  Another Chance With Love (Book 2)

  Coming in 2020:

  (Titles may change before publishing)

  Taking A Chance For Love (Book 3)

  Big Bend Series