A New Journey (Second Chance #3)

by Christina Escue

  “It’s true.” Conner told her. “I couldn’t do that with you because my heart belongs to Karla and it always has. She’s the only one I want.”

  “Oh.” Alissa said and looked at the floor. “I am such a fool. I’m sorry.” She added and then ran back down the hall to her room.

  Once she was gone Conner turned to Karla and pulled her into his arms. “Thank you for believing in me.”

  “Always.” She replied then she pulled from his arms, grabbed his hand and pulled him down the hall. “Can we talk?” She asked as she pulled him into the room she was sharing with Callie and Rylee.

  “Sure.” Conner said as he sat on the chair at the table. “Where are Callie and Rylee?”

  “They’re in the lobby.” Karla answered and slowly walked toward Conner. “I wanted a little time alone with you. Are you okay with that?”

  “I am more than okay with that.” Conner answered and rose from his chair. “Come here, Karla.”

  Karla closed the distance between her and Conner and he pulled her into his arms. “I love you.” Karla said and stood on her tip-toes and brushed her lips across his.

  “I love you too, Karla.” Conner said and kissed her deeper. After a couple minutes he broke the kiss and pulled back a little. “We can’t, Karla.”

  “I know, but I just want to touch you.”

  Conner groaned at her words and brushed his hands over her face. “Then come here.” He said and led her to the bed. He sat down and pulled her into his lap. She threaded her fingers into his hair and locked her lips on his.

  He moaned deeply and ran his hands up and down her back then up and into her hair. She pulled back when he went to deepen the kiss and kissed his neck. “Conner.” She whispered against his skin.

  “Yes.” He responded in a raspy voice.

  “I want you to take your shirt off.” She said quietly.

  Conner released her hair and slowly pulled his t-shirt over his head. Once it was off she dipped her head down and kissed his collar bone before moving lower and kissing his chest. “Karla, you’re killing me.”

  “Just a bit more.” Karla said and kissed his chest again.

  He sat there and let her torment him for a few more minutes before he reached out and started rubbing his hands up and down her arms. “Baby, we need to stop.” He said in a hoarse whisper.

  When she raised her head and looked into his eyes he captured her mouth roughly and tangled his hands into her hair. After a minute he broke the kiss and gently nipped her earlobe before softly kissing her neck. “Thought you said we needed to stop?” Karla said breathlessly.

  “We do.” Conner said against her heated skin, but he didn’t stop. Instead he skimmed his hands under the edge of her shirt and brushed his fingers across her stomach and up her ribs. He ran his hands up and down her ribs for a minute before he pulled away from her and sat her on the bed. “Not yet, Karla.” He said quietly as he stood up and put his shirt on.

  “Not, yet.” Karla agreed and stood up from her seat on the bed.

  “I think it’s time I went to my room, took a cool shower and got ready for dinner. I’ll see you downstairs in about half an hour.” Conner said and walked to the door. Before he could open it Karla was across the room and back in his arms.

  “I think we’re ready, but I will respect your decision to wait. I love you, Conner.” She pressed her lips to his and kissed him hard before she pulled away, walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

  “I love you too, Karla.” Conner said to the empty room before he walked out the door and into the room he was sharing with Daniel.

  Chapter Seventy

  “I can’t believe we won.” Daniel yelled as they stepped off the bus at school.

  “Daniel, you’ve been saying that since it happened two days ago. Believe it already.” Rylee said and patted him on the back.

  “I can’t believe we won.” He said again and grinned at Rylee. “I think I’m done now.”

  “You’re an idiot.” Callie said with a laugh as she stepped off the bus. “Did you actually think we wouldn’t win?”

  “No, but anything can happen.” Daniel said with a grin. “Now I have to call Jake and rub it in.”

  “You aren’t right.” Conner said with a laugh. “Now we have a week until prom, two weeks till graduation and three weeks till the wedding. Who is ready to crash and start on all of that tomorrow?”

  “Me.” Karla said and leaned against him. “The week after the wedding I start the summer program at Vandy so I have to get ready for that too.”

  “I can’t believe you’re going to be gone for a month this summer.” Conner said and pulled her closer.

  “Conner, I’ll be home every weekend and it’s not like I’m going across the country, or even across the state. I’m going to be less than twenty minutes from here.” Karla told him.

  “I know, but I won’t get to see you every day.” Conner said in a pouty voice.

  “It sucks that the program requires you to stay on campus.” Rylee said with a grin. “But on the plus side there will be college boys there.”

  “That’s what bothers me most.” Conner said. “My girl is going to be around older guys and I won’t be there to show them that she’s taken.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Karla asked and pulled out of his arms. “That’s really an issue?”

  “Well, no, not really. I’m just worried that you’re going to get hurt somehow.” Conner said and took a step toward her. “I know you can take care of yourself, but I will always worry about you.”

  “Conner, your worry and over-protectiveness pushed us apart once and I don’t want that to happen again so all I’m going to say is it’s okay to worry, but it isn’t okay to smother me with that worry.”

  “I know, Karla, and I promise to keep that from happening again.”

  “Okay. Now, I think we all need to get home, rest a little and dive back in tomorrow morning. We have three seniors to replace and Alissa is stepping down from the team so we have to find four before the end of the school year.”

  “Wait, why is Alissa stepping down?” Daniel asked in confusion.

  Karla looked around to make sure no one was in ear shot and then told Daniel what happened.

  “Oh, wow.” Daniel said in disgust. “We don’t have room on the team for that. I’m glad she stepped down because if not you would have had to remove her. What she did was a violation of the team code of conduct.”

  “I know it was, but it is also the captain’s decision on how to handle it. I was going to put her on probation and if she did anything like it again I would have removed her from the team.” Karla told them and they all looked at her like she was crazy.

  “She lied to you and tried to steal your boyfriend and you would have let her stay on the team?” Daniel asked in shock.

  “Yes, because everyone deserves a second chance.” Karla answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

  “My girl is all about giving second chances.” Conner said with a smile. “It’s what makes her who she is and I wouldn’t change that for anything in the world.”

  “Karla, you amaze me.” Daniel said and grinned. “This world would benefit if there were a few more people like you in it.”

  “Daniel, when you have a past like mine you learn that not everything is black and white. There are a lot of things that people see as either right or wrong, or good and bad, but not all bad is bad and not all good is good. Sometimes doing the right thing isn’t always going to be what the world sees as the right thing, but as long as it’s the right thing for you then you should never try to mold yourself into what society thinks you should be. Basically what I’m saying is be yourself because in the end, the only person you have to answer to at the end of the day is you.”

  “And again, Karla knows just what to say to make you look at everything in a whole new light.” Callie said with a grin at her best friend. “Now, I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m exhausted and re
ady to get home.”

  “Me too.” Rylee agreed.

  “See everyone tomorrow.” Karla said and hugged them all before she picked up her suitcase and started toward her car.

  “Can I walk with you?” Conner asked as he fell into step beside her.

  “Of course.” Karla answered with a grin.

  He smiled and took her suitcase out of her hand. They walked in silence to her CRV and he put her suitcase in the back before he turned to her. “I think we need to talk about what happened in your room.”

  “What do you want to talk about?” Karla asked.

  “I didn’t want to stop, but I’m scared. I don’t want to hurt you or scare you or worse, accidently get you pregnant and ruin your life.”

  “Conner, look at me.” When he locked eyes with her she stood on her tip-toes and brushed her lips across his. “You don’t have to worry about hurting me or scaring me because I’m ready. As for the other worry, well let’s just say that you aren’t the only one who would be responsible for that, but the chances of me getting pregnant are really slim. Not only will we use condoms, but I started taking birth control a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t start taking it so we could have sex any time we wanted, but I started taking it because I wanted to ease your worry a little.”

  Conner looked at her for a second before his face broke into a huge smile. “You are always prepared, but I still think we should wait. At least a little while longer.”

  “I agree, but I wanted our decision to be based on facts rather than fear and the fact is neither of us are truly ready. Now, I’m going to go home, take a shower and get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.” Karla said and kissed him softly.

  “I’ll see you in the morning. I love you, Karla.” Conner said as he shut her door for her.

  She rolled down the window and poked her head out. “I love you too, Conner.” She said before she started the car and drove away. Conner stood there until her car had faded into the distance before he walked to his own car and went home.

  Chapter Seventy-One

  The next three weeks passed in a blur of activity. As the wedding approached Kiara was in a frenzy as she tried to get everything wrapped up and Karla was right there with her. The night before the wedding Karla, Rylee, Callie and Kiara were all at Kiara’s and Jake’s new apartment.

  “So are you ready to become Mrs. Jake Hunter tomorrow afternoon?” Rylee asked as she painted her toenails.

  “I am more than ready. I just can’t believe the day is almost here.” Kiara answered. “I am so glad you three are here tonight.”

  “We wouldn’t be anywhere else, sis.” Karla responded with a grin. “Now sit still or you’ll have globs of blue nail polish all over your toes when you walk down the aisle tomorrow.”

  “Girls, I have to tell you something, but it cannot leave this room.” Kiara said with a sly smile.

  “Oh my gosh, you’re pregnant.” Karla said before Kiara could say anything else.

  “How on earth did you figure that out?” Kiara asked.

  “Well there are couple of things that gave it away. One, you cancelled all of our nail appointments for tomorrow and opted for us to do our own nails. The nail polish you bought is free of the chemical that can cause problems during pregnancy, which I know because Mom switched to it when she found out she was pregnant with MaryLynn, and you decided to let us do your hair and make-up tomorrow rather than going to a salon. You’re avoiding all chemicals that could have any sort of negative effect on an unborn child.” Karla answered with a smirk.

  “Looks like big brother gave the condoms to the wrong sister.” Rylee said dryly and Callie burst out laughing.

  “What is she talking about?” Kiara asked in confusion.

  “About six weeks ago Manuel gave me a box of condoms and told me that he wasn’t ready to be an uncle yet.” Karla explained with a giggle. “Guess he forgot he had two sisters.”

  Kiara burst out laughing and they all laughed until tears were streaming down their faces.

  When they finally composed themselves Karla looked at Kiara and smiled. Another baby is just what this family needed. “Does Jake know yet?” She asked.

  “Yes, and so does Leslie. I called her to get the name of her doctor. I was slightly embarrassed when I found out it was your dad, Callie.” Kiara said with a grin. “He is a great doctor though.”

  “Yes he is.” Callie said with a smile. She was happy Kiara was seeing the best.

  “He’ll take great care of you and the baby.” Rylee told her confidently.

  “Wow, my sister is going to be a Mom. I’m going to be a big sister and an aunt in less than a year.” Karla said and grinned. “Wonder what Manuel’s reaction is going to be.”

  ****

  While the girls debated how Manuel would react Jake paced up and down the hall outside of Manuel’s apartment. All the guys were over there and they’d been playing cards and video games for a while, but Jake knew he needed to tell Manuel about Kiara being pregnant. He just didn’t want to be sporting a broken nose or a black eye in his wedding pictures.

  “Hey, man, what are you doing out here?” Conner asked when he opened the door and saw Jake. “Manuel was looking for you to see what kind of pizza you want.”

  “I’m thinking.” Jake responded. “I’ll be back in in just a minute.”

  “You okay? You look like you’re going to puke.”

  “I feel like I’m going to puke.” Jake whispered and Conner stepped out of the apartment and closed the door.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Kiara’s pregnant.” Jake said in a strangled whisper.

  “Oh, wow. Congratulations.” Conner said with a grin. “This isn’t bad news, Jake. You are getting married tomorrow and I know you both wanted kids so why do you look like you’ve been thrown under a bus?”

  “Because I have to tell Manuel.” Jake told him and gulped audibly.

  “How far along is she?” Conner asked as a plan started forming in his head.

  “Seven weeks.” Jake answered. “We just found out last week.”

  “So why do you have to tell him right now? Why can’t you wait until you and Kiara are officially married and then tell him?”

  “That’s what I was just thinking about doing. If not I’ll most likely have a black eye in all the pictures.”

  “Problem solved then. Now stop worrying before he notices that something is up.” Conner said and Jake nodded. “Now let’s go order some pizza.”

  “Thank you, Conner.” Jake said and laid his hand on Conner’s shoulder. “You truly are a great friend.”

  “You have to remember something, Jake. I’m dating his other sister and I’m just thinking about how I would handle it if it were me.”

  “I guess after tomorrow you and I will sorta be family.” Jake said with a grin.

  “We’re already family.” Conner told him then he opened the door to the apartment and walked back inside.

  Later that night Conner lay on the floor of Manuel’s apartment and thought about his conversation with Jake. He wasn’t certain he gave the best advice, but he knew Manuel pretty well and knew what his reaction would be when he found out about the baby. As he drifted off to sleep a picture formed in his mind and he smiled. It was an image of Karla and she was pregnant with their child. He fell asleep with that image in his mind and dreamed of the day he and Karla became parents.

  Chapter Seventy-Two

  “Kiara, are you okay?” Karla asked outside her bathroom door. Her bedroom was the bridal room today.

  “I’m alright. Just a little nauseous.” Kiara answered.

  “Want some club soda and crackers?” Leslie asked from beside Karla.

  “That would be awesome.” Kiara answered as she opened the door and walked out.

  “I’ll get it.” Karla said and looked pointedly at Leslie. “You need to sit down and relax. You don’t look like you’re feeling well either.”

  “I’m fine. Just having a lit
tle back pain. Nothing major and I’m not going to let it interfere with Kiara’s day.” Leslie said with a smile. “I will sit down if it’ll make you feel better though.”

  “Thank you, Mom.” Karla said with a grin as she walked out of the room.

  “She’s as bad as Andrew.” Leslie said as she sat on Karla’s bed.

  “That’s because she loves you.” Rylee told her. “Are you sure you’re alright? You look a little pale.”

  “I always look pale.” Leslie retorted as another pain shot through her back. “Other than a little back pain, I’m fine.”

  “Okay, but if you start feeling bad let one of us know so we can get Andrew and Mark.”

  “I promise I will.”

  “You rest for a bit. I have to do Kiara’s hair now.”

  As Rylee walked off Karla returned with Kiara’s club soda and crackers. “Here you go, sis. You munch on that while Rylee does your hair. I am going to run and check on the guys.”

  “Thank you, sis.” Kiara said with a smile. “You are the best.”

  “I know.” Karla said with a wink and walked back out the door.

  As soon as she was out the door she was pushed against the wall and her mouth was claimed in a hard kiss.

  “You look amazing.” Conner said breathlessly when he broke the kiss and pressed his forehead against hers.

  “Conner, if you think I look good now just wait till you see me in my dress.” Karla teased and Conner sighed.

  “I wish it was me walking you down the aisle instead of Daniel.”

  “You aren’t going to go all caveman jealous are you?” Karla asked seriously.

  “No. I just wish it was me.” Conner promised.

  “Me too, but we will be sitting together at dinner later and the ceremony is the only time we’ll be apart.”

  “I know and at least I’ll get to see you.”

  “Yep. Now I have to go check on the rest of the guys. Kiara is worried about Jake.”

  “I know about the baby.” Conner whispered in Karla’s ear. “But Manuel doesn’t yet. Jake decided he’d wait until after the wedding to tell him because he didn’t want today to be ruined.”