Taking Chances (Love at Starlight, Book 2)

by Kris Jett

  “Yep,” Wynn said. “That’d be the one.”

  Jessie’s eyes were wide and flicked back and forth between Wynn and Luci. “But, I thought you didn’t ever hear from him.”

  “I don’t. Not usually,” Wynn told them. “I mean, I did let him know when we moved to Snowy Ridge. Just because…you know. He sends checks every month for Melody. He’s never ever been late. He’s really good like that.”

  “Just not so good at the refraining from banging teenage bag girls,” Jessie offered, her voice heavy with sarcasm.

  Wynn sighed, but didn’t comment. What could she say? It was true. The day that she had caught Eric with that girl was the worst day of her entire life, and an image she could never wipe away.

  Wynn was eight and a half months pregnant at the time and as happy as she’d ever remembered being. She was married and having her first baby. She’d made a home in St. Louis with her husband and was proud of being so grown up. Eric had a great job as a manager of the local grocery store and everything seemed completely perfect. Their future was bright and wonderful.

  Until that day she had a hankering for orange sherbet and coleslaw and stopped into Eric’s store. She hadn’t seen him out and about walking around the store like he generally did so she went looking for him in the back. When she pushed her way into the storage room, she’d remembered thinking how Eric would get such a laugh at that day’s crazy pregnancy craving. He was always teasing her about them. She’d walked further and further through the back storeroom and when she’d rounded a corner into a dimly lit section, she had the shock of her life. There was her husband, having sex with one of his young employees, right on top of a giant shipment of albacore tuna.

  Wynn hadn’t been able to eat a tuna sandwich since.

  She’d screamed out something at the time, she didn’t know what, and she didn’t know if it even made sense. She’d grasped her big swollen belly, hugging her baby, and rocked side to side, afraid she might fall over. She’d felt like she’d been punched in the gut. She could still picture the “Oh, shit” look on Eric’s face and the stupid teenage girl who twisted around to look at Eric, who asked in a whiny, annoyed sort of voice, “Is that your wife?”

  The worst part of the whole thing was that she didn’t leave him. She should have marched out of that storage room, and the store, packed her stuff, and left Eric right then and there. But she didn’t. She wasn’t strong enough. She was devastated and utterly humiliated over the whole situation. She could never step foot in that grocery store again, that was for sure. But she was so, so pregnant. And afraid. She couldn’t just leave. She had no job. And her pride wouldn’t let her run back home. Not yet anyway.

  So, Wynn and Eric tried to make things work. They didn’t talk much, mostly just screamed. Wynn was miserable and the sight of Eric made her cringe and flash back to the day she saw him in the storage room. She was never going to trust him again. But then Melody was born, and she truly felt happy to have her baby girl in her arms so she’d focused on that instead of her failing marriage.

  Time went on and one day, when Melody was about six months, Eric announced that he was divorcing Wynn to be with his girlfriend, the bag girl, who was twelve years his junior. And that was that. Wynn and Melody were on their own. Eric paid child support and Wynn got a job and managed to take care of Melody and herself but Eric was done with the both of them. For the last year, he had been nothing but a check to the two of them.

  “What are you going to do?” Luci asked.

  “You’re not going to meet with him, right?” Jessie said. “I mean, think about Melody. That would be so messed up.”

  “Would it?” Wynn asked.

  “What do you mean, ‘Would it?’ Of course, it would!” Jessie was getting more and more upset and it made Wynn want to recoil away from her. Jessie was such a strong personality and you always knew exactly how she felt about something.

  Luci rubbed her neck and looked thoughtful. “I don’t know, Jessie. Maybe you need to pull back a bit. I mean, he is Melody’s father.”

  Wynn gave her sister a grateful glance. She understood.

  Jessie shot alarmed looks at both of her sisters. “Are the two of you out of your flippin’ minds? He abandoned her. Like, walked away entirely, no look back, didn’t give a shit about his baby.”

  “Lower your voice. You’ll wake Melody and Mom,” Luci warned.

  “Melody’s fine,” Jessie continued. “She doesn’t need him. He’ll just show up, confuse her, and then be on his way again. He’s not a real father. Not like Dad was.”

  “But doesn’t Melody deserve that?” Wynn asked. This was something she’d struggled with ever since Eric left. Melody was missing out on having a father.

  “You’re implying this loser sperm donor of yours has the capacity to be a decent human being. He. Abandoned. Her.”

  Wynn could feel the heat creeping up her neck. She was the oldest sister but somehow Jessie always made her feel like she was the oldest and looking down on Wynn. She had a way of making her feel like all of her decisions, her life choices, were completely wrong. Like Jessie had all of the answers and Wynn just wasn’t smart enough. She had to get out of the house and away from everyone.

  “Well, it’s done. I’m meeting him. Sorry you don’t agree with my decision.”

  Jessie cast her eyes downward and shrugged. “I don’t.”

  Wynn took a deep breath and turned toward Luci. “Could you listen for Melody? I need to get out of here for a while. Go for a drive or something.”

  Luci’s gaze flicked between both of her sisters briefly before locking with Wynn’s. “Sure, no problem.”

  “Thanks.” Wynn got up from the table and headed for the door, grabbing her purse and keys before pulling it shut behind her.

  Chapter Five

  “Shut the hell up! That can’t be Bryce Alexander walking in here right now. I must be seeing things.” Ed slammed his empty beer mug on the bar and turned to his wife Nikki, whom Bryce had met a few times. “He never comes to my shows. I was sure he hated awesome music.”

  Nikki giggled and slung an arm around her husband’s shoulders.

  Bryce joined Ed and Nikki at the bar, slipping into the seat at the right of Ed. “Yeah, yeah, I put on pants and crawled out of my cave.”

  “Well, this is a call for a celebration. Round of tequila shots, Mike,” Ed called out to the bartender.

  Bryce didn’t usually do shots but how could he refuse? He followed Ed and Nikki in salting their wrists and then threw back the shot, wincing as he sucked on the follow-up lime slice.

  Ed slapped Bryce on the back. “So, what brings you out tonight?”

  “Just thought I’d finally come hear you play. You’re always going on and on about how good you guys are.”

  “They are, you’ll love them,” Nikki said.

  “Well, I’m glad you did,” Ed told him.

  Bryce glanced over at Ed and noticed a woman just a way past his left shoulder. She had on big silver hoop earrings and a low V-neck top with major cleavage showing through. She looked right at him, catching his eye, and smiled as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. She was flirting with him. He smiled back at her and nodded. He contemplated walking over and buying her a drink but he didn’t have to think about it too long. A tall, beefy looking fellow slipped his arm around her waist and the woman turned and whispered something into his ear. Bryce shook his head and laughed at himself. Yeah, his game was really on point.

  “Another round, Mike,” Ed called out and then turned to his wife. “Nikki, we’ve got to hook my man up here with a little female companionship. Got any ideas?”

  Nikki scrunched her eyebrows together in thought. “Hmm. Tiffany maybe?”

  Ed tilted his head. “Eh. What about Robin?”

  Nikki glared at her husband. “Robin’s married.”

  “She is?” Ed said, eyes widened.

  Nikki laughed. “You’re a nut.”

  The shots came and the thre
e threw them back quickly and then Ed stood. “I’ve gotta get on stage. We’ll keep thinking about who to hook you up with.”

  “Gee, thanks,” Bryce said. “Have a good show.”

  “I always do,” Ed said with a wave over his shoulder as he pushed through the crowd of people and onto the stage.

  “There goes my modest husband,” Nikki said to Bryce and he smiled in return. “I’m going to get close to the stage to take pictures. You good on your own?”

  “Oh, yeah, go on,” Bryce said with a wave of his hand.

  Bryce ordered a beer and then twisted around on his stool to face the stage. Ed’s band, The Takers, tuned up and then launched into their first song. Within a few minutes, he found himself slightly bobbing his head along with the music. Ed was right; they were good.

  Bryce twisted to his left to pick up his newly delivered beer and he noticed a very pretty woman had slipped onto the stool next to him. She was staring straight ahead at the band and Bryce gave her a quick once-over. She had longish auburn hair and kind green eyes. She’d slipped off her puffy jacket and underneath was wearing jeans and an emerald green button down shirt that made her eyes shine even brighter. He felt an instant attraction to her which was not a common feeling for him to have these days. Ever since the divorce, he’d felt dead inside when it came to the idea of women, relationships, or ever falling in love again. He’d grown used to the idea that he was destined to be a hermit.

  Bryce suddenly had the strong urge to talk to this woman. He cleared his throat and leaned toward her ear. “They’re good, huh?” he said loud enough for her to hear him over the music.

  The woman looked up at him and smiled, nodding her head. She had a big dimple in each cheek when she smiled.

  Bryce smiled back. He leaned in again. “I’m Bryce.”

  She moved in toward his ear. “Sara.”

  He sat back but kept his gaze fixed on her. Sara. It was hard to talk with the band playing so he pointed to his beer and then put his hand out in a “you want one?” gesture.

  Sara nodded.

  Bryce caught Mike’s attention and pointed to his beer and then put up two fingers.

  Bryce and Sara watched the band play and drank their beers side-by-side, making the occasional conversation with only their eyes and smiles. Bryce had been gone from the dating scene for quite a long time but he was fairly sure this girl was flirting with him. He wondered what her story was. A quick look at her ring finger showed she wasn’t married. And she wasn’t too young. Not that she was old by any means, but he guessed she was either in her late twenties or early thirties. She had the look of already living a little to her. If he tried to express that out loud in words, some might think it sounded bad; but, to him it was good. He, himself, had lived quite a bit for being thirty-two years old.

  The band took a break and Bryce took the opportunity to talk to Sara. “That’s my friend’s band. He’s the drummer.”

  “They’re really good,” she said. She tucked a stand of hair behind her ear and a moment later it fell back down on the side of her face.

  Bryce had the urge to reach over and re-tuck the hair for her but he fought it. He didn’t want to freak her out. “I probably sound like I’m a big fan,” he said. “It’s actually the first time I’ve ever heard them play. Ed, that’s my friend, has been asking me to come listen to them forever. I just finally made it out tonight.”

  “I’m glad you did,” she said and her cheeks pinkened. She re-tucked the pesky piece of hair behind her ear and looked down at her beer and then back at Bryce. “Thanks for this, by the way.”

  “Yeah, no problem. Did you want another?” he offered.

  Sara looked like she was thinking it over. She glanced up at the door and then back at Bryce. “I was sort of hoping to get out of here actually.”

  Oh man, Bryce thought, how can I be such an idiot? He had absolutely no game whatsoever. The poor girl had probably been killing herself trying to figure out how she could get away from him and go home to her boyfriend, or whoever, and here he was thinking she had some interest in him. He almost had to laugh at how stupid he had been. He’d have to tell Ed about this later. This was why he never went out. He had zero social skills.

  “Oh, yeah, of course,” Bryce said quickly. “I didn’t mean to hold you up, I mean, obviously you’re busy or whatever,” he said, fumbling for the right words.

  Sara reached out and put a hand on Bryce’s forearm. “No, I meant that I was sort of hoping we could get out of here. Together.”

  Bryce’s eyebrows shot up and his lips parted. “Oh. Oh,” he repeated, louder. Wow, he really did suck at this. “You mean, together.”

  Sara smiled, her dimples jumping out at him, and her hand moved from his forearm to his thigh.

  Whoa. Bryce’s mind raced. Sara wanted to go somewhere and have sex. She wanted a one-night stand. He’d never had a one-night stand before. All of his friends had, but it was just never something that he had done. He wasn’t that type of guy. But, he was single now, and not the same person anymore. And he was sure Sara wasn’t drunk or anything; she’d only had the one beer and didn’t even finish it. Could he really do this? He had been with Julia since he was twenty-four years old. But that was over. Technically, there was nothing stopping him. They were two grown adults who could do whatever they wanted. Where would he take Sara? Back to his apartment? He wracked his brain, trying to remember if he left a mess anywhere. He didn’t think so. It was such a small place and he kept it pretty tidy.

  Sara grabbed Bryce’s hand and pulled him off the barstool. Bryce quickly threw a wad of cash on the bar toward Mike and nodded. Mike grinned at him. Did he know? Was it that obvious to everyone else what was about to take place? Sara pulled Bryce out the door of the bar. The cold air hit him in the face and he suddenly remembered his coat was still in his hand rather than on his body. He shrugged into it, trying to appear cool and calm.

  “Where’s your car?” Sara asked.

  “Just over there,” he said with a nod. “The black one.”

  They walked to his car and Sara let herself in the passenger seat like she’d been doing it forever. “How far to your place?” she asked.

  “Not far at all,” he said. He was struggling to sound normal. He didn’t know how to make this pre-sex conversation. What were they supposed to talk about? Was he supposed to ask her what she did for a living? Her last name? The whole thing felt surreal to him. Like he was watching it play out on television and eager to see what came next instead of an active participant. He concentrated on the road ahead of him.

  “Is this it?” Sara asked as Bryce pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex.

  “Yeah, I just have a one-bedroom,” he said. “I moved here not too long ago,” he added but he didn’t get the feeling Sara really cared to hear his life story.

  Bryce stopped the car and Sara jumped out, almost like she was in a hurry. She met him at his side of the car and grabbed his hand again.

  “This way,” he said. The two walked in the building and took the steps quickly up to the third floor. “I’m right here,” Bryce said, unlocking the door to 3B.

  He turned to open the door wider to let Sara in but she had already slipped in and was on him immediately. To say he was shocked was an understatement. She was kissing him everywhere: on his lips, his neck, his ear, as she pulled his jacket off and flung it behind her and set to work on his button-down shirt. The door to the apartment was still open so Bryce side stepped the two of them over and gave it a kick close with his foot.

  He placed his hands on either side of Sara’s face and kissed her back, matching her eagerness. Every nerve in his body was suddenly very awake. Just a couple of hours ago, he was about to eat pizza puffs and have a Game of Thrones marathon and now here he was making out with a hot woman in his apartment who was seemingly very into him and moving rather quickly. Where were these girls in college? He felt his shirt go and Sara rubbed her hands down his chest, delivering tiny li
cks with her mouth, as she let out an appreciative sound. It felt so good to have someone be so into him like this. He was getting more and more aroused.

  He pulled Sara’s shirt off over her head and she wriggled out of her jeans and kicked them to the side. He took her all in, standing there in her matching lacy black bra and panty set. He could feel himself straining against his own jeans. Sara reached both of her hands behind her back and a moment later she’d freed herself from her bra and gave it, too, a toss over her shoulder. He stood there speechless for a moment, admiring her beautiful breasts, and then his senses came back to him. “Come on,” he said in a husky voice, pulling her toward his bedroom. This time he was the one in a hurry.

  He laid Sara on his bed, and reached for the box of condoms in his nightstand, tossing them out on top so he could grab one quickly. He went straight to work with his tongue, exploring Sara’s body from top to bottom, spending extra time on her nipples. Soon she was letting out noisy sounds of delight that only turned him on more. After a few minutes, she greedily pulled at his jeans and he helped her get them off. He’d intended on giving her more attention before things advanced but before he knew it she’d flipped out from under him and was straddling his hips. A girl who likes to be on top, he thought. He wasn’t going to complain. This whole evening was so out of the ordinary and he was going to just enjoy every last moment of it.

  Sara put the condom on Bryce herself and mounted him again. She rocked and rocked and he reached up with both hands and squeezed her nipples. She seemed to enjoy it and grabbed both of his hands and pushed them harder into her breasts. He squeezed them even harder and she let her head fall back. He couldn’t believe he had such free access to such beautiful breasts. It’d been many years since he’d been with someone, before his ex-wife Julia, and she was built very small. Not that he had a problem with that. It’s just Sara was very different. And amazing.

  Before long Sara was coming and screaming out in delight and Bryce briefly wondered if his neighbors could hear them. And then he thought who gave a shit if they did and he was coming right along with Sara.