Last Chance: A Second Chances Novel (18 page)

“Sure,” I agreed happily. Any time she allowed me to spend with her was fine with me.

When we got to my house, I backed into the driveway and to the side of my garage, so I could drop off my boat. Once Lara got out of the truck, her eyes went wide, taking in the track behind my house.

“Wow, that’s amazing. I can’t believe you have your own supercross track.”

I followed behind her and smiled. “I designed it.”

“You did?” she gasped excitedly.

Over the past few years, I’d gone through different track designs. It just so happened she’d helped me with the last one. I hadn’t changed it since. “I did,” I replied, “but you helped me too. You see that jump over there in the third corner?” I pointed to it and watched her face light up. “It was your idea to make it that high. I think you wanted to kill me.”

“Oh, I don’t believe that’s true.” She rolled her eyes and laughed. “Wow. I can’t believe I helped you with the design.”

Evan had helped too, but I didn’t want to burst her bubble. I loved seeing the way she beamed when she was excited. The sound of a motorcycle revved down the street and it sounded closer by the second. “I think someone’s here,” I said.

I grabbed Lara’s hand and she willingly let me hold it. With the day we’d had, I was feeling more comfortable with where we were headed. When I turned the corner of my house, Chance pulled up and parked, taking off his helmet.

“What’s up cocksucker?” he called out. However, when he lifted his head, he spotted Lara right beside me. “Excuse me, sweetheart. I didn’t know you were going to be here. Do you remember me?”

She shrugged sheepishly. “Sorry. I’m sure I’ve met you, but the last five years are kind of a blank for me.”

He snapped his fingers. “Dammit, I was hoping I’d be the one you’d remember. I heard about the accident. It’s good to see you made it through okay.” He held out his hand to her. “I’m Chance Harris. I ride with this dirtbag,” he said, pointing at me.

They shook hands and she smiled. “It’s nice to meet you. And thank you. I’m lucky to be here.”

“So what’s up?” I asked, drawing his attention to me. Chance was my friend, but I had no doubt he’d put the moves on Lara if he could. He’d done it once before, the night she and I slept together.

“I was going to come by and see if you wanted to go riding, but I can see you’re busy.” He slipped his helmet back on and waggled his brows. “But I will tell you about my party. It’s next Saturday, so bring your girl. We missed you at the last one.” He waved at Lara and sped out of my driveway.

I turned to look at her, brows lifted. “Interested in going?”

She shrugged. “Sure. It might be kind of fun.”

“All right, we’ll go. Just do me a favor and stay away from Chance. I don’t want to have to kick his ass.”

Giggling, she turned and headed toward the back of my house. “You have nothing to worry about. I’m not attracted to him.”

“Oh yeah? Who
are
you attracted to then?”

The sun had fully set and there was nothing but darkness above. The only thing lighting up the sky was the stars and the moon. Lara walked out into the field to a grassy bank and laid down on her back, patting the ground beside her. “Lay down and I’ll tell you.”

Lara was always different from the rest of the girls I’d met. She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. And a little bit of dirt never hurt her, whereas other girls I’d fucked would scream if they got anything on their clothes or under their nails.

I laid down beside her and peered up at the sky, the grass warm against my back. Only she would find joy in looking up at the stars.

“I’m attracted to honesty, Luke. It’s hard to find it in today’s time.”

I turned my head, her eyes glistening in the moonlight. “What are you trying to say?”

“I want you to tell me what happened between us. I don’t care how upset you think it’ll make me; I need to know. With everyone avoiding my questions, I’m assuming what went on was bad. The only person eager to tell me anything is Grayson; although, I do have to question his motives.”

I scoffed. “You think? The guy’s determined to get you to turn on me.”

She nodded. “I know, which is why I’m talking to you. I’ve wanted answers all day, but I wasn’t ready until now.”

Swallowing hard, I focused back on the sky. If she wanted the truth, I was going to give it to her. It was probably going to kill any chance I had, but she needed to hear it from me. “The whole story?” I asked to be sure.

She nodded. “Everything.”

I thought back to that day that changed everything. “Over a year ago now, I found you on the side of the road because your car ran out of gas. You were walking all alone on the street and I wasn’t about to leave you there. You were so mean to me, but I threatened to chase you down if you didn’t hop on my bike so I could take you to get gas.”

She snorted. “I bet I didn’t like that.”

“You didn’t,” I chuckled, “but you had no choice. Anyway, later on that weekend I asked you to one of Chance’s parties. I’d been interested in you for a long time by this point, but I always ignored those feelings. Over time, you grew to hate me because I kept my distance, filling my time with
skanks
, as you called them. I knew you had feelings for me, but I didn’t want to hurt you. I didn’t think I was capable of love.”

“Is that because of your parents?”

My stomach clenched and I jerked my head toward her. “Who told you about them?” It wasn’t something I talked about to anyone, other than Evan.

She moved closer to me. “Evan did. Please don’t be mad at him. I’m glad he told me.”

It hurt to talk about my parents, but there was nothing I could do to change the way they were. They were too self-involved to think about anyone else. I grabbed her hand and brought it to my lips. “I’m not mad, Lara. It’s just a sore subject. Don’t get me wrong, they gave me all the money I needed. But by the time I was sixteen, I was living in my own house. Evan’s parents were the ones who kept watch over me. I guess you can say I never really experienced love, until them. But even then, they weren’t my real parents.”

“I’m sorry,” she murmured.

I shook my head. “Don’t be. I’m happy with my friends . . . with you.”

“Tell me about our one night stand. Was that all it was between us?”

Fucking Grayson
. I was hoping to tell her everything before that bastard could. I knew he wouldn’t be able to resist. Clenching my jaw, I bit down so hard I could feel my muscles shake. “No, it wasn’t. We were only together that one night, but it had been building for years. It was that night I knew I was in love with you. And it scared the fuck out of me.”

“Does it now?” she asked.

Turning on my side, I reached over and tucked a strand of her golden locks behind her ear. “Loving you doesn’t scare me, but losing you does. I’d just gotten you back the night of the accident, then you were torn away again. I believe it’s my punishment for everything I did to you.”

“What did you do?”

By the look on her face, she already knew. No doubt Grayson told her. “After our night together, I freaked out. I couldn’t be what you wanted, so I went back to my normal life. I didn’t call you after our night together, and a couple of days later, you saw me with another girl. I was flirting with her, trying to convince myself I wasn’t in love with you. Nothing worked. Unfortunately, you saw me with her and ran away. Being the most stubborn and grudge-holding person I know, you never forgave me.”

She laughed but there was nothing humorous about it. “I don’t like being made a fool of.”

“Yes, I know. And you evaded me time and again. I never got the chance to be alone with you to explain. Even Evan wouldn’t allow me to be anywhere near you.”

“Evan’s turned out to be pretty amazing. My sister got lucky with him,” she said with a smile.

I nodded. “He’s my best friend; although, we did fight a lot when it came to you. What made me furious was that you acted like nothing ever happened between us. The times I came into the restaurant, you walked around with a smile on your face, like you were the happiest woman in the world. I didn’t want to believe it didn’t mean anything to you. I wanted you so fucking bad, and it killed me when you didn’t feel the same way.”

She looked at me and sighed. “Let me guess . . . this is where you tried to make me jealous?”

“Yes,” I admitted sheepishly. “All I wanted was to get a reaction out of you. I tried multiple times with different women, but it wasn’t until Summer kicked me out of the tavern that I realized you actually cared. After that, I changed tack, and was determined to get you back. The only problem was, you’d already moved on.”

“With Grayson,” she whispered.

“It didn’t stop me from loving you though. I backed off for a while, knowing it was all my fault in the first place. I really just wanted you to be happy. But when I saw how unhappy you were with Grayson, I couldn’t just sit back and wait anymore. And that’s when he proposed. Evan finally saw what I’d been seeing, and talked to you about making the right choice for you. It was that night you broke things off with Grayson and called me, saying you wanted to give me another chance. Only, you never made it to my house.” Tears sprung to my eyes, thinking about her screams once again.

She placed her hand against my cheek, and I leaned into her touch. I’d waited an eternity to feel her skin against mine and now I had it. But she wasn’t fully mine yet.

Her lips opened and she closed her eyes. “I don’t know why, but being here with you just feels right.”

“It’s because it is,” I murmured.

She opened her eyes and a sad smile spread across her lips. “I believe you, Luke. There’s just one other question I have to ask.”

“What?”

“Did you ever sleep with those women you tried to make me jealous with?”

“No,” I answered in all honesty. “I didn’t have the desire to be with anyone but you. Even when I knew you and Grayson were intimate, I still couldn’t bring myself to be with another woman. I spent every waking moment thinking about you.”

Her eyes never left mine and I hoped to hell she could see I was telling the truth. She had no reason to believe me, but there was nothing else I could do. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t trying to play games; and it felt good, no matter the outcome.

Rolling up on her elbow, she leaned over me, her warm body pressing into mine. “That’s all I wanted to know.” She brought her face close to mine and looked at my lips.

My heart pounded so hard, I was sure she could feel it. She inched forward, until her lips connected to mine. I froze, thinking at any moment she’d pull away and say it was a mistake. When she didn’t, I gently pushed her onto her back, deepening the kiss as I covered her with my body. As far as I knew, this meant she’d chosen me . . . and I wasn’t about to let go.

M
y lips were still swollen from Luke’s kisses, but that was as far as it had went. A few kisses, some over the shirt fooling around, and then he took me home. My body wanted more, but my heart knew I couldn’t do that to Grayson, not until I figured out what to do. I’d only spent a few minutes with him at the restaurant; that wasn’t going to be enough, especially if Summer had anything to do about it. Maybe Grayson would be the one to help get my memories back. So far, no one else had succeeded with it.

It was Monday morning and I was at the tavern. Summer had introduced me to the chefs and none of them looked familiar. I was beginning to wonder if I’d ever get my memories back. It felt like I was living someone else’s life.