Second Chances (2 page)

***

Dustin had just gotten home after having a late lunch date with a girl that he’d been casually seeing the last couple of weeks. Her name was Megan. She was beautiful and nice, but there was no chemistry whatsoever. Hell, they’d been out six times and he still hadn’t slept with her yet.

That had to be a record for him. Sure he’d kissed her, but he just wasn’t into it. She’d let him off the hook after lunch by telling him she had plans with her girlfriends. He couldn’t be more grateful. Dustin knew he just needed to tell her that what they had wasn’t going anywhere, but he hated hurting anyone.

His friends were constantly giving him shit that he’d lost his mojo. Dustin knew what his problem was and it wasn’t something he ever planned on sharing.

He’d been in love with Stacy for the past year and it was hell. Dustin didn’t want love, and he certainly didn’t want it with someone who was with someone else.

Mark Jefferson. Dustin hated that prick with a passion. Dustin didn’t give two shits that he’d protected his sister during her kidnapping. There was just something about him that rubbed Dustin the wrong way.

Oh, he played nice when Stacy was around, mostly. The dude just always looked like he was hiding something, and the way Mark watched Stacy constantly bothered him, too. He looked at her and watched her like she was his property.

After he and Stacy decided to just be friends—or at least when Stacy decided—was when it hit him that he was in love with her. At first he went out and hooked up with a couple of girls he knew didn’t want commitment, but he quickly realized that he could sleep with whomever and he’d still be in love with Stacy.

Bellamy was the only person he confided in about his feelings for Stacy. She told her big brother that if they were meant to be together, then when the timing was right, it’d happen.

He wasn’t so sure of that. Life wasn’t a fairytale; he’d been there, done that before, and all it got him was a broken heart.

Stacy was one of his best friends and he didn’t want to screw that up ever.

***

The sun was starting to lower in the horizon as Dustin finished mowing his lawn. He put the mower away in the shed and headed back into the house. Dustin grabbed a beer as he went to take a shower.

Tomorrow he was gonna break things off officially with Megan, because there was no sense in stringing her along.

He finished showering quickly so he could crack another beer and start watching some shows he had DVR’d. With a towel draped around his hip, he went to get dressed. Dustin heard his cell phone beeping from the kitchen, so he hurried up and threw on some basketball shorts and tank top.

Before Dustin could even check his phone, it started ringing again. When he saw it was his brother-in-law/best friend, Luke, he quickly answered it.

“Hey, Luke, what’s going on?”

“Hey, man, sorry to be blowing up your phone, but I think you should get over to my house,” Luke told him.

“Why? Is everything okay with Bell and Care Bear?” Dustin could feel the worry start bubbling up in his chest.

“Sorry, man, yeah, they’re fine, but it’s Stacy.”

Dustin felt a knot build in his stomach. Luke was talking quietly, like maybe he didn’t want to be heard talking to Dustin.

“Just tell me what’s going on.”

“Um, well, I don’t know a whole lot, but something happened with Mark this morning. Bellamy got a call from Stacy early this afternoon and she went to go get her. When they got back—well, it looks like he roughed her up a little. Dustin, he grabbed her face hard enough that I can see the fingerprints and the fucker bit her lip so hard it’s doubled in size. You can see the teeth marks.”

Dustin was fuming as he raced through his house to grab his shoes, wallet, and keys. “I’m on my way.” He hung up on Luke before he could respond.

The whole drive there he told himself to calm down and that Stacy didn’t need an “I told you so” from him. If he wasn’t so worried about her he’d go track down the motherfucker himself.

Stacy tried to act like she was tough and nothing got to her, but he knew different. She was one of the warmest, most compassionate women he’d ever met.

He also knew that she’d been hurt a lot in the past by other guys. Dustin had held her when she broke down because she’d gotten a birth announcement from her ex from Chicago and his new wife, who was also Stacy’s old college mentor.

Dustin pulled up in front of his sister and Luke’s place.

He took a minute to compose himself. She was probably gonna be on the defensive and try to pick a fight with him. Stacy was just going to have to get over it.

He watched Luke walk out onto the front porch carrying his daughter, Dustin’s niece, Carrington. She was a beautiful baby and looked a lot like Bellamy did when she was little.

At three months old she was already spoiled rotten. The kid had her own room, fully decorated, at each set of grandparents’ homes.

Luke knew the drill and handed over Carrington as soon as Dustin stepped onto the porch.

She was asleep as Dustin held her close to his body.

“Hi, my little Care Bear.” He looked up at Luke. “How is Stace?”

“I’m gonna be honest: not good. Bellamy’s got her icing her lip again and set her up to relax on the back deck.”

Dustin handed the baby back to Luke and walked into their house. Bellamy was walking out of the kitchen. Dustin knew she was surprised to see him there.

“Hi, baby sister.” He bent down and kissed her cheek.

“Dustin, what a surprise,” she said, glaring at her husband.

Dustin could hear the tone in his sister’s voice and knew she wasn’t happy he was there. “Wow, Bell, thanks for the greeting.”

“I’m sorry, Dustin, you know Stacy. She didn’t want you to see her like this.” She looked right into his eyes. “Whatever you do, please don’t rub it in her face that you were right about him.”

“Jesus, do you really think I’d do that to her? I know everyone thinks I’m shallow, but fuck, Bellamy, I think she’s been hurt enough today.” He stormed past his sister and made his way to the sliding doors.

Dustin came to a halt in front of the door. Stacy had her back to him. Her face was buried in her hands and he knew she was crying the way her shoulders shaking.

He opened the door and slowly walked towards her. Dustin watched her head shoot up, and when she turned towards him, her eyes got as wide as saucers and her upper lip was a deep angry red and swollen.

Mark was a dead man as far as Dustin was concerned. Stacy was breaking Dustin’s heart. She looked so defeated. He was gonna get to the bottom of what happened.

Dustin walked towards her and got down on his haunches. He reached out and rubbed his thumb over her swollen lip. It was still cold from the ice pack she’d been using.

“What happened, sugar?” He didn’t like that she was surprised he asked that.

She didn’t say anything for a minute, but he could see her bracing herself to say it. Stacy wiped the tears from her eyes and he could see her take a deep breath.

“This morning—um, I was making coffee and I-I heard his phone ringing. He, uh, was still sleeping, so I thought that maybe I should answer it just in case it was his work calling him. Well, I dug the phone out of his pocket and…” She wiped away the fresh tears, “I looked at the screen a-and it was a picture of a young woman with two little children. Dustin, it was his wife. His youngest looks identical to him. I didn’t think and answered it.

“She made it sound like he’s done it before. I told her that I never would’ve been with him if I knew—if I knew he was married. You believe me, right? You don’t think I’m a home wrecker, do you?”

Dustin was beyond pissed that guy took advantage of Stacy and made her doubt herself.

“Sugar, you know that I would never think you’d do that to some poor woman. You. Are. Not. A. Home wrecker. Tell me what happened to this beautiful face.” Dustin reached out to cup Stacy’s face. “Tell me…please.”

“He grabbed my face—he pushed me against the wall. He slid his hand in my robe and sh-shoved his f-f-fingers, um—in-inside m-m-me. He said that I was his and then he bit my lip really hard and left.”

Dustin grabbed Stacy and pulled her into a tight hug. “I’m so sorry that happened to you, sweetheart. I promise you this: If I ever see his face, I’ll beat it into pulp for hurting you.”

He wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, but when he looked up he could see his sister standing at the door watching them. Dustin knew he was an asshole earlier to her. He mouthed “I’m sorry.” Dustin smiled when his sister mouthed back that she was sorry, too.

“Okay, sugar, here’s the plan. You. Me. Pizza and beer. You can even stay at my place tonight. What do you say?”

After he invited her over, he mentally went through his house to make sure it was clean. Thanks to Dylan, Dustin’s twin brother who had been staying with him, it was, but at the moment, Dylan was on a much needed vacation before he joined Dustin and Luke working the family business.

“I can stay the night, too? I really don’t want to stay at my place alone tonight,” Stacy whispered against his ear.

Feeling and smelling her minty breath against his ear made his dick start to stir in his shorts.
Focus,
he chastised himself for even going there right now when she really needed him to be her friend.

“Of course. You can take my bed and I’ll sleep in Dylan’s since he’s out of town.” He stood up and held out his hands to her and pulled her up out of the chair.

Dustin always loved how perfectly Stacy fit against him. He was a few inches over six feet tall and she was tall enough so she could snuggle in right under his chin.

He felt her wrap her arms around his waist as he walked them back into his sister’s house.

They found Bellamy at the stove and Luke sitting at the dining room table. He was talking to Carrington as she gurgled at him from her bouncy seat on the table.

“I’m taking Stacy back to my place. Thanks for everything,” Dustin said, leaning down and kissing his sister on the forehead. He slapped Luke on the back and kissed his niece on the forehead too, taking in her sweet baby scent.

“You’re not gonna stay for dinner?” his sister asked. “I made enough chicken for everyone.” He could see the hope in her eyes that they would stay.

Stacy looked up at him. “Can we stay?” her voice sounded so small when she asked.

“Sounds good, sis. You got any beer?” Dustin asked as he walked to the fridge.

“Yeah, I just bought some. Grab me one too,” Luke said from the table.

Dustin sat down and passed a beer to Luke and watched Stacy go help Bellamy in the kitchen. He’d get her through this.

Chapter 2

A couple of weeks had gone by since the Mark disaster and Stacy was finally feeling more like herself. The bruises were such a light shade of yellow that with her darker skin tone they were hardly noticeable. Her lip was still sore, but she couldn’t see any bruising, so it must’ve been all on the inside.

The first night was bad. After dinner with Bellamy and Luke, she’d gone back to Dustin’s and taken a shower. She practically scrubbed herself raw. She wanted all traces of Mark gone.

True to his word, Dustin had let her sleep in his bed and his scent wrapped around her helped lull her to sleep. Stacy had awoken in the middle of the night after dreaming about Mark strangling her as he tried to rape her. Dustin had woken her up, crawled in bed with her, and then held her as she cried herself back to sleep.

When she’d gotten home the next day, much to Dustin’s chagrin, she’d stripped her linens from her bed and threw them all in the trash. The few pictures she had of her and Mark went in the trash as well.

She’d forgotten her cell phone when she left the house the day before. Luckily, it didn’t look like she’d missed any calls. Stacy didn’t think she could handle it if Mark tried to reach her.

Stacy was supposed to have dinner at her parents’ house that night, but there was no way she was going to let them see her looking the way she did.

Her dad Gary had suffered a heart attack last summer, which was what brought her home. It had worried her and her mom because that’s how her grandpa had died when he was around her dad’s age.

Now he was in better health than he had ever been and Stacy’s mom was even in better shape, too. She didn’t need the look of her bruised face and how it got that way to cause a major setback for her dad.

***

Now a couple of weeks later she was heading over to her parents’ place for the dinner she’d had to cancel. She checked herself in the mirror: no more bags under the eyes and no traces of “him” on her face.

Stacy ran her fingers through her mink-colored locks, loosening the curls that lay every which way on her head. Last year when she had come home, her hair was really short, but she’d decided to let it grow back out. It had been a moment of impulse when she grabbed the top of her ponytail and cut right under the rubber band. She’d donated it to Locks of Love since she never colored her hair, and now it was just past her chin.

She’d always had a different sense of style from her best friend. Bellamy had more of the sporty look and Stacy was very much into the bohemian look, even before it was popular again.

As she got out of her truck, she adjusted her multi-colored maxi dress, grabbed her purse and started towards the door.

The scent of her mom’s
Caruru de Camarão
hit her as she walked onto the porch. The Brazilian gumbo with shrimp and okra was one of Stacy’s favorite dishes from her mom’s home country.

Stacy walked into her childhood home and found her mom and dad talking in the kitchen. Her mom was of average height. She was where Stacy got her coloring from, but her body was primarily from her dad’s side of the family. Stacy was tall and curvier than she’d like to be, even though she took care of herself.

Stacy started developing when she was thirteen, which caused the other girls, except for Bellamy, to make fun of her, and accuse her of being a slut while the boys started paying more and more attention to her, but she managed to hold them at bay until she hit fifteen.