Parting Chances (Fighting Chance #1) (29 page)

By the time I got to Eli’s house, the party was going strong. I had to park two blocks away and hurry my way through the sub-zero night air. My stomach was in knots as I walked up the front steps.

What if he didn’t want to see me? What if he kicked me out? What if he was here with someone else? These were the thoughts that swarmed my head as I closed the front door behind me. That last thought killed me a little.

I made my way into the living room, scanning the room for a face I recognized. After two scans, I finally found Kyler and Noah standing by the stairs. I hurried over to them, bumping into the party-goers as I did.

“Sorry,” I mumbled multiple times before I finally found myself in front of my two best friends.

“Hales! What are you doing here?” Kyler wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. It was like she hadn’t seen me in weeks…which I guess was the truth. She spent so much time with Noah, and I was avoiding his place. And I had been working day and night to keep my mind off everything. We had only really seen each other in passing in the mornings. I really couldn’t believe I had even shut down from her. I returned her hug, then opened my arms and tugged Noah into the hug too.

“I’m so sorry,” I said as we separated. “I thought by pushing you away, I would heal faster. What a joke that was.”

“Hales, you don’t have to apologize to us. We get you,” Noah told me with a grin.

“I’m glad you’re here and all, but what changed your mind?” Kyler asked.

“This.” I took my mom’s letter out of my purse. “She always knew what to say.” Kyler took the letter from my hand and scanned the first page. A gasp escaped as she realized who the letter was from.

“She sent this to you?” she asked. She flipped through the pages until she landed on the signature at the bottom. Her eyes brimmed with tears.

“Yes, of course she did. It’s exactly something she would do.” I didn’t need to explain that to them. They knew her. “Look, you may not want an apology from me, but there is someone I
need
to talk to.” By the way Kyler’s eyes lit up, she knew exactly who I was talking about.

Noah pointed up the stairs. “He’s in his room.”

My heart fell. They are throwing a party at their house, and he’s in his room. That really only meant one thing, right?

Kyler caught my expression. “Oh my god, Hales! Seriously? You seriously think he’d do that?” She pushed me up the first two steps. “He’s alone.” She kept her hand on my back until I was out of her grasp, and as I made my way to the top of the stairs, I swear I heard her call me an idiot.

My throat dried up as I stood outside his door. I probably should have had some liquid courage before doing this.

No, Haley, you don’t need that. You can do this.

My fist made contact with the door before I could change my mind and run. Not that I would get very far, Kyler would just push me back up the stairs again.

“Room’s occupied.” Eli’s voice came through the door.

Occupied?
No, he just said that because some lovely party-goers were probably going to be looking for a room soon. I shuddered at the idea. I sure hoped Noah had locked his door. I knocked again.

“There is a guest room right down the hall. Next door on the left,” he yelled again.

Once again my fist hit the door. Eli didn’t say anything for a moment, so I lifted my hand again, only for the door to fly open.

“What the hell did I say? Guest room is down…” he trailed off when he realized who exactly was the knocker. I pulled my bottom lip in between my teeth as he stared at me.

“Hi,” I squeaked out. He didn’t say anything, just stood there and leaned against the door frame. “Er, um…could I come in?” I really didn’t want to have the conversation standing in his doorway.

Eli rubbed his hands over his face, but stepped out of the way to let me in. I bit my lip, squared my shoulders, and walked into his room. Eli shut the door after me and leaned back against it, returning his questioning gaze on me. I stood in the middle of his room, unsure of where to start, but feeling totally exposed under his unrelenting stare.

I bit the bullet and dived right in. “Eli, I’m so sorry.” My fingers found the chain of my necklace again in my nervousness. His eyebrow quirked up, questioning what I was sorry for. But his eyes were locked on the necklace. He still said nothing. He wasn’t going to make this easy for me. Not that I blamed him. I had been a jerk. He should be kicking me out right now, but he wasn’t. I took a deep breath and continued.

“I’m so sorry for what I said to you after my mom died. I was angry, I was upset, I was heartbroken, and I took it all out on you. You were the
only
thing that held me together that night, and I hated that I was happy with you. I hated that I was happy when I thought I should be nothing but sad. I couldn’t lash out at my dad, so I did it to you. And I cannot tell you how
sorry
I am for doing that.” I paused to check if he was still listening to my ramble. His posture had relaxed, but he stayed by the door.

“I thought I could do this alone. I thought that with time I could figure out a way to put my heart back together on my own. I’m stubborn.” I laughed. “What can I say? Everyone tells me that. I thought if someone else was capable of helping me heal my heart that meant that I didn’t miss my mom as much as I should. I thought that it meant I didn’t love her as much as I should. I pushed everyone away. Kyler, Noah…you.” I took one step toward him.

“But there was only one person who could really help me through this. There was only one person who I wanted to help. There was only
one person
who could calm me with just his touch.” I took another step toward him. “I cannot even begin to explain how grateful I am to have had you in my life this year. You knew exactly what to do or to say when I needed it. You kept your distance when I asked. And you waited. You waited months for me to finally accept that I
needed
you.” This time, Eli took a step toward me, and my heart thumped loudly.

“I didn’t think I was allowed to be happy. Not at that point, when my life was spiraling out of control. But I was wrong. I needed it. I
needed
you.” I took the last step, closing the distance between the two of us. “It took a very wise woman to finally knock some sense into me. To make me see what I’ve been trying to deny for months because I thought I didn’t deserve it.” His hand was inches from mine, and I reached for it. I needed his physical contact for what I needed to tell him next. As his fingers laced through mine, butterflies exploded in my stomach.

“I love you, Eli. I don’t know exactly when it happened. But I know that being without you hurts so much I can barely breath. I need you to help me put my heart back together. I can’t tell you how sor—”

Eli cut me off, by placing his lips lightly against mine. I swear I could hear the crackling of the sparks that erupted between us. He leaned back and smiled.

“Stop saying you’re sorry. I think you’ve said enough. And let’s face it, you could have just stopped after ‘um…hi’. You were forgiven right after you said what you did. I wouldn’t have stayed in town for two days after you kicked me out if I was mad at you.”

“Why did you make me go through that whole spiel?” I asked.

“And stop all of that? Plus, it’s nice to know exactly where you stand.” He let out a low rumble of laughter.

“I’m kind of thinking of taking it all back right now,” I mumbled as his laughter continued.

He hugged me tightly. His fingers glided along my necklace, and my body shivered at his touch. “I love you too, Haley.” My heart skipped a beat at his words. “And I’m pretty sure I know exactly when that happened.”

I peeked up at him through my eyelashes. “You do?”

“Oh yeah. Back in freshman year, when you first said hi to me.” He gave me his lopsided grin, and I laughed through a blush.

“Well, I suppose we should probably make up for lost time, huh?” I winked up at him. His grin turned wicked.

“My pleasure,” he said. He brought his hand to my neck and leaned down to capture my lips with his. He placed several soft kisses on my mouth, before pulling me into a hug. I buried my head into his chest, his arms tightening even more around me. My heart was full of joy as I stood there. Right there was exactly where I was meant to be.

Thank you Mom, for everything.

Final Chances (Fighting Chance #2) - (Spring 2015)

Follow Kyler and Noah as they travel the highs and lows of their relationship.

Choose Us

Riley Logan and Travis Grayson have been best friends for the last fifteen years. She would do anything for him, go anywhere for him…and she has, countless times. Except now. Now he’s asking for too much. Their friendship has reached a breaking point and she doesn’t know how to go back. But as Travis’ personal assistant, Riley spends her every waking moment by his side.

When a fractured ankle puts Travis’ BMX career on hold he’s given more downtime than he knows what to do with. Always one for excitement, he agrees to become the bachelor on a televised dating show, but only if Riley goes in undercover to help weed through the girls.

What was supposed to be eight weeks of freedom has turned into eight weeks of hell surrounded by desperate girls all vying for Travis’ attention. He promised her the show would be smooth sailing. He promised he would listen to her advice on which girls should be eliminated. But now he’s breaking those promises and getting way too close to the girl Riley despises the most.

She shouldn’t care. Except she does. Much to her surprise there is one girl she wants Travis to choose…

Her.

Will she get what she wants, or will Riley lose her best friend along with getting her heart broken on national television?

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