Second Chance Summer (Chance Series, #1) (12 page)

“You need to go to bed. You’re sleepin’ at the table.”

She stares at me for a second, so coldly it gives me chills. I know that look. The narrow eyes, the pursed lips, the clenched hands. It’s the look that says she blames me for everything I don’t understand, the one that makes me feel two foot tall.

“Go to bed. Right.” She snorts, and her eyes catch the bottle. A shaky hand reaches out, unscrews the cap, and pours another glass. “Because sleeping alone is so appealin’.”

I take a deep breath in as she downs the glass, not even flinching at the inevitable burn of alcohol against her throat.

“Goodnight, Momma,” I say, turning around. “I’m going to bed.”

“Runnin’. Runnin’ runnin’ runnin’! Just like your Daddy, you are. Always runnin’ when shit gets hard.” The glass slams against the table. “Fuckin’ useless!”

I pause at the bottom stair. My fingers curl tightly around the banister, and I squeeze my eyes shut tightly.

“Always turnin’ your damn back. Just like him. Neither of you give a damn about me.”

“You know that ain’t true,” I throw at her. “I care.”

“Right. That’s why you go to school in New York and not Alabama.” She snorts again, and the scrape of her chair against the stone floor indicates she’s standing up. “Fuck.” She smacks the fridge. I turn, and she’s leaning against it for support with the bottle still in her hand.

She doesn’t even care for the glass anymore.

“New York has better schools,” I offer lamely. “You know that.”

“Right.” She draws the word out and smacks her lips together. “But you still ain’t never come back, have ya? Na, you just damn well stayed up there in the big ol’ fancy city, livin’ the life.”

“Or I was working my ass into the ground to keep up my grades, so I still had my partial scholarship for next year.”

“And here I am… All alone. Because you both damn well run.”

“I didn’t run from anythin’,” I lie. “I was walking toward a better life.”

“Funny!” She swings around and looks at me, her smile anything but happy. “That’s exactly what he said.”

“I’m not Daddy. I came back, didn’t I?”

“Took you long enough! But then… I never expected you to. Dunno if I even wanted you to.”

Her words sting even though I know it’s the vodka talking. But, as Jay always says to me, “
Drunken minds speak sober hearts.
” Mom swigs from the bottle, chugging it back. She all but drops it onto the table, and it rocks before settling. My eyes focus on the bottle, not willing to meet her gaze. I know exactly what I’ll see there.

It’ll be the same old anger, dislike, and bitterness I see every time she gets like this. We’ve been here and done this too many times for it to be anything different.

And I still listen to it.

“I’ll be gone again soon enough, don’t worry.” Sadness-tinged anger creeps into my voice, and I step onto the bottom stair.

“Maybe next time, you won’t come back. Maybe next time you’ll keep your ass up there in New York just like he has.”

What?

My chest tightens. I turn my head toward her slowly, my eyes meeting her wide ones. “What?” I whisper.

“Nothin’. Nothin’. Fucking nothing.” She yanks a cupboard open and slips, only just steadying herself on the side.

“No, what did you mean? “In New York, just like he has?””

“Nothing!”

“Is Daddy in New York?”

She says nothing, just stares at the wall.

“Is he there?!” I yell, holding onto the banister to steady me.

“Yes!” she shouts back, still not looking at me. “He’s been there the whole damn time!”

I feel sick. Nausea is swirling around in my stomach, and the tightness in my chest isn’t letting up. For the last eleven months, I’ve lived in the same city as my father and she never told me. Maybe it wasn’t even in the same city – maybe it was the same district, the same area, the same block.

Maybe I passed him in the street and I never even knew.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I can’t help the accusatory tone in my voice. “Why?”

“You didn’t need to know.”

“I was eighteen! I had every right to know where he was!”

“Why?” Momma looks at me now, her eyes hard. “He never bothered to find out about you. Never bothered to contact you!”

“How could he contact me if he never knew where I was?”

“He knew you lived here for five years after he walked out. Remember that, Kia?
He
walked out. On me and on you, girl. Even if he knew you were in New York, he probably wouldn’t have cared.”

I stare at her in disbelief. “I can’t believe you never told me! That wasn’t your choice to make. Even if I did find him, and he didn’t care, shouldn’t that have been my choice? Shouldn’t I have even been given that option?”

“I was protectin’ you!”

I push off from the stairs. “No, you weren’t protectin’ anyone other than yourself, and you know what,
Mom?
You can’t even protect yourself – you say me and Daddy run, but runnin’ is better than hidin’ behind the rim of a bottle or a glass! The only person you think about is you – if you thought about me you would have told me where he was. You would have told me if you even knew!”

“Kia!”

I yank the back door open. “No. Don’t Kia me. Don’t
anything
me. The only thing you care about is the bottle you’re reaching for even now! You could have torn my heart out and stomped on it, and you’d still reach for the bottle instead of me! And not that you care, but you have. Congratulations, Mom, you finally succeeded in what you’ve tried to do for the last few years. You’ve finally made me hurt just as much as you have been, because now I have two parents who betrayed me. The people whose job it is to protect me failed miserably so you can have the damn bottle for all I care!”

I slam the door behind me and run toward the treehouse. The cold night air bites at me as I climb the ladder and fall onto the cushions. Hot tears stream down my face, and I bite my tongue to stop myself from screaming, but the sting from that is nothing compared to the sting of betrayal lacing its way through my body right now.

Coming back here was always a bad idea. Ever since I got back there’s been nothing but pain and heartbreak.

CHAPTER 8

Silence surrounds me as I make my way upstairs. I have no idea if Momma is even here… Like usual.

I let the hot water of the shower beat across my body and wash away the metaphorical dirt from last night. I let it wash away the sting that hasn’t yet sunk into me until my skin is red raw.

I get dressed and grab my sunglasses, if only because they’ll hide the bags under my eyes. I twist my damp hair on top of my head and take my cell. I go downstairs and head out into the scorching heat, wrinkling my face at the waft of hot air that slams into me when I open my car door.

As I drive through town, I head towards the garage on instinct. I had no intention of coming here when I got in the car. I don’t actually know where I planned on going… But here I am. I put my car in park and get out, spotting Adam first. He looks up as I slide my glasses up and makes a face.

“Damn, Kia. You make terrible look good,” he quips.

“You really know how to flatter a girl,” I reply dryly. “Remind me why you’re single, ‘cause I just can’t work it out.”

“Ouch.” He winks. “Did you get in a fight with a toddler on your way down here? You got a couple purple eyes there, Princess. And talking of that – why are you even here? Did your car break down again?”

“Oh, God. Where do I even start?” I put my hands on my hips. “I obviously stopped my car in the middle of the road to get a toddler’s ball, then they repaid the favor by punching me in both eyes and shoving their ball up my exhaust. Then, in the time it took me to push my car here, I got drenched in sweat and both black eyes came out. Would you even believe it?”

He smirks.

“Or, of course, I had a bad night, didn’t sleep much, and didn’t let my hair dry after my shower this morning. But the toddler explanation is way more entertaining, right? Let’s go with that.” I smile a little at him. “But no, my car isn’t broken. This time.”

“It’s my charm. It keeps her coming back,” Reese says from the back room, strolling out casually with his coveralls open to his waist. He wipes his hands on his legs, and the smile drops from his face when he looks up at me. “Hey. What’s up?”

I swallow, unwilling to break in front of Adam. “Nothin’. I just needed to get out, and I ended up here with you asshats for some strange reason.”

Adam rolls his eyes and flicks my ear as he walks past. Reese’s long stride swallows up the garage and in seconds he’s standing in front of me. His finger hooks under my chin, and he raises my face to his.

“No, what’s up?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it right now.”

“Kia…”

“Please, Reese.” A hint of begging surfaces in my voice. “I just need to chill for a bit, okay?”

“Want me to see if I can get off?”

I shake my head and move his hand from my chin. “No. I don’t mind hanging around here for the day.” Our fingers slot together, and my eyes climb to his from his lips. “It’ll be just like last summer. Right?”

His lips quirk, and he leans into me. “Right. And that means I get to do this.” His face lowers to mine, and I close my eyes when his mouth brushes across mine twice. “Right?”

I open my eyes and whisper, “Right.”

He brings his other hand up. The pad of his thumb nudges my bottom lip, and he runs it along the softness to the corner of my mouth to pull it up slightly. “Smile.”

“Maybe later.” I fight the very smile he just demanded of me.

“No, now,” he orders, his eyes crinkling at the corners in amusement. “I hate seein’ my girl sad.”

My eyebrows go up. “Your girl?”

“Yeah you’re my girl. You always have been, Kia, and you always will be. You try to find me someone that can tell me any different and see what happens to them.”

I let my lips curve upwards, matching the smile on his face. “I might hold you to that.”

He laughs quietly, bending his head down and kissing me again.

“Oi, Kia!” Adam yells.

“What?” I look around Reese to him.

“Are you stayin’ or what?”

“Yep.”

“Good, ‘cause I got a job for you.”

I let Reese’s hand go and step around him, putting my hands back on my hips. “Oh, you have, have you?”

“Yeah, I have.” Adam answers and grins lopsidedly.

“And?”

“I have an insane craving for coffee and doughnuts but I’m busy here and can’t go and get it, so…”

“You want me to hop in my car, drive to the bakery and get you some, right?”

“And them there are the brains that got you into college!”

I shake my head. “Jackass.”

He digs his hand in his pocket and walks over to me, tucking a twenty into my hand. “There’s a doll. Buy yourself some, too.”

I click my tongue as he chuckles to himself, walking away, but I’m smiling at the same time.

Reese puts his hand on the back of my neck and turns my face toward his. “Just like last summer, right?”

I shove Adam’s bill into my pocket and grab the neck of Reese’s tank top, pulling his face to mine. I stand on my tip toes to meet him, pressing my mouth to his firmly. I gently suck on his bottom lip, pulling it into my mouth, and run my tongue across it. His fingers tighten on my neck as my teeth graze along the surface of his lip. I step back, spinning from his hold, and grin, walking backward.

“You’re right,” I say and shrug, staring into his slightly hooded, hot eyes. “Just like last summer.”

~

“I hope I’m getting paid for this,” I grumble as I pass Reese a wrench.

“Ask Adam. And that’s the wrong size.”

“How am I supposed to tell them apart? A wrench is a wrench.”

He slides out from under the car, covered in oil with his hair sticking out in every direction. He smirks. “They’re numbered. See?” He and points to a number on the tool.

“Right – but that still doesn’t help me if you don’t tell me what number you need.” I put the wrench back and glance at him. He looks at me thoughtfully.

“I don’t think of them in terms of numbers. I think of them in terms of size.”

“Again with the whole not helping thing.”

“Eight. I need a size eight, Kia.”

“Four extra than usual, then?” Adam hollers across the workshop, snickering. I cast my eyes downward and try to hide my smile when I pass Reese the wrench.

“Least there’s somethin’ there to add extra to, asshole!” Reese yells back.

I perch against the giant toolbox, nibbling on my thumbnail. I shrug when Reese looks at me. “Don’t get me involved in this. You guys can discuss your sizing all you like, but I’m staying out of it.”

“It’s ‘cause she knows you’ll lose!” Adam butts in.

“In your dreams,” Reese replies with his eyes on mine. “No size discussions are needed.”

“You know what they say, though. Don’t you?” I twirl my hair around my finger innocently.

“What’s that?” Adam asks.

I look at him. “It’s not all size. It’s performance, too. I mean, what’s the use in a two liter engine if it doesn’t help the car perform at full horse power?”

Both of them stare at me for a second, and my eyes flit between them. Neither says anything.

“What?” I question after a moment of silence.

“You just compared something to something car-related,” Adam mutters in awe. “I’m pretty sure hearing a girl talk like that is almost up there with sex.”

“Holy.
Shit
.” Reese rubs his face. “I’m in love.”

My cheeks warm slightly. “Yeah, well, I thought I’d spell it out to you guys, and I knew you’d understand the car referencing...”

“Uh-huh,” Reese interrupts me. “So, what break horse power do I have, baby?”

I cough and double-take before composing myself and shrugging one shoulder casually. “I dunno – I mean, you might need a service or something.”

He smacks his lips together and gets up. There’s a mischievous glint in his eyes and I hold up my hands, scooting away.

“No. Don’t you dare come near me covered in oil!” I cry to Adam’s laughter. I walk backward and straight into the wall. Reese grins wolfishly seeing I’m boxed in and puts his hands flat against the wall either side of my head. His eyes are hot on mine.